GB 0102 MS 380451 - Alabaster, Sir Chaloner

1 box

GB 0102 MS 380451 Created 1845-1898 Collection (fonds) 1 box Alabaster , Sir , Chaloner Grenville , 1838-1898 , Knight , Consul-General at Canton
Chaloner Alabaster was born in 1838 at Barcombe in Bournemouth, and educated at King's College, London. In 1855 he was appointed student interpreter in China and served through the Opium wars and the Taiping Rebellion. He was Vice-Consul at Shanghai (1869-1873), and went on to become Consul General at Hankow (Wuhan) (1880-1886) and Canton (1886-1891). In 1892, the year of his retirement, he was knighted. He died in 1898. Sir Chaloner Alabaster was married in 1875, to Laura, daughter of Dr. D. J. MacGowan of New York.

His elder brother was a member of the China Consular Service from 1856 and his son became Attorney General in Hong Kong.

Donated in 1987.

Papers, 1845-1898, of Sir Chaloner Alabaster, including nine diaries, 1854-1875, which give accounts of his time in China. The later diaries are incomplete and contain far less detail than earlier volumes. Additional material, 1868-1898, includes papers and correspondence detailing his military service, accounts, obituaries and copies of 'A Chapter from the Chinese Gospel', by Alabaster, from Occasional Papers on Chinese Philosophy.

The diaries and additional material are arranged in chronological order.

Unrestricted.

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
English

Unpublished handlist.

Material used in P D Coates, The China Consuls (OUP, 1988).

15 May 2000 Accounting Alabaster , Sir , Chaloner Grenville , 1838-1898 , Knight , Consul-General at Canton Ancient religions Armed forces Asian cultures China Civil war Diaries Diplomacy Documents East Asia Finance Financial administration Foreign relations Guangdong Guangzhou Hankow Hubei Information sources International conflicts International relations Literary forms and genres Literature Military organizations National cultures Nonfiction Organizations Political movements Primary documents Prose Religions Shanghai Shanghai Shi State security War Wuhan

Donated in 1987.

Papers, 1845-1898, of Sir Chaloner Alabaster, including nine diaries, 1854-1875, which give accounts of his time in China. The later diaries are incomplete and contain far less detail than earlier volumes. Additional material, 1868-1898, includes papers and correspondence detailing his military service, accounts, obituaries and copies of 'A Chapter from the Chinese Gospel', by Alabaster, from Occasional Papers on Chinese Philosophy.

The diaries and additional material are arranged in chronological order.

Unrestricted.

No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.

• English

• Latin

English

Unpublished handlist.

• English