An ornate post box adds style to street

An ornate post box adds style to street

The post box in the picture is a fine example of the design excellence of the Victorian era.

The first post box in mainland Britain was set up in Carlisle, in the north of England near the border with Scotland, in 1853. More post boxes followed on the streets of the nation.

The post box in the picture is of the Penfold design, which was installed between 1866 and 1879, and it can be seen today on a street in Stoke Newington, London, where it is still in use.

Originally post boxes were painted green and they only changed to red with the adoption of the Penfold design. However, green is still the colour of post boxes in China, including Hong Kong and China, and in Ireland.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Ancestors of the TV evangelists

Anyone seeking fine entertainment and a good laugh need only turn to the television channels carrying the programmes of the con men engaged in separating the religiously inclined from their money.

These bunco artistes have a long heritage and their forerunners have preyed on the gullible from time immemorial.

In the 19th century British people, for some reason, felt that foreigners were in need of enlightenment and funds were enthusiastically raised to send out busybodies to interfere with native cultures around the world.

Then, as now, the Horn of Africa, was a constant source of tales of misery and woe.

A character called Chelsea George found himself in jail in Winchester, where he palled up with two other convicts, Russia Bob who was, in fact, Irish but who had visited Russia. Jew Jim was a fine impersonator of various characters. Chelsea George had acquired a dark tan from traveling overseas.

When they heard that a missionary from Sierra Leone had been rousing the faithful at packed meetings in Staffordshire, the jailbirds started planning. On release they printed some leaflets, bought costumes and hired a few assistants.

In no time at all, they were holding their own missionary meetings in small towns. Kellow Chesney, quotes an account in his excellent book “The Victorian Underworld,” 1970, Book Club Edition. He says an observer attended one of the meetings.

Jew Jim started things off, claiming to be a Jew who had converted to Christianity. He had become a minister and had traveled to the South Seas, Africa and India. Then Russia Bob appeared.

“…as his worthy and self-denying colleague, and Chelsea George as the first fruits of their ministry – as one who had left houses and land, wife and children, and taken a long and hazardous voyage to show Christians in England that their sable brethren, children of one common Parent, were beginning to cast their idols to the moles and bats…As argument always gains by illustration the orator pulled out a tremendous black doll dressed up in Orient style. This, Jew Jim assured his audience, was an idol brought from Murat in Hindoostan. He presented it to Chelsea George for his worship and embraces.

“The convert indignantly repelled the insinuation, pushed the idol from him, spat in its face, and cut as many capers as a dancing bear. The trio at this stage began ´puckering´ [talking privately] to each other in murdered French dashed with a little Irish; after which the missionaries said that their convert (who had only a few words of English) would now profess his faith. All was attention as Chelsea George came forward. He stroked his beard, put his hand in his breast to keep down his dickey, and turning his eyes upwards said: ´I believe in Desus Tist – dlory to ´is ´oly Name´.

“This elicited some loud `amens` from an assemblage of nearly 1000 persons, and catching the favourable opportunity, a ´school of pals,´ appointed for the purpose, went round and made the collection. Out of the abundance of their credulity and piety the populace contributed sixteen pounds. The whole scene was enacted out of doors, and presented to the stranger very pleasing impressions…One verse of hymn, and the blessing pronounced was the signal for separation. A little shaking of hands concluded the exhibition, and ´every man went to his own house.”

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

An early world opera tour

Opera stars frequently tour the world today playing to packed houses and commanding sky-high fees. They travel in luxury and with every comfort.

Things must have been a little different back in the 1830s but at least one opera company was engaged in a tour that took it very far from its Italian home.

John Francis Davis, records in his book “The Chinese”, published in 1836, that the small foreign community at Macau was delighted to have enjoyed a season of opera in 1833.

