Gunning, Lucia Patrizio; (1997) The British Consular Service in the Aegean 1820-1860. Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

This thesis investigates the consular service in the Aegean from the final years of the Levant Company administration until 1860, a date that roughly coincides with the end of the British protectorate of the Ionian islands. The protectorate had made it necessary for the British Government to appoint consuls in the Aegean in order that they might look after the Ionians. The research examines all aspects of consular activity; of particular interest has been the activity of the consuls not only within their diplomatic remit but also beyond it, as commercial agents, collectors, archaeologists, and private individuals in a foreign environment. The thesis starts with an analysis of the passage of the consular service from the Levant Company to the Foreign Office and of the different attitudes of the two administrations. An account of the commercial and political relations of Great Britain with the Levant is given both in its historical perspective and through the examination of the commercial and political reports of the consuls, concentrating on the years of the Greek war of independence. Through the study of the private and official correspondence of consul Charles Thomas Newton with the Trustees of the British Museum and his other colleagues in the Levant, the thesis examines the fundamental role of the consuls in finding and collecting antiquities for the British Museum. The final part of the thesis is concerned with the daily work of the consuls, which is illustrated through a detailed examination of the reports of the district of Rhodes. The research attempts to understand precisely the role of the consular service in the region, the nature of the appointment itself and the advantages of a consular service for the nation.

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