tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16612893223671749992024-03-05T05:20:31.422-08:00China InterludeChristinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-63252988600335415622014-09-22T09:32:00.000-07:002018-05-23T06:31:35.597-07:00Keeper of the Archive<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt;"></span></b></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Fletcher_Hance#mediaviewer/File:Henry_Fletcher_Hance.jpg">Henry Fletcher Hance from Wikipedia</a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>A collection of
facts & musings on the life of</b></div>
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<br />
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;">Henry Fletcher HANCE</span></b><br />
<br />
<b><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;">by Christine M. Thomas</span> </span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Henry Fletcher HANCE was born on 4<sup> </sup>August 1827 in Gloucester
Terrace, Old Brompton, London the
son of Henry Hance and Jane Agnes Wells Fletcher.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was baptised at the church
of St. Mary Abbot, Kensington on 5
September.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Later in life Henry divulged that
he had been a delicate child, troubled by the polluted air of old London
Town.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a result his parents sent him to Plymouth
to stay with his maternal grandparents, James Butler Fletcher and Margaret. The
men of the Fletcher family had a regimental background with his great
grandfather having been a Colonel with the Royal Marines and his grandfather a
Major.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henry remembered his great
grandfather as being nearly blind and scarred with wounds received during a long
and very active service.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The clean air of Devon
did young Henry the world of good - as did rising at daybreak and drinking milk
fresh from the cow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lasting memory was
to be the diamond-latticed panes of his bedroom windows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps this is where he first became
interested in botany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henry’s residence
in 1841 at the time of the census is questionable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The most likely sighting is that of a 15 year
old Bookseller’s apprentice at Fore Street
in Stoke Damerel, Plymouth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His mother and two younger sisters can be
found living just down the road in George Street.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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His father was working in London
and living in the very exclusive Brompton Row.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKuvZe3AE_uMG_Kuyq4ot7QrhfXbhWfyBzK1kgrzHJTJxzexpaUA_ehitKF0P7pth63njQVSJ-zX_H5gIa0DV3nNQ1BuQyCn0pe24DzhGvlpllYsdMxJhC1kejmmvELzbjYLYnf5l-I8s/s1600/Brompton+ROW+a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKuvZe3AE_uMG_Kuyq4ot7QrhfXbhWfyBzK1kgrzHJTJxzexpaUA_ehitKF0P7pth63njQVSJ-zX_H5gIa0DV3nNQ1BuQyCn0pe24DzhGvlpllYsdMxJhC1kejmmvELzbjYLYnf5l-I8s/s1600/Brompton+ROW+a.jpg" width="150" /></a></span></div>
<br />
<br />
This was the home of young Henry’s Great Grandmother Elizabeth Barbara
Hance a grand house which she shared with four grandchildren – Henry Snr.
(father of Henry Fletcher Hance), Charles, Mary and Emelia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elizabeth Barbara died in 1842 and her
jewellery, silver and damask table cloths were shared amongst her children
according to instructions given in her will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
An alternative sighting for young
Henry on the 1841 census is that of a 13 year old schoolboy at the Bradmore
House School
in Chiswick – only a few miles from his father and Great Grandmother in
Brompton Row.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henry was later reported
as being “<i>a polished Latinist and a facile writer of French, while his
knowledge of German certainly influenced his tone of scientific thought in
after years”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
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Reports differ on how Henry came
to arrive in Hong Kong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>An obituary states that he arrived on the ship “Cleopatra”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another researcher has him arriving in Hong
Kong with his father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
third possibility is that given by P.D. Coates in that he arrived with Nicholas
St. Croix on the Indiaman “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">John Laird</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>St. Croix is reported
to have manned the ship with young men from Devon – the
sons of friends and relatives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
source of this information is said to be “a massive diary” kept by St.
Croix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tantalising indeed
is the fact that the diary itself is reputedly in New
Zealand with the owners not wishing to be
identified.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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A matter of record is that in
September 1844, at the age of 17, Henry joined the Hong Kong Government as a
clerk in the Clerk of Council’s Office.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From 1845 to 1851 he was 3<sup>rd</sup>. Clerk in the Colonial
Secretary’s Office with records showing that he took at least 2-3 weeks sick
leave every year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His leisure hours
were spent discovering the flora of Hong Kong and this
soon became a passion rather than just a past time.<span style="color: red;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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Towards the end of 1847 Henry was
confined to bed for 6 weeks and towards the end of 1849 was admitted to the
Seaman’s Hospital for a month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1851
his body was so weakened by fever that Dr. Harland and William Morrison, the
Colonial Surgeon, advised that he be granted 18 months sick leave which should
be spent in the cooler climate of England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Governor commented that he considered
Henry to be “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a promising gentleman of
talents and education</i>” but that he feared Hong Kong’s
climate would not agree with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Henry’s medical leave was granted and he departed on 12 April 1851 by the barque <i>Chebar</i>
under the command of Captain Grayson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The route of the voyage was to be
via The Cape of Good Hope - a journey which should have taken a little over
four months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately, the ship ran
aground off the east coast of Sumatra and it was a week
before she was freed and towed into port.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Henry was stuck in the heat and humidity for some weeks looking for a
suitable means of continuing his journey. </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Whilst on leave in England
Henry met up with a childhood friend – Ann Edith Baylis. Ann had been born in Westminster
in 1822 the first daughter of William Baylis and his wife Anne Harriet. Her
father had died when Ann was just 6 months old but by this time her mother was
already pregnant with a second child and a sister for Ann was born later in the
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time of her father’s death
Ann and her mother were living at 70 St. James Street,
Piccadilly which was situated next door to the prestigious Carlton Club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1830 her mother married Charles
Vandergucht a silk merchant and by 1841 they were living and working from The
Quadrant, Piccadilly Circus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The daughters of her previous marriage were
no longer living at home but she did have a six year old child the daughter of
her second husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A possible sighting
for Ann Edith on the 1841 census is as a member of the household of Sir Henry
Peyton, 2<sup>nd</sup>. Baronet of Doddington in Grosvenor
Place<span style="color: #2e74b5;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
By 1851 Ann was employed as the
Governess at Noseley Hall in Leicestershire – the home of Sir Arthur Grey
Hazlerigg 12<sup>th</sup>. Baronet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ann’s
duties would have been to instruct the three elder daughters of the family who
were listed on the census as being “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">scholars
at home</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Acquiring skills in music
and needlework would have been top of the curriculum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The death indexes for 1841 indicate that
Ann’s sister, Harriet, died towards the end of the year whilst her mother died
in Long Ditton, Surrey in 1846 at the age of 48.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus by the time Henry returned to England
