henry pottinger

Sir Henry Pottinger (1789 - 1856) was a British soldier and colonial administrator. Henry Pottinger was born at Mount Pottinger, at that time a rural area outside of Belfast. He studied at the Belfast Royal Academy. In 1806 he joined the British East India Company and in 1809 fought in the Mahratta war, as a lieutenant. He later explored much of the land between India and Persia and became Resident Administrator of Sindh in 1820. He later held the same post in Hyderabad. He became the second British Administrator of Hong Kong (August 1841-June 1843) and the first Governor of Hong Kong (June 1843-May 1844). As an envoy for the United Kingdom he negotiated the terms of the Treaty of Nanking (1842), which ended the First Opium War, with the Chinese Qing Empire. He became a member of the Privy Council in 1844. He became Governor of Madras in 1847, and in 1851 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general. He died in retirement in Malta in 1856.

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