SIR JOHN BOWRING: THE IMPERIAL ROLE OF A LIFELONG RADICAL

Abstract

Sir John Bowring was active in a number of different fields in British domestic affairs until he got into financial difficulties following the recession of the late 1840s. He then accepted from Palmerston the life-line of the post of consul in Canton, though he didn't enjoy it much. In 1854 he became governor of Hongkong, where his liberal ideas brought him into conflict with the local expatriate community. He played a key role in the events leading to the First Opium War, but perhaps his most positive achievement was the so-called Bowring treaty with Siam, which changed that country's commercial orientation for a hundred and fifty years.