in 1851 Ann was alone with no immediate family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She must have welcomed the return of her childhood friend.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiDm_FrIbhlpctqew-lepCNO71NhlWxKblS9vS6bMCg-grjyDAVEvZJLhmyz26tW_JKED7U6Lca2l0O93UmE9OFoyovxpZEs8LM7pdxHFps1VnxhiA1hzp9gluGy7bI4lv80h_s-90YA/s1600/Noseley_Hall_geograph.org.uk_2343181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMiDm_FrIbhlpctqew-lepCNO71NhlWxKblS9vS6bMCg-grjyDAVEvZJLhmyz26tW_JKED7U6Lca2l0O93UmE9OFoyovxpZEs8LM7pdxHFps1VnxhiA1hzp9gluGy7bI4lv80h_s-90YA/s1600/Noseley_Hall_geograph.org.uk_2343181.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noseley_Hall#mediaviewer/File:Noseley_Hall_geograph.org.uk_2343181.jpg">Noseley Hall by Kate Jewell - from Wikipedia</a></div>
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On New Years Eve 1851 Henry and
Ann visited Kew Gardens
and it was here – by the lake in front of the Palm House – that Henry
proposed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
They were married at Highweek
in Devon on 27
May 1852.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though he was
on his honeymoon Botany could not entirely be forgotten and it was varieties of
<i>Erica Carnea</i> from the heaths near Newton Abbot which particularly caught
his attention.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On 1 May Henry had written to the
Colonial Office applying for a two month extension to his overseas leave and
this had been granted due to the exceptional circumstances of his having been
shipwrecked on the voyage back to England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>At the end of June Henry again wrote to the Colonial Office applying for
a further extension of one month due to “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">domestic
circumstances</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps Ann needed a
little more time in which to purchase a dinner service and other items for her
household in the Far East – or perhaps it was Henry who
needed more time to buy books.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
The couple arrived in Hong
Kong in February 1853 but the voyage could not have been a
particularly pleasant experience for Ann who was in the early stages of
pregnancy. It was in May that their first son was born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henry returned to his position as 3<sup>rd</sup>.
Clerk in the Colonial Secretariat and by this time was being shown as Dr. H. F.
Hance – it was later reported that he had graduated as a Doctor of Philosophy
on 24<sup>th</sup>. November 1849 possibly from the University
of Giessen in Germany.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Towards the end of 1853 the post
of Clerk to the Auditor General became vacant due to the death of the incumbent
and Henry succeeded to the post on 17<sup> </sup>December bringing an increase
in salary from £243 pa to £300 pa.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
On the 1 May 1854, having been
recommended by Sir John Bowring, Henry left his position with the Hong Kong
Government and was appointed 4<sup>th</sup>. Assistant to the Superintendent of
Trade in Canton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sir John Bowring “<i>was always ready to
bring forward any man connected with science or literature”.</i><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
At the end of 1854 a second son<span style="color: red;"> </span>was born. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In 1856 Henry was appointed
Senior Assistant at the British Consulate in Canton
but the timing could not have been worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Arrow incident saw the start of the Second Opium War and December
brought the burning of the Foreign Factories in Canton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Hance family lost most of their
possessions including a mahogony cottage piano and achromatic microscope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also destroyed was Ann’s embroidery frame
along with the family’s sedan chair and the baby’s black lacquer carriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By this time Henry had collected some 200
books which were housed in several bookcases – all were lost in the
flames.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His compensation claim shows
that he valued his books at £187 13sh 10d; his furniture etc. £134 18sh 11 ½ d;
clothing & linen etc. £107 7sh.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
After the riots Consulate staff,
together with the Consular records which Henry maintained plus the archives of
the Superintendent of Trade for China,
were moved to Hong Kong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Odiarne Tremayne Lane<span style="color: red;"> </span>Second
Secretary at the Consulate was killed during the troubles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being a close colleague Henry had been named
as Executor in his will and on arrival in Hong Kong put
in place the administrative tasks connected with probate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
1856 had been a sad year for
Henry as his father had died in London
in May.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henry Hance Snr. was buried in
the family grave at Brompton Cemetery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The section where the grave is located is now
a “Conservation Area” – great for butterflies and bees but disastrous for a
researcher searching for a grave.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, Henry the Botanist would be more than content with this
situation.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8_FaQIw4B6vin7iyb9r7W8Gl1lUjQ5QycMPZHCVtBatHuORFNJgbb4UiI6WCAWP82pOSLdJVbLDkBeO2EoY-udyPbgQEzP5HGB26ADob2VoHL7k_IJlB4eCHORYCQ3lWraeCCWtRGgE/s1600/DSCN5488a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju8_FaQIw4B6vin7iyb9r7W8Gl1lUjQ5QycMPZHCVtBatHuORFNJgbb4UiI6WCAWP82pOSLdJVbLDkBeO2EoY-udyPbgQEzP5HGB26ADob2VoHL7k_IJlB4eCHORYCQ3lWraeCCWtRGgE/s1600/DSCN5488a.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
One of the ladies whom Ann may
have been friends with at this time was Emma Buckton the widow of British
tradesman, Charles Buckton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles
had been trading in the Far East for some years but in December 1847 the stock
in trade of his Shipchandler’s business in HK was put up for sale due to his
insolvency.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A year later he was
advertising the sale of ladies’ bonnets, hams and cheeses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By January 1849 his house in Hollywood
Road was advertised as being available to let and
in February his first wife left Hong Kong bound for England
with their three children and a female servant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Shortly after arrival the first Mrs. Buckton died at 29
Sloane Street, Chelsea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charles married his second wife, Emma, in Liverpool
at the beginning of 1853 and brought her & her children by a previous
marriage back to Whampoa where he reinstated his ship chandler’s business.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the following year the Buckton’s
were caught in the midst of fighting and Charles suffered substantial losses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died at Whampoa in the summer of 1856 and
Emma moved to the safety of Hong Kong.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Henry, as Senior Assistant of the
Canton Consulate, was busy collating claims for losses which had been incurred
by British subjects during the troubles – including submitting his own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of his colleagues – Theophilus Sampson
the Consular Constable – submitted a very meagre claim of $17 for brushes and
clothes whilst Henry’s claim amounted to $2128 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>95c.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>His beloved books taking up 40% of the claim.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
After a few months Henry’s excellent
record keeping services were called for elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He transferred back to the office of the
Superintendent of Trade for China
and placed in charge of The Archives leaving Sampson to cope with the Consulate
administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> Bundles of correspondence forming part of the</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Archive of the Superintendent of Trade</b></span></div>
<br />
The Hong Kong Directory
lists Henry as living at The Albany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
later years he was consulted on the best location for the proposed botanical garden
and he recommended the area just in front of these Government Quarters.<span style="color: red;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Theo Sampson married the former
Mrs. Buckton in Hong Kong in August 1858 and they moved
to Canton where the Consulate had
been re-established.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Office of the
Superintendent of Trade was wound up and Henry also found himself back in Canton
as the Senior Assistant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It was September of the same year
