William John Napier, 9th Lord Napier (Chinese: 律勞卑; 1786 – 11 October 1834) was a Royal Navy officer, politician and diplomat.
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He was the son of Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier (1758–1823) and the father of Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier and 1st Baron Ettrick (1819-1898). He served during the battle of Trafalgar (1805) as a midshipman. He later served as Lieutenant under Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald.
A peer of Scotland, Lord Napier was an elected Scottish representative in the House of Lords from 1824 to 1832.
In December 1833, upon the ending of British East India Company's monopoly on trade in the Far East, Lord Napier was appointed by Lord Palmerston, the foreign secretary and a family friend of Napier, the first Chief Superintendent of Trade at Canton (now Guangzhou), in China. He arrived at Macau on 15 July 1834, and Canton ten days later, with the mission of expanding British trade into inner China. Lacking the necessary diplomatic and commercial experience, he was not successful in achieving the objective. Having failed to secure a meeting with the Viceroy of Canton who refused any form of correspondence with an alien, and being refused any further trade concessions, Lord Napier became in favour of military actions, including the proposal of taking over Hong Kong. He sent two frigates towards Canton, where they were lost. Lord Napier then accepted defeat and left for Macau, where he died of a fever in less than a month's time. He was buried in Macau.
The Second and Third Superintendents were John Francis Davis and Sir George Best Robinson, respectively.
Lord Napier had two sons and five daughters. His eldest son, Francis Napier, also entered diplomatic service and was promoted by Palmerston for the rest of his life.
Following his death, the British Government placed a memorial to him before the Macao Customs Office. After being lost for a short time, it was moved to the Hong Kong Cemetery, and then to the Hong Kong Museum of History, where it now rests.
| Peerage of Scotland | ||
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| Preceded by Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier |
Lord Napier 1823-1834 |
Succeeded by Francis Napier, 10th Lord Napier |