- William Napier, 9th Lord Napier
William John Napier, 9th Lord Napier (Chinese:律勞卑;
1786 -October 11 ,1834 ) was aRoyal Navy officer, politician and diplomat.He was the son of
Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier (1758-1823) and the father of Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier and 1st Baron Ettrick (1819-1898).William John Napier served during the
battle of Trafalgar (1805) as amidshipman . He later served asLieutenant underThomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald .A peer of Scotland, Lord Napier was an elected Scottish representative in the
House of Lords from 1824 to 1832.In December 1833, upon the ending of
British East India Company 's monopoly on trade in theFar East , Lord Napier was appointed byLord Palmerston , the foreign secretary and a family friend of Napier, the firstChief Superintendent of Trade at Canton (nowGuangzhou ), inChina . He arrived atMacau on15 July 1834 , and Canton ten days later, with the mission of expanding British trade into inner China. Lacking the necessary diplomatic and commercial experience, he was not successful in achieving the objective. Having failed to secure a meeting with the Viceroy of Canton who refused any form of correspondence with an alien, and being refused any further trade concessions, Lord Napier became in favour of military actions, including the proposal of taking overHong Kong . He sent two frigates towards Canton, where they were lost. Lord Napier then accepted defeat and left for Macau, where he died of a fever in less than a month's time. He was buried in Macau.The Second and Third Superintendents were
John Francis Davis and Sir George Best Robinson, respectively.Lord Napier had two sons and five daughters. His eldest son,
Francis Napier , also entered diplomatic service and was promoted by Palmerston for the rest of his life.External links and references
* [http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~jobrien/reference/ob35.html The Napier Affair (1834)]
* [http://www.koreanhistoryproject.org/Ket/C17/E1702.htm Another description of the "Napier Affair"]
* Glenn Melancon, " [http://www.swetswise.com/eAccess/viewAbstract.do?articleID=29504430 Peaceful Intentions: The First British Trade Commission in China, 1833-5] ,” "Historical Research" 73 (2000) password required.
*Frank Welsh, Maya Rao (Editor): "A Borrowed Place: The History of Hong Kong" (1996) ISBN 1-56836-134-3.
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