when the Colonial Surgeon William Aurelius Harland died in Hong Kong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henry’s two page handwritten obituary bears
testimony to their long and deep friendship “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The prospective opening of China by the Treaty of Tientsin caused him
the liveliest satisfaction as likely to carrying out of a long cherished
project – the scientific exploration of some of the less known portions of the
Empire</i>”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can imagine the two men
spending long hours discussing the exciting prospects of what might be awaiting
discovery in China.<span style="color: red;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
In March 1861 Henry was promoted
from the ranks of Assistant in the Consular Service to become Vice-Consul at
Whampoa a position he held for the next 17 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout this period Ann continued to
produce children with the final total being eight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The 1861
census shows the eldest son being
educated by his Aunt in Devon and by 1871 he had been
joined by the second son. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Although there was little social
life in Whampoa the family were happy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henry
continued to indulge his love of Botany and established a wide circle of
contacts in the Far East and Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ann contented herself with music,
needlework, and raising the children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
her spare time she would assist her husband by labelling specimens destined for
Kew Gardens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then one day in September 1872 Anne suffered
a stroke. She died four hours later in Henry’s arms – she was 49 years of age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In Henry’s own words:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Half
an hour previous to the attack I was laughing, & kissing and playing with
her!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To add to my agony there was no
medical man, nor even a lady, at the time at Whampoa; so that, amidst all my
sorrow, I was obliged to keep a clear judicial mind as all the treatment and attendance
devolved on me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am quite prostrated
and heartbroken, and though more than two months have elapsed, I feel at times
as if my mind would give way,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and as if
I could not long survive this blow…………………….. I must say she was the sweetest,
gentlest, tenderest and most unselfish woman I ever saw”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Henry was so grief stricken that
it took three weeks before he could bring himself to register her death in the
Consulate register. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No record exists of
where Anne was buried but it is likely it would have been in the Foreigner’s
Cemetery on Danes Island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most of the headstones have long since
disappeared but a few have survived and been restored in recent years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If anyone should ever visit this little
cemetery please look out for an inscription to the memory of Ann Edith Hance - lay
a hand on her headstone and tell her she has not been forgotten despite the
passage of time.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
After their mother’s death the
remaining children were sent to England
to be educated by their Aunt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By 1881
the youngest<span style="color: red;"> <span style="color: black;">son </span></span>was attending Grammar
School in Warwickshire.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Three years after Ann’s death
Henry married Charlotte Page KNEEBONE in St. Johns,
Hong Kong. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consular
correspondence reports Charlotte as
being “halfe caste”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As she was born and
raised in India
it is likely that her ancestry was Anglo Indian rather than Anglo Chinese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Due to Henry’s lack of knowledge
with the Chinese language promotion was never a realistic proposition however
during the late 1870s and throughout the 1880s he acted as Consul in Canton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Charlotte
bore Henry a daughter and twin sons but as there was no physician based in
Whampoa it was left to Henry to compound and prescribe medicines for the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In August 1880 his young boys were near the
point of death and he had the anxiety of treating them whilst at the same time
suffering himself from severe remittent fever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In 1881 he wrote:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“<i>I feel alas that my days of
active work are quietly and steadily closing in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is my thirty-sixth year in China and I
have neither the hand nor head that I possessed ten years ago.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I shall never cease my love for my
favourite science” </i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
By 1882 things were deteriorating
further:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“<i>I am sick, aging,
ill-disposed and too often unequal to any work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I do not think I can stay here much longer, or be of any use to science</i>”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
It was during his term as Acting
Consul in 1883 that riots broke out in Canton
and the English settlement on Shameen was at the mercy of the Chinese mob.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The general feeling, after the event, was
that Henry “<i>had exhibited no lack of those qualities which should
distinguish a British official</i>” – he had done well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, Botany had to take a back seat
during these troubled times and in January 1884 he wrote to a friend:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>Amidst the constant worry and anxiety of
my daily life, I have been unable, except for a spare half hour or so, to do
anything at all botanically; but I hope, rather than expect, in a more or less
proximate future, to get a little more time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I quite gave up library and herbarium at the time of the irruption on
Shameen</i>!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Fevers, congestion of the liver
and other complications sapped his strength with every passing year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the summer of 1884 he was so ill that he
was moved to a Government pavilion on The Peak in Hong Kong
and attended by Dr. Manson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But this move was to
coincide with the collapse of the Oriental Bank.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“<i>As every sixpence he had in the world was
lodged there, his embarrassment left him no alternative but to resume his
duties as Acting Consul at </i><i>Canton</i>”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
A year later his health was still
of concern and he was ordered to Macao
for three months absolute rest before returning briefly to his duties as
Vice-Consul at Whampoa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In May 1886 he
was appointed Acting Consul at Amoy.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Just a few weeks later Henry
suffered a serious attack of diarrhoea and died on 22 June 1886 at the age of 58 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His death was registered by the Acting
Assistant at the Consulate. Henry was shown as being “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">H.M. Vice Consul, Whampoa & H.M. Acting Consul, </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Amoy</i>”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Henry’s last wishes were that his
funeral be “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">plain and cheap</i>”. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Presumably his wife did not agree with this
for his body was taken to Hong Kong for a funeral fit
for an Acting Consul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <i>Haiphong</i>
arrived early on Saturday 26 June and the coffin taken directly to Happy Valley
to await the funeral service timed for 5pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The service was attended by all senior members of the Hong Kong
Government plus British and Foreign Consuls – one of his sons was the Chief Mourner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The coffin, covered with the ensign, was born
from the chapel to the grave on the shoulders of four Consuls, the Colonial
Treasurer, Revd. Chalmers, Charles Ford of the Hong
Kong Botanical Gardens
and Mr. Lammert.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another friend describing
the funeral reported <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">that he was<i>:</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>“buried on June 26<sup>th</sup>.
