HC Deb 02 March 1871 vol 204 cc1168-9
COLONEL SYKES

asked the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Whether accounts have been received of the destruction of the Consular Buildings and part of the Records at Shanghai; whether the Fire Insurance Policy had been allowed to run out; and, what will be the pecuniary loss to the British Territory in consequence?

VISCOUNT ENFIELD

Sir, Reports have been received both from Her Majesty's Consul at Shanghai and from the Acting Judge of the Supreme Court, announcing the total destruction, on the 24th of December, by fire, of the Consulate, a part of which was also used for the purposes of the Supreme Court. The fire is believed to have been purely accidental, and to have resulted from too close proximity of the beams of the flooring to a fireplace. The building was one of the earliest in the settlement. Owing to the rapidity with which the fire spread, only a few of the more important consular records—such as registers of births, marriages, and deaths, Board of Trade accounts, ships' registers, and other records connected with shipping—could be saved. The title-deeds and registers connected with the tenure of property in the settlement were also saved. A large portion of the records of the Court, a considerable part of the library, and all the records of causes heard since 1865 were saved. The iron safe belonging to the Court, and containing wills and other valuable documents, was extracted from the ruins, and its contents, though damaged, are legible. Most of the furniture of the Consulate and Court and the rest of the books and archives were destroyed. The latter were not of any real importance. Little damage was done to any part of the new buildings in course of construction. Arrangements have been made for carrying on the work of the Consulate and the Supreme Court. The policy of insurance on the buildings expired on the 15th of December, in consequence of instructions issued at the request of the Treasury, who decided in the beginning of last year to discontinue the insurance of Government property in China and Japan. No estimate of the pecuniary loss incurred has been received at the Foreign Office.