Morrison and Hobson family papers, 1807-1963. The papers are the product of a period of considerable spiritual, cultural and political change in China. They are a significant source for study of the development of Protestant missions in China (in particular the role of the medical mission and the introduction of Western medicine), and also provide evidence of the involvement of the missionaries with issues of British trade and diplomacy.
MSS. 5827-5852: correspondence and papers, especially of the Revd Robert Morrison (1782-1834), missionary in China, 1807-1834; John Robert Morrison (1814-1843), Chinese interpreter, Colonial Secretary of the Hong Kong government; and Dr Benjamin Hobson (1816-1873), medical missionary in China, 1839-1859. The majority comprise personal and domestic correspondence of the Morrison and Hobson families and their friends, with less emphasis on official papers, although the collection includes letters on the Peacock expedition to Siam and Cochin China led by Edmund Roberts (1784-1836), United States merchant and diplomat, 1832 (MS.5830), and letters to Benjamin Hobson from leading missionaries. 1843-1862 (MS.5839). Insight into missionary work in China can be gained in particular from the letters of the Revd. Robert Morrison. MS. 7127: 'Domestic Memoir of Mrs Morrison', by the Revd. Robert Morrison, addressed to his children Mary Rebecca and John Robert Morrison (1814-1843), 5-7 January 1824. Mary Morrison, Robert's first wife, died of cholera at Macao on 10 June 1821. This memoir was compiled by Robert Morrison during the voyage home from China aboard H.E.I.C.S. Waterloo.