1886 in the beautiful Wong-nei-chung Valley, the wooded slopes of which were
the home of many a plant gathered or described by him during his lifetime</i>”.<br />
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Wong-nei-chung Valley</b></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Sir Thomas Wade, KCB writing
about Henry said: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“<i>He was zealous, conscientious
and intelligent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I do not know that I
ever met a man who seemed to me more constant in his endeavour to do his
duty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had the misfortune not to know Chinese.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While he was in the Colonial service there
was no inducement to him to study the language, and his leisure was devoted to
his favourite pursuit Botany.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When he
transferred to the Foreign Office service, although not old, he was no longer
young and he was very hard worked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Foreign Office rule, which made knowledge of Chinese indispensable, became
justly and naturally more stringent every year and by his unacquaintance with
it he missed more than one opportunity of permanent advancement.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was employed provisionally as a Consul and
in my judgment, acquitted himself remarkably well in his acting capacity</i>”.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Sir Joseph Hooker wrote:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
“<i>With regard to Dr. Hance’s
botanical attainments and the value of his labours I can speak in very high
terms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For upwards of forty years he
devoted all his spare time to investigating the vegetation of China, displaying
rare ability in mastering the technicalities of structural and descriptive
Botany at the same time enriching the scientific journals in England with
accounts of new plants of great interest in a botanical and economic point of
view.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In all that he attempted he aimed
at critical accuracy in identification and diagnosis and this he attained in an
eminent degree so that there is no possibility of failure in recognising from
his descriptions the plants he had under examination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had Dr. Hance lived he would doubtless have
given in a connected form an account of the vegetable riches of China such as
it would have been far beyond the grasp of any other naturalist to have
produced, and this too with a classical diction that is extremely rare in the
writing of scientific men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it is he
has left no successor in China.”</i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Henry’s will stated that he
wished his herbarium (which contained over 22,000 different species ) to be
offered to the British Musuem as the Head of the Botanical Department had
already expressed an interest in acquiring this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His library of books was also to be sent to England
for sale.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charlotte
was to be given the chance of choosing three items of jewellery with the
remainder being divided amongst his children as a remembrance of their father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His silver goblet was left to his sister in England.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charlotte
was also to receive $200 and any arrears of salary due to Henry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Henry’s original will written in 1879
declared that the remainder of his estate be divided into eight equal portions
with four of these going to the children of his first marriage and the remaining
portions intended for Charlotte and her children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A codicil written four years later revoked
the portion for one of his sons who was by that time earning a
living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The portions for the daughters
of his first marriage were to be revoked if they had married or were engaged at
the time of his death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The portion for
the youngest son of the first marriage was also to be revoked if at the time of
Henry’s death he too was earning a living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Somehow or another I can see Charlotte’s
hand behind this codicil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Henry’s estate was initially
estimated at being $4500 and this is the amount for which probate duty was paid
in China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By October 1886 Charlotte
had moved to Hong Kong and was living at 8 Seymour
Terrace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was from this address that
she provided a statement showing the “true” value of Henry’s estate was
actually $2875 <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and as a result she applied
for repayment of the excess duty which had been paid in China.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Charlotte
remained in Hong Kong and by 1891 was running a school
teaching 3 boys and 7 girls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three years
later Bubonic Plague raged through the Colony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The area of Taipingshan was seen as being particularly unsanitary so
much so that it was decided to raze the whole area to the ground.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Taipingshan Resumption Ordinance of 1894 authorised
the resumption of Crown Lots with compensation being paid to the owners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charlotte Page Hance was listed as being the
owner of one of these lots. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
Later in life Charlotte
developed cancer of the face and died in Hong Kong in
June 1911.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was buried with Henry in
the Colonial Cemetery,
Happy Valley.<br />
<br />
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</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
The lives of the Henry’s children
deserve a research study of their own and this I hope to complete next year.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
If you should find this material of use in your research I would be grateful if you could provide a link back to this story. </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Should you be descended from Henry Fletcher Hance then please make contact as I would love to hear from you.</div>
<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://hongkongfamilyhistory.blogspot.co.uk/">Hong Kong Family History Research</a></span><br />
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Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-21335980159470764052012-10-14T02:22:00.001-07:002018-05-23T06:32:20.754-07:00Continuing the story of George Thomas Howell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">(Apologies for the break in
service but I have spent the past year in the midst of a property move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My archive material is now slowly being
unpacked so I am able to resume the story of George Thomas Howell.)</span></div>
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It may be remembered that the
year is 1892 and George has arrived in Gank’ing (Anqing) 400 miles from Shanghai.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His letters home describe some of the scenes
that greet him daily:</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">“We are greeted with opium fumes from one of the many dens we must pass
as we walk westwards and a glance inside reveals some of the victims lying on
couches of wood and inhaling the drug which ministers to their lusts and ruins
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A little further we notice a group
of men bending over a dirty pack of cards or throwing the dice and so intently
absorbed in their gambling operations that even the “foreigners” pass
unnoticed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gambling is a vice only
second to opium smoking in </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">China</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> and one sees the tiniest of children, all
but naked, seated round a dice bowl and learning to gamble almost before they
can walk properly.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Turning into one of the main streets, dirty and narrow, we have to pick
our way in and out amongst throngs of shouting coolies some of them bearing
tremendously heavy burdens: water carriers with their two wooden pails, one
slung at each end of the bamboo pole; hawkers of every conceivable kind of
ware; and the inevitable barber also carrying his “shop” on a bamboo pole,
having the water bowl and a kind of chest containing his kettle of hot water,
combs, razors etc. at one end whilst at the other is the stool for his
customers to sit upon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is quite a
common thing to see a man having a shave and getting his queue plaited in open
street – no-one taking the least notice or exhibiting the slightest interest in
