James Bruce
British politician
Died when: 52 years 123 days (628 months)Star Sign: Cancer
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, KT, GCB, KSI, PC, FSA Scot (20 July 1811 – 20 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat.
He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847–1854), and Viceroy of India (1862–1863).In 1857, he was appointed High Commissioner and Plenipotentiary in China and the Far East to assist in the process of opening up China and Japan to Western trade.
In 1860, during the Second Opium War in China, he ordered the destruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing, an architectural wonder with immeasurable collections of artworks and historic antiques, inflicting incalculable loss of cultural heritage.
Subsequently, he compelled the Qing dynasty to sign the Convention of Peking, adding Kowloon Peninsula to the British crown colony of Hong Kong.
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