Northumbria Research Link Citation: Neal, Stan (2015) Jardine Matheson and Chinese Migration in the British Empire, 1833-1853. Doctoral thesis, Northumbria University. This version was downloaded from Northumbria Research Link: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/id/eprint/31707/ Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University’s research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html Jardine Matheson and Chinese Migration in the British Empire, 1833-1853 Stan Neal PhD 2015 Jardine Matheson and Chinese Migration in the British Empire, 1833-1853 Stan Neal A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the University of Northumbria at Newcastle for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Research undertaken in the Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences October 2015 Abstract This thesis examines the role of the British merchant firm Jardine, Matheson & Co. (Jardine Matheson) in promoting and facilitating Chinese migration into and around the British Empire between 1833 and 1853. It argues that existing historiography on Chinese migration has focused too heavily on the late-nineteenth century and has paid insufficient attention to earlier experiments with Chinese labour. The case study of Jardine Matheson also emphasises the varied roles played by commercial organisations in the British Empire. Existing work has focused on the role of the firm’s partners either as opium traders or elite businessmen in colonial Hong Kong, with little analysis of their interest and involvement in Chinese migration. By examining Jardine Matheson’s archive of letters and accounts, official colonial correspondence, parliamentary papers, newspapers, books, journals and periodicals, the thesis will shed light on both the changing perceptions and uses of Chinese migrant labour in various imperial contexts from the 1830s to the 1850s. Chinese migration to different colonial destinations, including Singapore, Assam, New South Wales and Ceylon, will be examined comparatively. The colonial case studies examined in the thesis demonstrate how imperial experiments with Chinese labour in the mid nineteenth century were dependent on the resources and networks of Jardine Matheson on the China coast. The firm’s publishing network simultaneously circulated ideas about Chinese migrants that were reproduced across the British Empire. Additionally, Anglo-Chinese contact zones that developed over the 1830s and 1840s were crucial to the formation of stereotypes about a specifically Chinese ethnic character and systems of onward migration to global destinations. This thesis demonstrates the importance of Jardine Matheson – as well as connected Western commercial organisations and individuals – in facilitating Chinese migration and creating demand for Chinese labour during a period of rapid change in the British Empire. i Table of Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... i List of Tables and Figures ...................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ vi Usage and Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... viii Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 The Firm: Jardine Matheson ................................................................................................... 5 Chinese Migration in the British Empire ................................................................................ 8 Contact Zones ....................................................................................................................... 12 Conceptualising ‘the Chinese’ .............................................................................................. 15 Sources and Approaches ....................................................................................................... 20 Case Studies: 1833 to 1853 ................................................................................................... 23 Chapter One: Singapore, China Experts and the 1833 Charter Act ......................................... 25 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 25 Credit-ticket Migration to Singapore and the Straits Settlements in the 1830s ................... 27 The Chinese in Singapore: Uncivilized or Industrious Colonists? ....................................... 34 Gordon Forbes Davidson and Singapore as an Imperial Template ...................................... 42 The China Expert and the ‘Opening’ of the China Trade .................................................... 46 John Crawfurd: Free Trade Ethnographer? .......................................................................... 49 The 1833 Charter and the Rise of Jardine Matheson ............................................................ 55 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 58 Chapter Two: The Creation of the Chinese Character: the Publication Boom of the 1830s ... 61 Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 61 Making Sense of China ......................................................................................................... 63 The 1830s and the Chinese Character ................................................................................... 71 The Chinese Character and the Opium War ......................................................................... 78 The Mechanics of Dissemination: Newspapers, Print Culture and China ........................... 83 Jardine Matheson and the Control of Information ............................................................... 95 Jardine Matheson’s Political and Commercial Connections .............................................. 101 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 106 Chapter Three: Assam and Sydney: Experiments with Chinese Labour, 1833-1839 ........... 108 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 108 Jardine Matheson and the Assam Experiment .................................................................... 110 George Gordon and Charles Gutzlaff on the China Coast ................................................. 117 James Matheson and the Recruitment of Chinese Tea Cultivators in 1839 ....................... 122 Gordon Forbes Davidson in New South Wales .................................................................. 130 Gordon Forbes Davidson’s Chinese Migration Scheme .................................................... 137 ii Resistance to Chinese Labour in Australia and Davidson’s Failure ................................... 141 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 144 Chapter Four: Ceylon: Chinese Migration and Governor James Alexander Stewart- Mackenzie, 1837-1843 ........................................................................................................... 146 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 146 James Alexander Stewart-Mackenzie ................................................................................. 147 British Rule in Ceylon ........................................................................................................ 150 Governor Stewart-Mackenzie in Ceylon ............................................................................ 154 James Matheson and Chinese Migration to Ceylon ............................................................ 160 Imperial Labour Shortages and Chinese Migration in the 1840s ....................................... 168 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 174 Chapter Five: Hong Kong and Amoy: The Treaty Ports and the Dawn of Mass Migration, 1843-1853 ............................................................................................................................... 177 Introduction ........................................................................................................................