the operation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In this street to we shall probably notice a man sitting at a table
with a piece of paper having Chinese characters written all over them, pasted
on the surface of the table a few sticks in a sort of bamboo bottle without a
neck, and perhaps two or three books complete his stock in trade.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With these he will, for a consideration, tell
– or profess to tell – the fortune and misfortunes of his numerous
patrons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the “Foreign Teachers” or “Foreign
Devils” pass (according to the favour or disfavour with which he regards us) he
will probably have something to say which directs the attention of the group
surrounding hin to us, but we walk on, our limited knowledge of the language
preventing us hearing as to whether he finds our passing at the auspicious moment
an omen of good or evil.”</i></div>
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Over the next few months sickness
prevailed and George lost at least one of his fellow missionaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also made the long trip to Shanghai
and during the visit met up with members of the Shanghai Municipal Police
Force.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span> </div>
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On returning to Gank’ing George
sat – and passed – his “first section” examination.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">If you have any stories of your own that you would like to share please feel free to e-mail me at:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
(Please type the above address into your e-mail - </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
it is not a direct link as I am trying to avoid spammers !!)</div>
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Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-52784336044223625432011-08-29T06:03:00.000-07:002018-05-23T06:32:45.244-07:00George Thomas Howell arrives in China 1892<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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As 1891 draws to a close George Thomas Howell, the young missionary from London, is on a voyage to the Orient. He left London at the end of November and he and his companions have just passed through the Suez canal.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">December 10<sup>th </sup></i></b></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At noon we reached Suez and a stop of three quarters of an hour was sufficient to take in poultry, vegetables, fruit etc. We were soon on our way again passing through wild and rugged mountainous scenery on each side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The width of the </i><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gulf of Suez</i></place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> varies from six to ten miles and extends from </i><city><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Suez</i></place></city><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> to the </i><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Sea</i></place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">December 14<sup>th</sup></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Our journey through the </i><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Red Sea</i></place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> is nearly over and at </i><time hour="22" minute="0"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">10pm</i></time><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> we are expecting to reach </i><city><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Aden</i></place></city><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At 2.30 we passed the </i><place><placetype><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">island</i></placetype><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> of </i><placename><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Perim</i></placename></place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> and saw the masts and yards of the P&O ss </i><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Hong Kong</i></place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, wrecked off here about ten months ago. One can easily imagine a ship being wrecked here for huge rocks abound on every side and the only wonder is that so many hundreds of vessels pass every year without mishap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div>
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George journeyed on and reached <city><place>Colombo</place></city> on 22<sup>nd</sup>. December where he and the other missionaries transferred to the ss Malwa.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They reached <city><place>Shanghai</place></city> on Saturday 9<sup>th</sup>. January 1892 where they were welcomed by the Rev. J. Hudson Taylor and other members of the China Inland Mission.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Five days were spent in the city during which time George was transformed into a “Chinaman” with a false queue being added to his hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then, with eight others he began a journey up the Yangtse river and into the interior of <country-region><place>China</place></country-region>.</div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The nine of us were packed into a cabin 11ft. in length and 8ft. wide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our furniture, if it could be termed as such, consisted of 12 shelves for sleeping upon (we carry our own bedding in </i><country-region><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">China</i></place></country-region><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">) and an oil lantern which like some of us Christians did not shed forth an over brilliant light.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The scope for our toilet operations was so limited that we did not attempt to undress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Washing, which we considered a necessity, though unfortunately all Chinamen do not, was only accomplished by two getting up at a time, and after performing their ablutions with the cabin floor as a washstand, (we having bought basin, soap etc.), retiring to the deck whilst two more followed suit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Meals were taken with considerable difficulty though these also were considered by us to be so necessary that difficulties were overcome, and we managed with the provisions which we had brought with us to get along very well in this department, occasionally varying our diet with a basin of rice (supplied by the ships people for breakfast, dinner and tea) upon which occasions we practiced the art, and it is an art, of using chopsticks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will be glad to know that I am getting on very well in this respect; it is really wonderful what one can do when he is hungry, even though chopsticks have to be manipulated in lieu of knives and forks.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The atmosphere of our cabin was by no means improved by the fumes of our opium smoking neighbour, and yet, in spite of all, we were as happy as if we had had the grandest saloon, with every comfort, on board a P & O liner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I shall not soon forget my first experience on board a river steamer in </i><country-region><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">China</i></place></country-region><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To-day is the first of the </i><country-region><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">China</i></place></country-region><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> New Year and at this time they give themselves over to visiting and feasting one another and to endeavouring in all sorts of ways to propitiate the gods and on every side we see emblems of the superstition and ignorance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prayers written and pasted on the doors of houses, worship and burning of incense before idols and at the graves of ancestors, firing off crackers to frighten away evil spirits and all sorts of folly are indulged in to a much larger extent that ever at this season of the year.</i></div>
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George finally reached Gank’ing (Anqing) in <place><placename>Anhuei</placename> <placetype>Province</placetype></place> some <metricconverter productid="400 miles">400 miles</metricconverter> from <city><place>Shanghai</place></city> and set about learning the language and acquainting himself with the city.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Looking out from my window I can see the north wall to the hills beyond with their countless graves and shrines, with their evidence of superstition in the shape of burnt incense, remnants of crackers and paper houses and money for the use of the departed one’s spirit.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At breakfast this morning a request came for the missionary here to go to an opium poisoning case and the victim proved to be a girl of less than twenty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this case the relatives would not allow the medicine that might have saved her life to be given and upon enquiry this afternoon we learnt that another had been added to the awful list of victims and that she too was dead.</i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">If God spares me I shall doubtless see many such scenes but this first one has left an impression on my mind that will long remain.</i></div>
Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-8243814649569951152011-08-04T07:48:00.000-07:002011-08-04T07:48:10.654-07:00Continuing George Thomas Howell’s voyage to the Orient back in the early 1890s.<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qeEvHj26EHvf8e0sSuaqAWEeNpfOjSAtbY5b9U9RNxy8iX2qHDQDCP_MrqRGhnZAQohEiq4xei-XG4_Xsz6HQduOPYPTF9O7qyURQLqNPlcmR7riQy2jf7F_gttJ_47QpOlKf7wClac/s1600/f3b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6qeEvHj26EHvf8e0sSuaqAWEeNpfOjSAtbY5b9U9RNxy8iX2qHDQDCP_MrqRGhnZAQohEiq4xei-XG4_Xsz6HQduOPYPTF9O7qyURQLqNPlcmR7riQy2jf7F_gttJ_47QpOlKf7wClac/s320/f3b.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><strong>One of my own voyages through the Med</strong></span></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;">The date is December 4<sup>th</sup>. 1891 and George and his missionary friends are steaming through the <place>Mediterranean</place> having been at sea for nine days.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He writes:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The days, now that we are settling down to life on board ship, are wonderfully alike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We generally rise about 7 and after a cold sea-water bath and private devotions get time for a turn on deck before breakfast at 8.30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After breakfast we gather in the lower hatch for our Bible reading together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After this we study the Phinese Radicals until about </i><time hour="12" minute="0"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">12 o’clock</i></time><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> by which time we are ready to appreciate the fresh air which blows across the hurricane deck and occupy ourselves till dinner time, viz 1.30.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The afternoon is spent in reading or writing, some of us varying the proceeding by indulging in quoits, leap-frog, chess etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Captain is proposing a cricket math between 1<sup>st</sup> and 2<sup>nd</sup> saloons and I am hoping to take part should this be arranged.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After tea we frequently adjourn to the hurricane deck again armed with our rugs and Sankey’s hymn book and for an hour or two the ship rings with the well known tunes from this book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">December 5<sup>th</sup></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At </i><time hour="7" minute="15"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">7.15 am</i></time><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> we anchored in the magnificent </i><place><placetype><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bay</i></placetype><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> of </i><placename><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Naples</i></placename></place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> and the scene as we stood on deck and looked at this city of churches was a pretty one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bay is semi-circular with the houses almost down to the water’s edge and to the east Vesuvius stands out rugged and gloomy looking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had not been long at anchor before we were surrounded on all sides with craft of every sort, bringing vendors of trinkets and fancy articles of all descriptions which as soon as they could get on board they spread out on seats, hatchways and deck until our vessel had something of the appearance of a Fancy Fair or Eastern Bazaar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whilst at breakfast a boat with musicians came alongside and our ears were greeted with some of the beautiful airs and songs of these Neapolitans which the women who were gorgeously attired rendered capitally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At 9.15 we boarded the steam launch and in a few minutes were again on solid ground and having engaged a guide for our party of five we started on our tour resolved to see all that we could of </i><city><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Naples</i></place></city><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> in the seven hours at our disposal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we may fairly claimed to have done this mainly through the reckless driving of the “Jarvey” whom our guide engaged ! …………………………………………………………………..</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Reaching Pompeii at 11.40 we at once proceeded to inspect this strange silent city – one day the centre of life and activity and steeped in sin and vice (awful evidence of which exists to-day after eighteen centuries) and the next in ruins and buried with its thousands of inhabitants in the stream of burning lava and ashes which belched forth from the sombre looking mountain which overhangs it, and which on the day we stood at its base was enveloped at the summit in thick smoke.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To describe all we saw would fill a volume and then I should fail to make you understand all the visitor feels as he walks up and down these deserted streets and thinks of the wonderful history and awful end of Pompeii ……………………………………</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Upon going on deck this morning our eyes were greeted with a glorious sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were in the Straits of Messina and on one side were the vine covered hills of Sicily, with the lovely little towns dotted here and there, and on the other side the scene on the Italian shore was one of perfect beauty and as we slowly steamed through with a grand sky and bright sun overhead “Etna” came in sight making with the surrounding hills a picture glorious in the extreme.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">December 8<sup>th</sup></i></b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">To-day we have been enjoying a cricket match in which several of us took part between the first and second saloons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A match on board a large steamer is a matter of interest and we had many spectators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game is not played quite in the orthodox style of “Lords” as the ball is made of rope, the wicket with four stumps instead of three and the bat a little narrower than regulation width. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This will be readily understood as being necessary when the difficulty of bowling straight on board ship is considered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Should a ball be sent overboard the batsman scores six but is out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been chosen as captain of the second saloon team and there was a humorous account of the match in the </i><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sutlej</i></place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Gazette the next morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We thus spent an enjoyable afternoon though intensely hot.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Arrival at </i><city><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Port Said</i></place></city><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> remarkable as the greatest coaling station in the world, 1,000,000 tons being supplied annually to steamers here.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We went on shore for a couple of hours and returned disgusted; the only enjoyable feature being a short visit to the missionary in charge of the Sailors’ Rest, with whom we had a chat and prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite a number of boys came alongside our vessel as soon as we “made fast” and showed considerable skill in diving for coins which the passengers threw into the water invariably bringing them to the surface and putting then into their mouths which formed a temporary pocket while they dived for others.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><br />
<div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsXgDkmaMM8KjYT-4_Ytolno28TekSwtPmddtfnt7WQVarI8_r2KiJMmFpSQ9tIVaDL2TaHRRk13BiXTjZ5NgYr_5h83YTCrwFNkQ7K1kqqJO8C62IO_f9iL3ALM_Zj5ODChoLPTqw1E/s1600/l2n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsXgDkmaMM8KjYT-4_Ytolno28TekSwtPmddtfnt7WQVarI8_r2KiJMmFpSQ9tIVaDL2TaHRRk13BiXTjZ5NgYr_5h83YTCrwFNkQ7K1kqqJO8C62IO_f9iL3ALM_Zj5ODChoLPTqw1E/s320/l2n.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center"><strong><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Port Said at dusk in 2008</span></strong></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">At </i><time hour="18" minute="0"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">6pm</i></time><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> we entered the Canal and by aid of the magnificent electric search light fixed at the bow of our vessel commenced to make our way slowly through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It took us eighteen hours to travel the eighty-seven miles from </i><city><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Port Said</i></place></city><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> to </i><city><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Suez</i></place></city><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, including a short stay at </i><city><place><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ismailia</i></place></city><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> to land a few passengers.</i><br />
