The British Consular Service in the Aegean 1820-1860
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»OOM U üNviRsmr OFu om oti SEiATE HOUSE M,MET STRffif LOWDON WO* MU./ The British Consular Service in the Aegean 1 8 2 0 -1 8 6 0 Lucia Patrizio Gunning University College London, PhD Thesis, July 1997 Charles Thomas Newton and Dominic Ellis Colnaghi on horseback in Mitilene ProQuest Number: 10106684 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10106684 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 AOAOHÆC RCXAÎ k ÜNiVERSmf OF VDmCM gH^TE HOU^ / M A IH STTEEÎ t£riDOH WQÜ 3H I/ The British Consular Service in the Aegean 1820-1860 Lucia Patrizio Gunning University College London, PhD Thesis, July 1997 A bstract This thesis investigates the consular service in the Aegean from the final years of the Levant Company administration until 1860, a date that roughly coincides with the end of the British protectorate of the Ionian islands. The protectorate had made it necessary for the British Government to appoint consuls in the Aegean in order that they might look after the lonians. The research examines all aspects of consular activity; of particular interest has been the activity of the consuls not only within their diplomatic remit but also beyond it, as commercial agents, collectors, archaeologists, and private individuals in a foreign environment. The thesis starts with an analysis of the passage of the consular service from the Levant Company to the Foreign Office and of the different attitudes of the two administrations. An account of the commercial and political rela tions of Great Britain with the Levant is given both in its historical perspec tive and through the examination of the commercial and political reports of the consuls, concentrating on the years of the Greek war of independence. Through the study of the private and official correspondence of consul Charles Thomas Newton with the Trustees of the British Museum and his other colleagues in the Levant, the thesis examines the fundamental role of the consuls in finding and collecting antiquities for the British Museum. The final part of the thesis is concerned with the daily work of the consuls, which is illustrated through a detailed examination of the reports of the district of Rhodes. The research attempts to understand precisely the role of the consular service in the region, the nature of the appointment itself and the advantages of a consular service for the nation. Table of Contents Abstract 3 Illustrations 5 Glossary 1 Abbreviation of Sources 8 Foreword 9 Introduction 13 1. From the Levant Company to the Foreign Office 29 2. The Political Role of the Aegean Consuls 98 3. The Commercial Role of the Aegean Consuls 150 4. The Consuls as Collectors of Antiquities 188 5. The Consular District of Rhodes: A Case Study 223 Conclusion 274 Appendices 281 Bibliography 286 Illustrations page 1 Charles Thomas Newton and Dominic Ellis Colnaghi on horseback in Mitilene 19 British Trade Routes Through the Levant 34 The Levant Company Consulates 58 Original Design for the Consular Uniform FO 78/185, f.31. 15 Map of the Foreign Office Consulates until 1860 95 Breakdown of British Consuls in the Aegean, 1825-1860 130 Ionian Passports 145 The Extent of the Kingdom of Greece 162 British Levantine Trade, 1784-1856 162 The Value of British Levantine Trade, 1784-1856 163 Quantities of some of the principal articles of produce imported into the United Kingdom from Turkey and Egypt as reported to the Levant Company 163 Value declared at the Custom House of goods exported from the U.K. to the Levant 206 Charles Thomas Newton with colossal lion removed from castle wall at Budrum 211 Charles Thomas Newton s excavations at Budrum 213 Excavations at Budrum 218 Excavations photographed by Dominic Colnaghi 220 Archaeological remains at Budrum 226 The Consular District of Rhodes 227 The British Vice Consulate at Rhodes 229 The First British Consulate at Rhodes 211 Present Day British Consulates 281 Political Map of the Aegean and the Near East Glossary Landholding Ottoman nobleman. Capitulations Commercial agreement with Ottoman Empire. Chancellier Secretary of the consulate. Consulages Duties levied on exports and imports. Divan Imperial Ottoman council. Dragoman Interpreter who acted as an agent or intermediary. Factory Residence of Levantine merchants. Firman Ottoman imperial decree or authorisation. Frank Quarters Foreign living quarter. Frank Subjects Foreign subjects. Grand Vizir Prime minister of Ottoman government. Giovani di Lingua Apprentice interpreters. Jannissary Corps Dedicated body of Turkish infantry. Kadi Ottoman judge. Konack Government house. Pasha