Zone d'identification
Cote
Titre
Date(s)
- Created 1793-1966 (Création/Production)
Niveau de description
Étendue matérielle et support
4 boxes, 7 volumes
Zone du contexte
Nom du producteur
Notice biographique
Edward Charles MacIntosh Bowra was born in 1841. He was educated at the City of London College before entering the Civil Service and gaining a position in the London Customs House. However, in July 1860 he gave this up to join the British Legion of Garibaldi's Red Shirts in Italy, where his exploits included fighting a duel over the honour of the British contingent. Returning to England he worked briefly for the 1861 census whilst trying unsuccessfully to join the Chinese Consular service. In 1862 he became Private Secretary to Sir William Verner, MP for Armagh, and the following year was appointed clerk in the Chinese Maritime Customs, journeying out to China on the same boat as J. D. Campbell. After an initial spell in Tientsin he was sent to Shanghai in August 1863. From 1864 he served as a student interpreter in Peking, and in September 1865 he was appointed interpreter in Canton. When the Chinese Secretary of Customs, Pin Chun, was sent on a European tour Bowra was appointed to organise the trip. In March 1866 they set off for Europe visiting London, Paris, the Hague, Copenhagen, Stockholm, St. Petersburg and Berlin. Whilst in England Bowra became re-acquainted with a family friend, Thirza Woodward, whom he married on 15 August. On his return to China he was sent to Ningo and his children Ethel and Cecil were born there. Following a transfer to Canton in 1870 he worked on a history of the province which was published in the China Review. He was promoted to Deputy Commissioner in 1872 and was made responsible for the collection and transportation of objects to be exhibited at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, following which the Austrian Emperor gave him the Order of the Iron Crown. His youngest son, also called Edward, was born in May 1874 whilst the Bowras were still on leave in England. On 15 October Bowra died at the age of thirty-two after complaining of ill health for a number of months.
Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra, eldest son of Edward Charles MacIntosh Bowra, was born on 22 August 1869. His father's early death caused the family some financial hardship but Cecil was educated at Park House School, Gravesend and then at St. Paul's. Although he matriculated from London University his mother, now married to George Mackie, insisted he should leave school at sixteen. He thus applied to the Chinese Maritime Customs with the recommendation of Sir Robert Hart. In 1886 he arrived in China, firstly living in Peking as a language student and then moving to Tientsin. He then worked in Chefoo (1888-1890), Canton (1890) and Amoy (1891). On home leave he met Ethel Fleay and they were married in 1896, returning to Chefoo where two years later Bowra was appointed to Second Assistant. In 1899 he was made Assistant-in-Charge at Newchwang, Southern Manchuria, where he had to maintain relations between the large Russian presence and his Chinese employers. As the Boxer Rebellion took hold in 1900 Cecil Bowra was made Commander of the Combined Defence Force; however, it was the Russian forces who took control when Newchwang was attacked, and in 1903 he was replaced by a Russian Commissioner. Following further periods of employment in Soochow and Amoy and a period of home leave, Bowra became Senior Commissioner in Manchuria, and Advisor to the Viceroy in 1908. With the appointment of Sir Francis Aglen as Inspector-General Bowra was made Chief Secretary in Peking (1910-1923). The post meant that he became Acting Inspector-General when Aglen was on leave in 1911 and 1917. Bowra retired in 1923 having received such honours as the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government, the Norwegian Order of St. Olaf and the Chinese awards of the Red Button and the Second Class of the Striped Tiger. He died in 1947.
Histoire archivistique
Formerly MS 201813.
GB 0102 PP MS 69 Created 1793-1966 Collection (fonds) 4 boxes, 7 volumes Bowra , Edward Charles Macintosh , 1841-1874 , Chinese Maritime Customs official
Bowra , Cecil Arthur Verner , 1869-1947 , Chinese Maritime Customs official
Edward Charles MacIntosh Bowra was born in 1841. He was educated at the City of London College before entering the Civil Service and gaining a position in the London Customs House. However, in July 1860 he gave this up to join the British Legion of Garibaldi's Red Shirts in Italy, where his exploits included fighting a duel over the honour of the British contingent. Returning to England he worked briefly for the 1861 census whilst trying unsuccessfully to join the Chinese Consular service. In 1862 he became Private Secretary to Sir William Verner, MP for Armagh, and the following year was appointed clerk in the Chinese Maritime Customs, journeying out to China on the same boat as J. D. Campbell. After an initial spell in Tientsin he was sent to Shanghai in August 1863. From 1864 he served as a student interpreter in Peking, and in September 1865 he was appointed interpreter in Canton. When the Chinese Secretary of Customs, Pin Chun, was sent on a European tour Bowra was appointed to organise the trip. In March 1866 they set off for Europe visiting London, Paris, the Hague, Copenhagen, Stockholm, St. Petersburg and Berlin. Whilst in England Bowra became re-acquainted with a family friend, Thirza Woodward, whom he married on 15 August. On his return to China he was sent to Ningo and his children Ethel and Cecil were born there. Following a transfer to Canton in 1870 he worked on a history of the province which was published in the China Review. He was promoted to Deputy Commissioner in 1872 and was made responsible for the collection and transportation of objects to be exhibited at the Vienna Exhibition of 1873, following which the Austrian Emperor gave him the Order of the Iron Crown. His youngest son, also called Edward, was born in May 1874 whilst the Bowras were still on leave in England. On 15 October Bowra died at the age of thirty-two after complaining of ill health for a number of months.
Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra, eldest son of Edward Charles MacIntosh Bowra, was born on 22 August 1869. His father's early death caused the family some financial hardship but Cecil was educated at Park House School, Gravesend and then at St. Paul's. Although he matriculated from London University his mother, now married to George Mackie, insisted he should leave school at sixteen. He thus applied to the Chinese Maritime Customs with the recommendation of Sir Robert Hart. In 1886 he arrived in China, firstly living in Peking as a language student and then moving to Tientsin. He then worked in Chefoo (1888-1890), Canton (1890) and Amoy (1891). On home leave he met Ethel Fleay and they were married in 1896, returning to Chefoo where two years later Bowra was appointed to Second Assistant. In 1899 he was made Assistant-in-Charge at Newchwang, Southern Manchuria, where he had to maintain relations between the large Russian presence and his Chinese employers. As the Boxer Rebellion took hold in 1900 Cecil Bowra was made Commander of the Combined Defence Force; however, it was the Russian forces who took control when Newchwang was attacked, and in 1903 he was replaced by a Russian Commissioner. Following further periods of employment in Soochow and Amoy and a period of home leave, Bowra became Senior Commissioner in Manchuria, and Advisor to the Viceroy in 1908. With the appointment of Sir Francis Aglen as Inspector-General Bowra was made Chief Secretary in Peking (1910-1923). The post meant that he became Acting Inspector-General when Aglen was on leave in 1911 and 1917. Bowra retired in 1923 having received such honours as the Order of the Rising Sun from the Japanese government, the Norwegian Order of St. Olaf and the Chinese awards of the Red Button and the Second Class of the Striped Tiger. He died in 1947.
Formerly MS 201813.
Donated in 1967.
Diaries, correspondence, genealogical papers, photographs and press cuttings, 1793-1966, of Edward Charles Mackintosh Bowra and Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra.
Unrestricted.
No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
English
Published guide: Papers Relating to the Chinese Maritime Customs 1860-1943 (SOAS, 1973).
See published guide: Papers Relating to the Chinese Maritime Customs 1860-1943 (SOAS, 1973). In addition to the Bowra papers, these include the papers of Sir Frederick Maze (Ref: PP MS 2); George H Fitzroy (Ref: MS 258361); Sir Robert Hart and his correspondence with James Duncan Campbell (Ref: MS 191931); Sir Francis Arthur Aglen (Ref: MS 211355).
Letters of Cecil Bowra to G E Morrison (1905-1920) are held at the State Library of New South Wales, Mitchell Library, Sydney (Ref: ML MSS 312).
15 May 2000 Bowra , Cecil Arthur Verner , 1869-1947 , Chinese Maritime Customs official Bowra , Edward Charles Macintosh , 1841-1874 , Chinese Maritime Customs official Bowra , family , of England and China China Chinese Maritime Customs x Imperial Maritime Customs Customs policy Diaries Documents East Asia Exports/imports Finance Genealogy Information sources International trade Literary forms and genres Literature Newspaper press Nonfiction Photographs Press Press cuttings Primary documents Prose Trade Trade (practice) Travel Travel abroad Visual materials
Source immédiate d'acquisition ou de transfert
Donated in 1967.
Zone du contenu et de la structure
Portée et contenu
Diaries, correspondence, genealogical papers, photographs and press cuttings, 1793-1966, of Edward Charles Mackintosh Bowra and Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra.
Évaluation, élimination et calendrier de conservation
Accroissements
Mode de classement
Zone des conditions d'accès et d'utilisation
Conditions d'accès
Unrestricted.
Conditions de reproduction
No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
Langue des documents
- anglais
Écriture des documents
- latin
Notes de langue et graphie
English
Caractéristiques matérielle et contraintes techniques
See published guide: Papers Relating to the Chinese Maritime Customs 1860-1943 (SOAS, 1973). In addition to the Bowra papers, these include the papers of Sir Frederick Maze (Ref: PP MS 2); George H Fitzroy (Ref: MS 258361); Sir Robert Hart and his correspondence with James Duncan Campbell (Ref: MS 191931); Sir Francis Arthur Aglen (Ref: MS 211355).
Instruments de recherche
Published guide: Papers Relating to the Chinese Maritime Customs 1860-1943 (SOAS, 1973).
Zone des sources complémentaires
Existence et lieu de conservation des originaux
Existence et lieu de conservation des copies
Unités de description associées
Letters of Cecil Bowra to G E Morrison (1905-1920) are held at the State Library of New South Wales, Mitchell Library, Sydney (Ref: ML MSS 312).
Note de publication
Zone des notes
Note
Identifiant(s) alternatif(s)
Mots-clés
Mots-clés - Sujets
- Finances » Politique douanière
- Document
- Commerce » Commerce international » Exportation/importation
- Finances
- Généalogie
- Source d'information
- Commerce » Commerce international
- Forme et genre littéraire
- Littérature
- Presse » Presse d'information
- Support visuel » Photographies
- Presse
- Presse » Presse d'information » Coupure de presse
- Document » Document primaire
- Forme et genre littéraire » Prose
- Commerce
- Voyage
- Voyage » Voyage à l'étranger
- Support visuel
Mots-clés - Lieux
Mots-clés - Noms
Mots-clés - Genre
Zone du contrôle de la description
Identifiant de la description
Identifiant du service d'archives
Règles et/ou conventions utilisées
Statut
Niveau de détail
Dates de production, de révision, de suppression
Langue(s)
- anglais