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I will continue with George's voyage in a few days so please keep following the tale.</div>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-6889352582050096422011-07-08T08:57:00.000-07:002018-05-23T06:33:05.221-07:00George Thomas HOWELL, Missionary<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rMxdtbiCkOykWmrruCQ1cBDnXt8TJgwCPKTx4qRwQ56HvZPTEsGdi9YHIuQFPE5z_zBbUWmbz10tfl6ogIyMRPmBEQdwSo6jGuEkDhEHpZCPRsVLP6IMhlcvL6wgjPam58Tf1qtCORo/s1600/Howell+1+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" m="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_rMxdtbiCkOykWmrruCQ1cBDnXt8TJgwCPKTx4qRwQ56HvZPTEsGdi9YHIuQFPE5z_zBbUWmbz10tfl6ogIyMRPmBEQdwSo6jGuEkDhEHpZCPRsVLP6IMhlcvL6wgjPam58Tf1qtCORo/s320/Howell+1+small.jpg" true="" width="234" /></a></div>
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George was born in Bermondsey on 12 June 1870 and as a child was educated by the London School Board. He was a scholarly lad and won many prizes. At the age of 11 he attended the Sunday School at the East London Tabernacle and it was this which set him on his path in life. He became a teacher and developed an interest in missionary work. At the age of 21 he joined the China Inland Mission and was chosen to represent the Missionary Union of the Christian Police Association. George was engaged to be married to Grace Selby Brown the second daughter of the Revd. Archibald Brown. Grace was also training to become a missionary. On 25 November 1892 George set forth on the SS Sutlej on the voyage to China, hoping that his fiancé would be able to join him in the not too distant future. In this and the next couple of blogs I will bring you something of his journey for it will be similar to voyages made by all those who travelled East.</div>
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<i>After the last farewells had been said and father and all the friends who had come down to Tilbury with us had returned home the band of seven Missionaries (myself among the number) met in the largest of our cabins and commended our loved ones left behind. ………………</i></div>
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<i>Passing out of Tilbury the scene as night came on and we got out into the open sea was indeed a grand one. The magnificent lighthouses and ships that surround our English coasts and tell of “Hidden rock and treacherous sands” began to send forth their bright rays and flash their warning signals. The sea was very calm and our first night afloat was a pleasant one.</i></div>
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<i>After a good night’s rest we were glad to find, on going on deck in the morning that the old country was still in sight. With the aid of Mr. Green’s glasses splendid views of Bonchurch and Ventnor were obtained and also of vessels passing up & down the channel. At 4.30 I got my last glimpse of dear old England which we were rapidly leaving behind and as night came on our eyes were directed towards the point which marks the entrance to the famous Bay of Biscay – Ushant. We remained on deck until the light on the headland came in sight and then retired for the night.</i></div>
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<i>We awoke on Saturday morning to find ourselves being pitched backwards and forwards in a way which made dressing an extremely difficult operation, and this combined with the uncomfortable sensation within was far from pleasant.</i></div>
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Fortunately, it appears that George found his sea legs quite quickly for he goes on to record:</div>
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<i>On Saturday we shipped a great deal of water, several seas coming right on to the hurricane deck and the main deck oft-times being flooded the ship pitching about in a decidedly uncomfortable way, which however we (Preedy and I) rather enjoyed when our sickness was over.</i></div>
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<i>December 1st.</i></div>
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<i>Going on deck this morning revealed to us that we were off the north-east of Africa on the one side and Spain on the other and making for Gibraltar. All eyes were turned to the direction of the mighty Rock we expected soon to see and about 9 o’clock it came in sight, looming through a thick mist which was soon dispelled by the rising sun. At 10.15 we anchored in the beautiful harbour side by side with the great liner of the P & O Co “Victoria” which arrived at the same time on her homeward voyage. ………..</i></div>
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<i>It was difficult, as we wandered along under a hot sun, with geraniums on every side and oranges hanging on the trees in rich clusters, to realise that it was the first of December and that at home rain and fog were the order of the day. </i></div>
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George and his friends only had a couple of hours ashore and at 2pm they were back on board as the ship weighed anchor.</div>
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<i>We were soon steaming down the Mediterranean leaving the huge fortress, 1,400 feet high and bristling with British guns, in the distance. This afternoon we witnessed the most glorious sunset conceivable. Standing on the deck of the ship we watched “Old Sol” sink behind the hills of Africa leaving as it did so such a blaze of golden light and tinting the horizon where earth and sky seemed to meet and lose themselves in each other with wondrous colours and making a picture of matchless beauty and one worth travelling any distance to behold.</i></div>
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Oh dear, I think I am going to have to end here otherwise I will be on the internet booking another cruise for myself !! It is EXACTLY how George describes it - a very magical experience. I will return in a few days with a bit more of George’s voyage to the Orient back in 1892.</div>
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Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-39452346915194910472011-06-29T05:04:00.000-07:002018-05-23T06:33:24.944-07:00Miss Emma Georgiana Hurn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Emma was born at Peckham Rye on <date day="6" month="7" year="1868">6 July 1868</date> and “born again” in July 1890.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1896 she was accepted at Doric Lodge which had been established in 1884 by Dr. & Mrs. Grattan Guinness for the training of lady missionaries. The Lodge was situated in Bow Road opposite Harley House which was the training centre for male missionaries. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During holidays she did work for the YWCA where it was reported that all the girls loved her and brought their troubles to her as to a friend.</div>
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Once Emma’s basic training was over she entered the China Inland Mission Home to prepare for her move to the <place>Far East</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She sailed for <country-region><place>China</place></country-region> on <date day="3" month="1" year="1898">3 January 1898</date>.</div>
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Emma was posted to Si-chau, <place><placename>Shansi</placename> <placetype>Province</placetype></place> way up in the north of <country-region><place>China</place></country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few months after arriving she wrote that she was slowly learning the difficult language.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As each day progressed she was able to understand a little more of what was being said.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She longed to be able to speak freely to the local people.</div>
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The year 1900 saw the Boxer uprising in northern <country-region><place>China</place></country-region>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Emma hid in the mountains for three weeks with fellow missionaries <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- Emma Dobson, Mr. & Mrs. Peat and their two children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were captured by the Boxers who were on the verge of killing them when the local magistrate at Si-chau stepped in and, for their own safety, put them in prison.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were then moved to Ping-yang and from there to K’u-wu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At K’u-wu they managed to borrow a little money from the magistrate which got them as far as the Ai-koo mountains but here they were overtaken by another group of Boxers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This time all six were slaughtered.</div>
