Guide to the Papers of Sir Thomas John Cochrane (as filmed by the AJCP), 1840-1849

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Summary

Collection number:

M948 - M970

Creator:

Cochrane, Thomas John, Sir, 1789-1872

Extent:

154 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Personal and family correspondence 1842-1848, including letters of introduction and recommendation. Other correspondence concerns surveys in HMS Samarang and HMS Vernon near Mauritius, and reports from Sir William Parker in Manila, Singapore, Hong Kong and from the China Station. Includes letters from Capt. Alexander Maconochie seeking a loan from Cochrane and letters mentioning piracy, and the treatment of scurvy on convict ships.

East Indies Station papers: letters 1842-1846, chiefly semi-official, to Cochrane or to his Secretary, Edward Waller. Correspondents include Sir James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak, and Sir John Davis, Governor of Hong Kong. Includes: minutes of courts martial 1843-1847; miscellaneous papers 1842-1847, including instructions for the hospital and lists of personnel; journals 1842-1847; books of semi-official letters to Cochrane 1842-1846 and a book of semi-official letters by Cochrane 1843-1847; Admiralty letters 1842-1847, with index; Admiralty enclosures 1844-1847, including correspondence regarding Hong Kong and the Malay Archipelago; Admiralty letters sent 1842-1847, with index, and Admiralty Department letters 1842-1847, with index; letters by Cochrane to the Indian Government 1842-1847; account books 1844-1847; dinner lists 1845-1847; freight list for the East India Station 1844-1847; list of persons recommended to Cochrane, with remarks; various logbooks, registers, returns and orders for the East India Station 1842-1847.

Account-book 1842.

Plan of the cabin of Cochrane's flagship, HMS Agincourt 1847.

Private journals 1840-1849, including descriptions of life in Hong Kong and cruises to the Malay mainland, Borneo, Sarawak and the Ryukyu (Lu-Chu) Islands.

Private letter-book 1840-1845.

Biographical / Historical:

Sir Thomas John Cochrane (1789-1872), who was born in Edinburgh, was the son of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane (1758-1832) and his wife Maria. He entered the Royal Navy in 1796 as a volunteer on HMS Thetis, commanded by his father. He was made a lieutenant in 1805 and became a captain within a year. He served in the West Indies in 1807-1809, taking part in the capture of the Virgin Islands and Martinique, and in North America in 1811-1814. From 1820 to 1824 he commanded HMS Forte on the North America Station. In 1825 Cochrane was appointed the first governor of Newfoundland. After representative government was introduced in 1832, his relations with the colonists worsened and he was eventually recalled by the Colonial Office in 1834. He was a member of the House of Commons from 1839 to 1841.

Cochrane was made a rear-admiral in 1841 and in 1842 he was appointed second in command of the East Indies Station. Based in Hong Kong, which had become a British colony following the 1839-1840 Opium War, the East Indies Station extended from the Red Sea in the west to the Philippines and New Zealand in the east. When Admiral Sir William Parker returned to England in 1844, Cochrane succeeded him as commander-in-chief. At the same time, the Station was divided into two divisions, with the western (Indian Ocean) division headed by Commodore Sir Henry Blackwood and the China division headed by Cochrane. Of the 15 battleships attached to the station, 11 came under Cochrane's command. His headquarters were at Hong Kong and he also spent lengthy periods at Chusan (Zhoushan), Singapore, Penang and Madras. In 1845 and 1846 he moved further afield when, at the urgings of James Brooke, the governor of Sarawak, he led a squadron to the coasts of Borneo. British warships destroyed pirate forts at Malludu (Marudu) Bay and in July 1846 forced the Sultan of Brunei to flee from his capital. Threats of further attacks led to the Treaty of Labuan and the cession of the island of Labuan to Britain in 1848.

Cochrane returned to England in August 1847 and from 1852 to 1856 he was commander-in-chief at Portsmouth. He was promoted to the rank of admiral in 1856 and admiral of the fleet in 1865.

Cochrane was knighted in 1812, as proxy for his father, and was made a KCB in 1847. He is often confused with his cousin, Admiral Sir Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, who commanded the navies of Chile and Peru in the war of independence against Spain in 1817-1822.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.