“A party of Italian opera-singers from Naples, consisting of two signoras, and five signors, after having exercised their vocation with success in South America, proceeded on their way across the Pacific westward towards Calcutta, as to a likely and profitable field. Circumstances having occasioned their touching at Macao, they met there with inducements to remain some six months, until the season should admit of their prosecuting the voyage; and a temporary theatre having been contrived, they performed most of Rossini´s operas with great success. The Chinese were surprised to find what, in the jargon of Canton (Guangzhou), is called a Sing-song, erected by the foreigners on the shores of the celestial empire, and in that very shape, too, which most nearly resembles their own performances, a mixture of song and recitative. As the nearest way home from Calcutta, for these Italians, was by the Cape of Good Hope, they were a singular instance of the Opera performing a voyage round the world.” Davis, John Francis, 1836. The Chinese. Volume Two, pages 186-187. Charles Knight, publishers. London.

The vastly-expensive grand new Opera House in Beijing floats like a giant egg in a lake. But it was back in 1833 in a temporary shed in Macau that the first Western opera arrived in the country and foreign residents and curious Chinese would have been able to enjoy Rossini´s works such as the Barber of Seville.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Two Hong Kong photographs

Here are two Hong Kong photographs from my collection. They were taken by a sailor of Britain’s Royal Navy who spent a considerable amount of time in Hong Kong in the 1930s. Click to enlarge the images.

The first photograph shows a procession in a street. Two large lanterns with big characters are in front, with a boy banging a drum and two boys beating gongs. Behind them is an ornate decoration, which would no doubt have been very colourful. Can anyone come up with any suggestions as to the purpose of the procession? Could it have been a funeral? Or was it the celebration of some happy occasion?

The second photograph was taken from Queen’s Road looking up Wyndham Street. With a magnifying glass it is possible to identify the distinctive striped building of the old Dairy Farm building, now home to the Foreign Correspondents´ Club and the Fringe Club. Many flower sellers can be seen. When first established, the Hong Kong Club moved into a club house at the junction of Queen’s Road and Wyndham Street. The gentlemen members of that club for the colony’s business elite liked to wear flowers in buttonholes in their jacket lapels. The flower sellers provided fresh blooms each day. The club later moved to its present location but the flower sellers remained behind. Today there are no flower sellers actually in Wyndham Street but some can be found in nearby side streets, a colourful and fragrant reminder of old times in Hong Kong.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Strong wheels for Beijing carts

This picture shows a workshop that made wheels for the tough carts that ferried goods and people around Beijing about a hundred years ago. The wheels had to be very strong to cope with the poor roads and the heavy loads.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

A theatre in an historic Chinese Garden

The beautiful Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai is a gem. The garden is said to have been built by a wealthy official in 1559, in the Ming Dynasty, for his parents to enjoy in their old age.

The garden includes a spacious theatre. The stage is raised and ornately decorated with a courtyard in front and long side galleries. The style is somewhat like that of early European theatres, where members of the audience would roam about, talk with each other, enter and leave, eat and drink, as the entertainment went on. Drama was the background to all sorts of social activities and was not the sole focus of the audience as it is in the dark and formal theatres of today.

John Francis Davis, later British Governor of Hong Kong, who spoke and read Chinese fluently, published a two volume book, “The Chinese” in 1836. He said that Chinese were very keen on drama.

“In the moderate collection of Chinese books belonging to the East India Company, there are no less than two hundred volumes of plays, and a single work in forty volumes contains just one hundred theatrical pieces.”

He gives extracts from several plays but his comments on the actors make clear their low status. “The players in general come literally under our legal definition of vagabonds, as they consist of strolling bands of ten or a dozen whose merit and rank in their profession, and consequently their pay, differ widely according to circumstances. The best are those who come from Nanking (Nanjing), and who sometimes receive very considerable sums for performing at the entertainments given by rich persons and their friends. The female parts are never performed by women, but generally by boys.”

The examinations of Imperial China which chose scholars for official employment through open competitive examination were not, in fact, open to everyone. Actors were specifically excluded from applying to take the examinations.

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©Phillip Bruce

Cosy cafes for cab drivers

London taxi drivers are able to enjoy a good cup of tea and something tasty to eat at a number of historic little green wooden cafes that dot the streets.

