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'Charles Elliot', also 'Charles Elliott' (Chinese: 義律, 1801 – 9th September, 1875) was a British naval officer, diplomat and colonial administrator.
Born in England, he joined the British Royal Navy in 1816. He participated in the bombardment of Algiers, served in India, Africa and the West Indies and became an Admiral.
He was appointed Chief Superintendent of Trade and British Minister to China in 1835 and was based in Macao. He was involved in the First Opium War and signed the Convention of Chuenpeh in 1841, in which Qing ceded Hong Kong Island to Britain and was forced to tolerate the sale of Opium which caused large-scale problems of addiction among its population. He became the first British administrator of Hong Kong, holding office from January to August 1841.
From 1842 to 1845 he was Chargé d'affaires in Texas. From 1847 to 1852 he was the Governor of Bermuda, from 1853 to 1856 the Governor of Trinidad, and from 1863 to 1869 the Governor of Saint Helena.
In 1855, as Commodore, he also had command of a flottila made up of HMS ''Hornet'', HMS ''Sybille'' and HMS ''Bittern''. This flotilla, on 25 April 1855, discovered an island in the Sea of Japan, at lat 37 ° 17 ' 23 " N, long 131 ° 54 ' 23 " E. It was about a mile in extent, running in a NW by W and SE by E direction and formed together by a reef of rocks.
He was made KCB in 1856.

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