On 26th January 1841 Hong Kong was occupied by British forces; two days after this initial occupation, a Royal Proclamation placed the civil administration in the hands of Captain Elliot, then Chief Superintendent of Trade of British Subjects in China. It naturally took time for the whole apparatus of colonial government to be developed in Hong Kong and for the standard reporting back to London to be established. Foremost among the reports that had to be sent back to London was the annual Blue Book: the collection of all available statistics for the colony, with details of all income and expenditure (including official salaries and pensions) and with the Blue Book was sent the Governor’s report summarising the events of the year. This series has been established in its complete form for the first time by Robert Jarman, who also provides an archival introduction.