Chapter 3 The Hilliers in Bangkok

The Hilliers Arrive In Bangkok

HMS Auckland, Singapore, Wednesday, 28 May 1856

After an unsettling two weeks wait in Singapore, Charles and Eliza Hillier were finally setting sail with Maudie, their three-year-old daughter, for Bangkok. Charles was under instructions to get to Bangkok as quickly as possible to take up his new position as the first British consul in Siam. He had ended his official duties in Hong Kong, packed up his household and left the colony – all “with little more than 48 hours notice”1 – and embarked for Singapore on 10 May. Seven days later the Hilliers arrived in Singapore where they were to intercept the HMS Auckland, which would be arriving from Bangkok four days later carrying Harry and Fanny Parkes.

The arrival of the first British consul at a new post was not a matter to be taken lightly. An impressive show of strength was deemed essential to demonstrate British military heft and superiority. The rationale as it applied to Siam had been well summarised by the secretary of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce to Sir James Brooke in 1850, who explained that: an imposing display of Force calculated to impress the Siamese with a due sense of the power of Great Britain and its earnestness on this occasion will much facilitate negociations and avert a risk of failure. The Chamber believes also that such a Force would offer the best security against any hostile collisions, which on every consideration it is desirable to avoid.2

Hillier was therefore under instructions to arrive in Bangkok on a ship of war. The best option turned out to be the Auckland, a naval steamer requisitioned from the Indian navy to help suppress piracy in the South China Sea. The choice was not ideal but served the purpose. The selection had been made by the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy’s East Indies and China Station, Rear Admiral Sir Michael Seymour. Although the Treaty of Paris ending the Crimean War against Russia had been signed on 30 March, Seymour had not yet received “decisive intelligence” that the peace agreement had been finalised and was therefore reluctant to send one of the China squadron vessels to Bangkok.3

The two weeks in Singapore had been well spent. The Hilliers were able to get first-hand reports from Harry and Fanny Parkes on what was awaiting them in Siam and employ staff as they had heard that “it is absolutely impossible to get servants of any description” in Siam.4 Parkes also briefed Charles on the operations of a consular office, which gave the new consul a very useful grounding as he had not had time to visit one of the Chinese consulates before leaving Hong Kong.

When the Auckland finally set sail on 28 May, the sense of excitement and anticipation was overshadowed to some extent by the difficult relationship between Charles and the ship captain, Captain H. A. Drought, which had started off badly in Singapore and did not improve. Hillier and Drought’s first clash concerned Edward Forrest, one of the two student-interpreters (the other being Charles Bell) brought to Siam by Bowring in 1855 to learn the language. Forrest had arrived in Singapore from Bangkok on the Auckland as the private guest of Drought. Hillier, worried that nobody would be available to assist him when he arrived in Bangkok as Bell was due to be out of town, wanted Forrest to return with him on the same ship as a private passenger. Drought, however, “having apparently taken umbrage at something that occurred on board on the way down” refused, forcing Hillier to ask the Senior Naval Officer in the Straits Settlements at Singapore, Captain Sir William Hoste, for permission for Forrest to travel on the public account. Hoste gave his permission, to Drought’s displeasure.

Hillier was further frustrated at Drought’s insistence that he would return to Singapore as soon as the Hilliers had disembarked “and could not make it square with his duty to yield to my official request in writing that the vessel might be detained for 48 hours after my arrival at the

Consulate, to enable me to prepare the necessary Despatches”.

The journey itself was without serious incident, despite some misgivings among its passengers arising from Captain Drought having orders “to clear the Malaysian coast of pirates”.5 In the event, Eliza recorded, “much to my comfort, they remained invisible”. The only incident of note on the journey was a stop at the port of Terengganu on the Malaysian east coast, a tributary of Siam, where they met the sultan. The lingua franca for this encounter was Malay. Eliza, being the only one of the visiting party who could communicate in this language (owing to her childhood in Batavia), “rose to my position” and informed the sultan of the Bowring treaty and the appointment of a British consul to Siam, which was news and “of some interest” to him. However, he was even more fascinated by threeyear-old Maude who was “much noticed and honoured by a place on the great man’s knee”.

The Auckland arrived at the sandbar at the mouth of the Chaophraya river on 5 June. Hillier’s annoyance at Drought was here compounded when Drought informed him not only that he had “strict orders not to enter the river with the vessel” (either to avoid causing alarm among the Siamese or to avoid getting stuck in the city as it could be several weeks before the bar was navigable again), but also by that fact that the Auckland had no tenders, leaving the party totally reliant on the Siamese to provide transport to the city – thereby considerably diminishing the imposing show of British sea power that was supposed to herald the consul’s arrival.

For want of a tender, the Hilliers and the Auckland “remained tossing and rolling [at the bar] four long days, vainly expecting some means of conveyance up to Bangkok”. Apart from the physical discomfort, the wait on the Auckland was emotionally stressful because of the strained relationship between Charles and Captain Drought: We were anxious enough to be out of the steamer, for we were wretchedly uncomfortable in her, and indeed had scarcely enough to eat – the Captain was a most unpleasant person, and Charles every moment feared a row of some sort.

Eventually, two boats arrived, arranged by the Phraklang, to convey the family to Bangkok. To add insult to injury, “though the Captain knew that we had at least a twelve hours’ journey before us he allowed us to leave the ship without even so much a biscuit.”6 This part of the journey was at least entertaining, with Eliza impressed by the sixty royal oarsmen:7