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

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

References

1. The National Archives (TNA): FO, 78/195, 215, 223, 229, 241, 265, 289, 298, 301, 314, 328, 329B, 366, 367, 398, 401, 443; 195/116, 138, 145, 148; 881/591A, 724.
2. University of Durham Library (U. Durham L.): Ponsonby Papers, GB 033/GRE-E/481/6/2.
3. British Library (BL): add MSS. 42512.
4. Turkish Presidency State Archives of Republic of Turkey (BOA): HAT, 46520, 46604; A. DVN. DVE., 98/17.
5. London Gazette: 18646, 19379.
6. The Morning Post: 19498, 21689.
7. Aksan, V.H. 2010. Kuşatılmış Bir İmparatorluk Osmanlı Harpleri 1700–1870. Translated by G.Ç. Güven. İstanbul: Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
8. Arıkan, O. 1973. Erzurum Şehrinin Ekonomik Esasları. Ankara: Atatürk University Press.

9. Aykun, I. 1995. “Erzurum Konferansı (1843–1847) ve Osmanlı-İran Hudut Antlaşması.” PhD thesis, Atatürk University. Insitute of Social Sciences.
10. Bailey, F.E. 1940. “The Economics of British Foreign Policy, 1825–50.” The Journal of Modern History 12/4: 449–84.
11. Baskıcı, M. 2012. “XIX. Yüzyılda Trabzon Limanı: Yükseliş ve Gerileyiş.” Ankara Üniversitesi Siyasal Bilimler Fakültesi Dergisi 67/3: 33–56.
12. Berridge, G.R. 2009. British Diplomacy in Turkey, 1583 to the Present: A Study in the Evolution of the Resident Embassy, edited by J. Melissen. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers.
13. Brant, J. 2014. 1838 Yazında Kürdistan Seyahati: İngiltere’nin Erzurum Başkonsolosu James Brant’ın Kürdistan Seyahati Notları. Translated by A.C. Kaya. İstanbul: Rupel Basım Yayınları.
14. Brant, J. 1836. “Journey through a Part of Armenia and Asia Minor, in the Year 1835.” JRGS 6: 187–223.
15. Brant, J., and A.G. Glascott 1840. “Notes of a Journey through a Part of Kurdistan, in the Summer of 1838.” JRGS 10: 341–434.
16. Buckingham, J.S. 2011. Autobiography of James Silk Buckingham II. Newyork: University of Cambridge Press.
17. Cunningham, A. 1993. Anglo-Ottoman Encounters in the Age of Revolution I, edited by E. Ingram. London: Frank Cass Press&Co. Ltd.
18. Dönmez, A. 2014. Osmanlı Modernleşmesinde İngiliz Etkisi: Diplomasi ve Reform (1833–1841). İstanbul: Kitap Yayınevi.
19. Horn, D.B. 1967. Great Britain and Europe in the Eighteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
20. Hurewitz, J.C. 1975. The Middle East and North Africa in World Politics: European Expansion 1535–1914 I. 4th ed. London: Yale University Press.
21. Issawi, C. 1970. “The Tabriz-Trabzon Trade 1830–1890: Rise and Decline of a Route.” IJMES I: 18–27.
22. Kasaba, R. 1993. Osmanlı İmparatorluğu ve Dünya Ekonomisi. Translated by K. Emiroğlu. İstanbul: Belge Yayınları.
23. Kocabaşoğlu, U. 2004. Majestelerinin Konsolosları: İngiliz Belgeleriyle Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’ndaki İngiliz Konsoloslukları 1583–1900. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları.
24. Laidlaw, C. 2010. The British in the Levant-Trade and Perceptions of the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century. London: Tauris Academic Studies.
25. Pamuk, Ş. 2005. Osmanlı-Türkiye İktisadî Tarihi 1500–1914. 5th ed. İstanbul: İletişim Yayınları.
26. Rodkey, F.S. 1929. “Lord Palmerston and the Rejuvenation of Turkey, 1830-41. Part I.” The Journal of Modern History 1/4: 570–93.
27. Quataert, D. 2004. “19. Yüzyıla Genel Bakış: Islahat Devri 1812–1914.” In Osmanlı İmparatorluğu’nun Ekonomik ve Sosyal Tarihi II, edited by H. İnalcık and D. Quataert, 885–1051. İstanbul: Eren Yayınları.
28. Searight, S. 1979. The British in the Middle East. 2nd ed. London: East-West Publications Ltd.
29. Tozlu, S. 1997. “Trabzon-Erzurum-Beyazid Yolu (1850–1900).” PhD thesis, Atatürk University.
30. Turgay, A.Ü. 1993. “Trabzon.” Review 16/4: 435–65.
31. Vereté, M. 1970. “Why Was a British Consulate Established in Jerusalem?.” EHR 85/335: 316–45.
32. Wilson, D. 2018. “List of British Consular Officials in the Ottoman Empire and its former Territories, from the Sixteenth Century to about 1860.” http://www.levantineheritage.com/pdf/List_of_British_ Consular_OfficialsTurkey(1581–1860)- D_Wilson.pdf.
33. Wood, A.C. 1964. A History of the Levant Company. Abingdon: Yale University Press.
34. Wood, A.C. 1925. “The English Embassy at Constantinople 1660–1762.” EHR 40/160: 533–61.
35. Yılmaz, Ö. 2014. “Victor Fontanier’in Trabzon Konsolosluğu (1830–1832).” OTAM 35: 153-95.
36. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/166195569/john-lee, 19.11.2018.