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In all 189 Protestant Missionaries including 53 children were killed during the Boxer uprising.</div>
Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-82279851608423482452011-06-16T11:42:00.001-07:002018-05-23T06:33:40.152-07:00Summer Heat in Old Shanghai<div align="justify">
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Shanghai – Paris of the East – what a picture those words conjure up in the mind. I had the very good fortune to visit Shanghai very briefly a couple of years ago and I was hoping against hope that some of the Shanghai of yesteryears survived. It took a lot of searching for but I did find manage to find a wonderful coffee shop hidden deep within the old Hongkong Shanghai Bank building on The Bund. It was decorated in 1920s style and for a few moments, as I sipped my coffee on its veranda, I thought that I might be back in old Shanghai.<br />
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The summer of 1900 proved to be oppressively hot and humid and proved too much for some of the Old China Hands. Mr. David BRAND, born in Glasgow in 1845, had journeyed to China in the late 1860s and later became the Head Partner in the firm of Brand Bros. He was much respected in the community and was affectionately called “Dahvid”. He was described as being “witty and ready with a keen shrewd Scotch humour that made him a most sought after companion”. Heat and fever caught up with Mr. Brand and he passed away at 1am on Monday 23 July at his home on The Bund.<br />
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The funeral took place at The New Cemetery, Bubbling Well Road at 6pm the same day and the hearse and coffin were covered in beautiful floral wreaths and crosses. Half the Settlement turned out to pay their respects.<br />
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Little did anyone know at that time but events later in the 20th. century were to spell disaster for that lovely cemetery. In the early 1950s it was announced that all the graves were to be exhumed and moved to a new cemetery at Dazang on the outskirts of the city. Anyone wishing to arrange for the re-interment of their family members elsewhere were to make their own arrangements. The British Government did what it could and arranged for notices to appear in the major English and Scottish newspapers. A few families did manage to get the remains of their loved ones moved to Hong Kong and the imports started early in 1954. Hong Kong Burial Registers show that the cremated ashes of Mr. D. Brand (and his son Mr. R.A. Brand) were imported into HK from Shanghai under Removal Permit No. 8. They were re-interred in Section 16G of the Colonial Cemetery in grave number 10869 on 3rd. March 1954. No service was held on this occasion. During the month another 15 sets of ashes came in from Shanghai and were re-interred in the Hong Kong Cemetery.<br />
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These were the lucky ones. The graves of those souls who had no-one to arrange for their safe removal to Hong Kong – or back to the UK – were exhumed and moved to Dazang. If their headstones happened to show that they had been members of the military then the inscriptions were defaced to remove all reference to their units, ranks, service numbers and dates of death. The cemetery at Dazang has now been “lost”. Historians and researchers in Shanghai have been unable to determine where it was sited – all that they can say is that it no longer exists. Section 16G at the Hong Kong Cemetery is therefore a very special place as in my mind it represents all those who were previously buried in the Foreign Cemeteries of Old Shanghai.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpb8XOQcaWdZkMy9QwzH2sdZfVDnGbFI9LZCmmC7p2heSEsotSDM8T28J3dt2KlMvBFNnAT5w5eEYgDUxoeznZR5rNJLsDEUiaBIQDlFmbO5V8QOVETyQ7eKFAicljXrHcsSqbSFpxAFk/s1600/logo+2.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618890006024511378" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpb8XOQcaWdZkMy9QwzH2sdZfVDnGbFI9LZCmmC7p2heSEsotSDM8T28J3dt2KlMvBFNnAT5w5eEYgDUxoeznZR5rNJLsDEUiaBIQDlFmbO5V8QOVETyQ7eKFAicljXrHcsSqbSFpxAFk/s200/logo+2.png" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-7012348310242380432011-06-12T04:46:00.001-07:002018-05-23T06:33:55.001-07:00Foochow Protestant Cemetery<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxES3xXzcv7wj8pZ47FhkioTgO_XfwGgqzTrroLBFrLsL5p1EJySN6ISGp7v5EX3bGYLo1HFoc8x_pJjizQLDLndg2i1NUQc8stvRwyVwtgGE8UNtGJ4Y6rE5qdxF1ZfiLakpLtf30IQI/s1600/Fuchow+cemeterya.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617298550521777938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxES3xXzcv7wj8pZ47FhkioTgO_XfwGgqzTrroLBFrLsL5p1EJySN6ISGp7v5EX3bGYLo1HFoc8x_pJjizQLDLndg2i1NUQc8stvRwyVwtgGE8UNtGJ4Y6rE5qdxF1ZfiLakpLtf30IQI/s200/Fuchow+cemeterya.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 98px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a> <br />
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Missionaries first came to Foochow in 1847. Later it was reported that during the following ten years seven had died in Foochow – two ladies from the American Board Mission; three ladies from the American Methodist Mission; one lady and one gentleman from the C.M.S. Mission. This picture shows the Protestant Cemetery which was once located on the side of a hill at Maiyuan Road. A century later the cemetery contained 400 graves. It’s fate? To be demolished during the Cultural Revolution.<br />
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Foochow was also the last resting place for many British seamen – Apprentices, Able Seamen, Engineers and Captains all of whom died at Pagoda Anchorage, Foochow. It is doubtful whether any of these had stones erected in their memory. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJajLVcF5KhnqtH3sxhtUAYwedMK8Y0Y4qRc5skKF69vpFwJkGv72hNddsEPRSlo0Tik6leU8X4sN32ldbtk_h82ea128JzpDaCPi58C9D75bG8McwieiExy2KLaAIY5hfbRdQ7abbKrA/s1600/logo+2.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617298712121539458" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJajLVcF5KhnqtH3sxhtUAYwedMK8Y0Y4qRc5skKF69vpFwJkGv72hNddsEPRSlo0Tik6leU8X4sN32ldbtk_h82ea128JzpDaCPi58C9D75bG8McwieiExy2KLaAIY5hfbRdQ7abbKrA/s200/logo+2.png" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1661289322367174999.post-42260499769732279182011-06-11T11:15:00.000-07:002018-05-23T06:34:17.103-07:00Did your Ancestors spend an Interlude in China?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0g4x2zHU0QcKc8TJie19Dk7JlljNAo26rNR2xJ-J6b7iJ7ZbZx4j_QDeM2xBT_QG_ijMiKpNHpM33MbUquw6COoCYatv9WYlBOsXtArcDub3IiY-cSFckTsgDY95lhGxQnYzgYhORcZU/s1600/Puppet+ShowA.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617029967521034338" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0g4x2zHU0QcKc8TJie19Dk7JlljNAo26rNR2xJ-J6b7iJ7ZbZx4j_QDeM2xBT_QG_ijMiKpNHpM33MbUquw6COoCYatv9WYlBOsXtArcDub3IiY-cSFckTsgDY95lhGxQnYzgYhORcZU/s200/Puppet+ShowA.jpg" style="cursor: hand; display: block; height: 200px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 157px;" /></a><br />
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Hong Kong was ceded to Britain on 20th. January 1841 but the first British arrivals were not impressed with the barren island. Tradesmen and government officials settled themselves on the banks of the harbour which was the one redeeming feature of this otherwise inhospitable place. A thriving community was soon evident but the tropical heat and unsanitary conditions took their toll - life expectancy was short and the Colonial Cemetery started to fill.<br />
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The government officials of Hong Kong were no different from those of other British colonies and during the next 150 years produced mountains of paperwork relating to their policy decisions and administrative duties - most of which involved copious correspondence with the government back home in Britain. The Colonial Office paperwork now resides in The National Archives at Kew.<br />
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Meanwhile, on the mainland, consulates looked after the interests of the British Government in the major cities of China where factories were thriving on trade in silk and tea. Foreign Office correspondence can also be found at The National Archives and is a goldmine of information on the expatriates of the time.<br />
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It was not long before China became the focus of missionaries who sought to bring the word of the Lord to the local inhabitants. Over the years many died for their beliefs. Records of various missionary societies can be found in the archives of the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXfTj-IZXq7DY4eH7oMXN0BCerZ67obQqqvnR8QRUbMbdn40cCSvZANKy-CUXqkyxJyVfGeCGrCXttM3Zi97SXcillGsuQEQ2AAS-5BsghDgsWVWc8P6lglYOacgx5rq8EvEpztOQPYg/s1600/logo+2.png"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5617239005116750882" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXfTj-IZXq7DY4eH7oMXN0BCerZ67obQqqvnR8QRUbMbdn40cCSvZANKy-CUXqkyxJyVfGeCGrCXttM3Zi97SXcillGsuQEQ2AAS-5BsghDgsWVWc8P6lglYOacgx5rq8EvEpztOQPYg/s200/logo+2.png" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 23px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12351033712280941692noreply@blogger.com