Signing of the Treaty of Peking by The Earl of Elgin and Prince Kung. (Wikipedia)

October 24, 1860, the Convention of Peking (Beijing) formally ended the Second Opium War for Britain and France. Negotiated by Lord Elgin (former Governor General of Canada), it forced China to cede the Kowloon Peninsula and Stonecutters Island to British Hong Kong. This expansion of Hong Kong had profound long-term consequences for its inhabitants and for future Chinese migration. The growing British presence in Hong Kong established a key port.