As part of the growing scholarship on family and empire, this study examines Britain’s presence in China through the lens of one family, arguing that, as the physical embodiment of the imperial project, it provided a social and cultural mechanism for mediating Britain’s imperial power, authority and presence, and forging connections and networks throughout the expanding British world. Drawing on public and private papers, it breaks significant new ground in its development of those themes.

Plate section faces page Editors’ Preface Acknowledgments / Use of Names List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Hillier Family Tree Medhurst Family Tree Map of Principal Locations of the Hillier & Medhurst Families, 1817–1927 Map of the Chinese Railway network, 1909 Introduction: Family, China and the British World Part 1: 1817– Chapter 1 Preparing for Entry Chapter 2 Opening the Treaty Ports Chapter 3 Colonising Hong Kong Chapter 4 Strong Wives Part 2: 1857– Chapter 5 Early Influences, Early Careers Chapter 6 The New Imperialism Chapter 7 Intimate Empire Chapter 8 Reform and Revolution, War and Withdrawal Chapter 9 Conclusion Time-line Bibliography Index