Zone d'identification
Cote
Titre
Date(s)
- 14th Oct 1858 - 8th Jan 1959 (Création/Production)
Niveau de description
Étendue matérielle et support
2 items
Zone du contexte
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
Sir John Bowring was born in Exeter. His father was a wool merchant to China. As a young man he travelled extensively, becoming a partner in his father's company in 1818, selling herrings to Spain and France. He became editor of the Westminster Review in 1825 advocating free trade, parliamentary reform and popular schooling. In 1832 he was appointed to carry our investigations on accounting systems in the Netherlands and France to make recommendations to the British Government. In 1835 he became a MP and in 1845 became Chairman of the London and Blackwall Railway.
In 1849 Bowring was appointed British Consul at Canton (Guangzhou) and superintendent of trade in China. From 1852 to 1853, he acted as Britain's Plenipotentiary and Superintendent of Trade and Governor of Hong Kong in the absence on leave of Sir George Bonham. Bowring was instrumental in the formation in 1855 of the Board of Inspectors established under the Qing Customs House.
The newly knighted Bowring received his appointment as Governor of Hong Kong and her Majesty's Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China on 10 January 1854. He arrived in Hong Kong and was sworn in on 13 April 1854, in the midst of the Taiping Rebellion, remaining in Hong Kong until 1858.
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
Histoire archivistique
The material was commissioned by Sir John Bowring who sent them to the Royal Asiatic Society.
Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert
The material was acquired from Sir John Bowring. His letter of donation and the translation were read at the General Meeting of the Society on 8 January, 1859.
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
A facsimile of a monumental inscription at the Fa-hsing Temple, Canton (Guangzhou), acquired by Sir John Bowring, whilst Governor of Hong Kong. The facsimile measures 155cm x 90cm and is black ink on white paper, probably created from a squeeze impression. It is in fragile condition, with some previous repairs.
With the inscription is a translation, made by J. Gibson, entitled "Renovation of the monumental Inscription of the Buddhist Gods", dated 14 October 1858. This is handwritten in ink with further annotations in both ink and pencil to give further details regarding dates and allusions.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation
Conditions d’accès
Open. Please contact the archivist. Details can be found here : https://royalasiaticarchives.org/. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID.
Conditions governing reproduction
Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.
Language of material
- anglais
- chinois
Script of material
Language and script notes
Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques
Finding aids
Zone des sources complémentaires
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
The Minutes of the General Meetings of the Society, 8th January 1859, record the reading of a letter from Sir John Bowring and the translation of the inscription.
The Society's collections also hold several publications written by Bowring. Details can be found https://ras.koha-ptfs.co.uk/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?idx=kw&q=John%20Bowring&sort_by=relevance_dsc&count=20&limit=au:Bowring,%20John,%201792-1872.
Zone des notes
Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)
Mots-clés
Mots-clés - Sujets
Mots-clés - Lieux
Mots-clés - Noms
- Bowring Sir John 1792-1872 (Sujet)
- Gibson J (Sujet)
Mots-clés - Genre
Zone du contrôle de la description
Identifiant de la description
Identifiant du service d'archives
Rules and/or conventions used
Statut
Niveau de détail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Langue(s)
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Sources
Archivist's note
These papers were catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2022.