Chief Ottoman official at the local level. Pashalic Administrative division of Ottoman territory. Porte The Ottoman court at Constantinople. Rayah Non muslim subject of Ottoman empire. Seraskier Ottoman commander-in-chief and minister of war. Seraglio Palace of the Sultan at Constantinople. Sultan Ottoman sovereign. Sultana Valide Mother of the Sultan. Ulema The religious, educational and legal authority of the Ottoman Empire. For coherence of understanding a consistent spelling has been adopted throughout the thesis for the names of locations and people. Original spellings in letters and dispatches vary a great deal between one another. Abbreviation of Sources Add Mss. Additional Manuscripts, British Library. ADM Admiralty Papers, Public Record Office. BL British Library. BMA British Museum Archive. BT Board of Trade Papers, Public Record Office. CE Letter Books, Trustees’ Correspondence, British Museum Archive CO Colonial Office Papers, Public Record Office. FO Foreign Office Papers, Public Record Office. GRA Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum. WAA British Museum, Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities. Foreword This work began as a consequence of a scholarship for specialisation abroad offered by the Université degli Studi de L’Aquila, Italy, where I studied for my first degree, under the suggestion of the then head of faculty. Professor Elio Lo Cascio. I am deeply indebted to Professor Lo Cascio for the help and support which he offered me during the last year of that study, supporting my desire for a period of study abroad which initially brought me to Univers ity College London as an Erasmus student, and for pushing me to apply and accept the grant from the University of L’Aquila which radically altered the course of my life. The idea for this research was promoted by Professor Stelio Marchese, head of the Department of History in L’Aquila, who also upheld my applica tion for the grant and, with dedication and friendship introduced me to the study of the relations between Great Britain and Greece. He has encouraged and directed my studies throughout my university career; and I owe him thanks for his trust and support in my capacities, and for ultimately being the responsible for my having become an historian, rather than a literate. I am grateful to Professor David D’Avray and Professor Michael Craw ford for having smoothed my arrival at UCL in 1989 when I was an Erasmus student, and when I subsequently returned as a research student. Dr. Stephen Conway, who has supervised my studies throughout the course of this work, merits my deepest gratitude and esteem for his attentive. intelligent and constructive supervision, for the many lunches that have come with it, and for having supported, helped and encouraged me throughout the best and worst times in the last four and a half years. For his patience, his particular care in reading the numerous drafts of this thesis, and for his sug gestions and improvements, I am indebted to him. Professor Frederick Rosen, my second supervisor, has also given me good advice in times of doubt. It was as a result of his encouragement and the support of the Graduate School of UCL and the Central Research Fund of the University of London that I was able to organise a research trip to Greece which proved essential to my understanding of the context of this work. I am also grateful to Dr. Jonathan Morris, for his patience during my two years as an assistant in his course ‘Europe in the Age of World Wars, 1870-1945,’ the teaching of which has so much contributed to the develop ment of my own work. Professor Martin Daunton, postgraduate adviser, also deserves my gratitude, for his help in general matters, as do the secretaries of the History Department, Rachel, Diana and Ms Razwi, for their patience with me, especially during the last two years. Special thanks go to Janet Wallace and Christopher Date, at the British Museum Archive, who with their deep knowledge of the Museum’s history have guided and helped me with extreme kindness and friendship, in the re search for chapter five. I am indebted to the staff of the Western Asiatic An tiquities Department, especially Dr. John Curtis and Tim Healing, for a most enjoyable and fruitful time spent researching amongst their archives, and for having showed me interesting and unexpected Museum treasures. My thanks also go to Dr. Susan Walker of the Greek and Roman Antiquities De partment, and to the staff of the British Library and of the Public Record Of fice, where most of my researches were carried out. I owe the success of my trip to Greece to the staff of the British School 10 of Archeology at Athens.