(11) Personal papers of C.M. Lee, ex Collector of Customs, Tonga. (1885 – 1908)., 1885-1908

Sub Series 11 Also Includes Numbers 12, 13 & 14 These papers form a bundle three inches in thickness and consist of some hundreds of items, including letters, minutes, memoranda, journals, press-cuttings, Gazettes, Blue Books, Reports, Regulations and other official publications of the Tongan Government. Some of the items are of a purely private nature but the majority relate to public affairs during Lee's service with the Tongan Government and especially to those matters in which Lee himself was either directly or indirectly involved. Of particular interest are certain of the papers relating to the events connected with visit of the High Commissioner, between December, 1904, and January, 1905, at which time Lee was indentified with the faction of the Premier, Jiosateke Toga Veikune (Sateke) in opposition to the High Commissioner.

According to his own statements Lee came to Tonga in 1887 or 1888 where he was employed successively by W. Giles, the resident agent for the Union Steamship Co., Messrs MacArthur & Co. and A.W. Mackay, agent for Messrs Ostermeyer, Dewez & Co. In August, 1898, he obtained a post in the Tongan Customs Department and by the end of September, 1900, was serving as Sub-Collector at Vavau. In October 1900, the Collector of Customs, M. de Lambert, was summarily dismissed for reasons which need not be entered into here and Lee was appointed in his place. In this capacity Lee attracted the hostility of many of the European residents of Tonga, and particularly of the traders, who accused him of incompetence, partiality and misuse of his powers. He appears to have been under some kind of obligation to the Premier, Sateke, and there is evidence that he was influenced to some extent by the Hutter brothers, a family of traders whose rapacity and corrupt practices were notorious throughout the Group. At all events when the High Commissioner arrived in December, 1904, to enquire into the conduct of the Tongan Government, Lee and his administration were subjected to an investigation, one result of which was the dismissal of Lee himself in the following January. Thereafter, he appears to have resided at Nuku' alofa until his death in June, 1908.

How his papers came to be among the Consulate archives is not known. As his relations with the British authorities were never cordial after 1905, it seems unlikely that he would have donated the papers to the Consulate himself. In any case the collection includes correspondence dating almost to the time of his death. In these circumstances it would be reasonable to assume that the papers were still in his possession when he died. Curiously enough, however, they are not mentioned in the list of his property and personal effects, although this list, which is among the Consular Office probate records, is intact and extremely detailed.

Some of the papers are grouped within folders according to their subject matter, but the remainder are in no recognisable order and have probably been much disturbed since they left Lee's possession. It should also be remarked that the collection new contains a few items which may have been added subsequent to its acquisition by the Consulate.