Canton

Canton
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Presidency:
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Present Day Details
Place Name:	Guangzhou
State/Province:	Guangdong
Country:	China
Transport links

Canton, now known as Guangzhou, is an important city in Southern China, situated on the Pearl River. Whampoa (a transliteration of Huangpu) is the district within the city where the docks were situated.

During the 18th and 19th century this important trading port was used extensively by the East India Company. China supplied the company with various commodities which were in high demand by the British – particularly tea. As a counterbalance, the East India Company supplied, amongst other goods, a large amount of Indian grown opium to China and this supply would eventually lead to the Opium Wars of the mid nineteenth century.

Spelling Variants

Modern name: Guangzhou
Variants: Canton, Whampoa

History

Battle of Canton 1841
Siege of Canton 1857

Records

• Ecclesiastical Returns: Baptisms, Marriages and Burials at the British Library. Macao and Whampoa [Canton] 1820-1833, IOR N/9. These records are probably included in the digitised records now available on the commercial site FindMyPast
• FamilySearch Catalog for microfilm/digitised microfilm records includes

"Births, deaths, marriages from Canton and Hong Kong newspapers, arranged chronologically, 1828-1862" catalogue entry microfilm 1208508 which has been digitised and may be viewed on your home computer.

• Also see China - Records

External links

Historical photographs online

• Photographic panoramas of Hong Kong, Canton, and Macau 1900-1930. University of Cambridge Digital Library
• "A Tour of Old Canton " Photographs taken by NZ Presbyterian missionaries. Presbyterian Archives Research Centre, Dunedin, NZ.

Historical books online

• "Canton" page 97 An account of the trade in India: containing rules for good government in trade, price courants, and tables: with descriptions of Fort St. George, Acheen, Malacca, Condore, Canton, Anjengo, Muskat, Gombroon, Surat, Goa, Carwar, Telichery, Panola, Calicut, the Cape of Good-Hope, and St. Helena... To which is added, An Account of the Management of the Dutch in their Affairs in India by Charles Lockyer 1711 Archive.org Contents
• A Voyage to the East Indies in 1747 and 1748. Containing an Account of the Islands of St. Helena and Java. Of the City of Batavia. Of the Government and Political Conduct of the Dutch. Of the Empire of China, with a Particular Description of Canton ... 1762 Google Books. The Preface states the author was an officer in the service of the East India Company.
• "Incident between the Hong Merchants and the Supercargoes of the British East India Company in Canton, 1811" by J. L. Cranmer-Byng Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Volume 15 (1975) from Hong Kong Journals online The University of Hong Kong Libraries hkjo.lib.hku.hk
• A Subaltern's Sick Leave: Rough notes of a visit in search of health to China and the Cape of Good Hope by Nicolas Polson, Bengal Native Infantry 1837. Link to a pdf download, or direct pdf link National Library of India Digital Collection. Elsewhere it is stated the author was in fact Lieutenant Peter Nicholson (or Nicolson). He sailed from Calcutta July 1835.
• "Journal of Occurrances at Canton during the cessation of trade at Canton 1839" by William C Hunter :"Introduction" and Journal by E. W. Ellsworth "Notes on Hunter's Journal" by J. L. Cranmer-Byng and L. T. Ride Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society Volume 4 (1964) hkjo.lib.hku.hk
• The 'Fan Kwae' at Canton before treaty days, 1825-1844 by An Old Resident [William C Hunter] 2nd edition 1911 (First published 1882) Archive.org (Fan Kwae=Foreign Barbarians, Devils)
• The Journals of Major Samuel Shaw : the first American Consul at Canton : with a life of the author 1847 Archive.org
• Canton and the Bogue. The narrative of an eventful six months in China by Walter William Mundy 1875 Archive.org. A visit in 1874.
• Bits of Old China by William C Hunter 1885 Archive.org
• "Historical Outline of Medical Missions at Canton, Hongkong and Macao" The China Review, or notes & queries on the Far East Page 329 Volume 4 July 1875 to June 1876. Google Books
• A Guide to Hongkong. With some remarks upon Macao and Canton by William Legge. Printed at Hongkong c 1893. British Library Digital Collection.
• Canton, China Published by the Bureau of Navigation under authority of the Secretary of the Navy [USA]. Catalogued 1920. Archive.org
• The Memoirs of a Malayan Official by Victor Purcell 1965 Archive.org Lending Library. As a member of the Malayan Civil Service from 1921, he was soon after sent to Canton and Peking to study Chinese from page 101.
• The Chinese city between two worlds edited by Mark Elvin and G. William Skinner 1974. Includes chapters on Canton and Shanghai. Archive.org Books to Borrow/Lending Library.