Karl Gützlaff
On 4July 1840, the "Wellesley", "Conway", "Alligator", and "Rattlesnake" arrived in the anchorage off Chusan harbour. In the afternoon, Captain John Vernon Fletcher of the "Wellesley", military secretary Lord Robert Jocelyn, and interpreter Karl Gützlaff were sent on board the junk of a Chinese admiral, who was also governor of the Chusan islands. They delivered a written message from Commodore Gordon Bremer, commander-in-chief of the British naval forces, and Brigadier George Burrell, commander-in-chief of the land forces, to surrender the island of Chusan. Bremer and Burrell claimed the occupation was necessary after the "insulting and unwarrantable conduct" of the Canton high officers Lin Zexu and Deng Tingzhen last year towards Chief Superintendent Charles Elliot and British subjects. Part of the message stated: