The Margary Memorial

In 1875 a young British consular official was sent to Yunnan to arrange for the transit of a British expedition coming from Burma. Despite initial success, questions about the expedition’s intentions and Yunnan’s instability following a pacification campaign by the Qing authorities resulted in Margary’s death. British protests in the context of late nineteenth century imperialism led to the signing of the Chefoo Convention in which compensation for Margary’s family, the creation of further treaty ports and an investigation into the fiscal blockade of Hong Kong that had begun in 1867 were agreed. In Shanghai a memorial was erected to commemorate Margary.