The Role of James Brant in the Process of Structural Changes in British Consulates

Year 2019, Issue: 22, 363 - 379, 11.10.2019

Ahmet Dönmez

Abstract

British consulates in the Ottoman Empire were
financed and selected by the Levant Company.
In the meantime, a duality in the administration
of the consulate system emerged. As a result, it
was decided that British consulates should undergo
a process of structural change. Consuls
were subsequently appointed directly by the
monarch, and the company was dissolved in
1825. In the following years, on the one hand
the number of consulates was increased, while
on the other hand spheres of duty were differentiated
and came to acquire a degree of influence,
including the ability to intervene in internal
affairs. James Brant played a significant role
in this process, individually participating in the
establishment of the consulates in Trabzon,
Erzurum, Batumi, Samsun, and Kayseri. This
study investigates the process of structural
change in British consulates in the Ottoman
Empire in the first half of the 19th century and
Brant’s influence in this process. Additionally,
in-depth information is provided concerning
Brant’s Trabzon and Erzurum consulships.

Keywords

James Brant, Lord Palmerston, Trabzon consulate, Erzurum consulate, Exequatur

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