These cafes date back to Victorian times when they provided a respite for the drivers of the thousands of Hansom cabs and Hackney carriages that drove people like Sherlock Holmes around the foggy city. Often nearby was a large stone water trough where the horses that worked so hard could drink. Taps to which tin cups were attached by a chain meant that there was no need for pedestrians to pay for bottled water. I used these cups when thirsty as I wandered around London in my childhood.

The cafes, known as cabmen’s shelters, were set up by a charity created in 1874 by the Early of Shaftsbury. He and friends felt sorry for the cab drivers who couldn’t easily find a hot meal as they were not permitted to leave their cabs while parked at stands.

Sixty one of the shelters were built between 1875 and 1914 and they weren’t allowed to take up any more space than a parked horse and cart. Today the 13 surviving shelters are still very popular and they are Grade II listed buildings.

When the shelter at St John’s Wood was last visited it was doing great business. Only taxi drivers can sit inside the little café where there is space for about a dozen people. By anyone can enjoy a cup of tea and a bacon sandwich while standing at the little window at the side. A lucky horseshoe nailed to the side provides a memory of the vanished horses of London.

Today the surviving shelters can be seen at:

Chelsea Embankment, near the Albert Bridge.
Embankment Place.
Grosvenor Gardens, near Victoria Station, on the west side of the north garden.
8-10 Kensington Park Road.
Kensington Road, north side.
Pont Street
West side of Russell Square.
Temple Place,
Thurloe Place, Kensington, opposite the Victoria and Albert Museum.
St George’s Square, Pimlico
Warwick Avenue, Clifton Gardens
Wellington Place, St John’s Wood.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

The end of Lord Napier

In 1833 the monopoly of the East India Company on trade with China was abolished. This opened up the trade to all British merchants. However, there were still strong restrictions imposed by the Chinese government on their activities.

The British Government sent William John Lord Napier to China to try to work out new arrangements with the authorities in Canton. He was a somewhat unusual choice as his “two great interests had been sheep and ships” rather than Chinese matters. His China mission was a dismal failure and his name was even translated into Chinese as “Laboriously Vile” in official communications. There was no way that the Chinese government was going to recognise anyone claiming to be a representative of a government which thought itself the equal of China. Foreigners were barbarians and that was that. Napier caught a fever and died in Macau on 11 October 1834.

The funeral took place in Macao at 10am on 15 October and it was attended by all the British and Portuguese leaders and traders. In the harbour the Royal Navy warships, Andromache and Imogene fired salutes. A guard of honour, formed by the coloured troops of the Portuguese led the funeral procession, with two British sailors holding up the British flag. His wife and daughters were in the procession. Opium traders William Jardine, James Matheson and James Innes also walked behind the coffin.

The foreign community in Canton (Guangzhou) and Macau collected funds and put a monument on Napier´s grave.

In 1953, this monument was discovered in a marble shop where it was about to be pulverized. It was rescued and erected in the Hong Kong Cemetery, at Happy Valley. Now, with the permission of Napier´s descendants, it has been moved to the Hong Kong Museum of History where it is on display.

The photograph does not show all the wording clearly. If anyone can supply the missing words this would be appreciated.

THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
WILLIAM JOHN LORD NAPIER
OF MERCHISTON
CAPTAIN IN THE ROYAL NAVY
HIS MAJESTY´S CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT
OF THE BRITISH TRADE IN CHINA
WHO DIED AT MACAO, OCTOBER 11 1834
AGED 48 YEARS
AS A NAVAL OFFICER
HE WAS ABLE AND DISTIBGUISHED
IN PARLIAMENT
HIS CONDUCT WAS LIVERAL AND DEEPLY(?)
ATTACHED TO THE PURSUIT OF SCIENCE
AND THE DUTIES OF RELIGION
?UPRIGHT, SINCERE, AFFECTIONATE..?
HE WAS THE
FIRST SUPERINTENDENT
CHOSEN BY HIS MAJESTY
ON THE OPENING OF THE TRADE IN CHINA
TO BRITISH ENTERPRISE
?VALUABLE LIFE WAS SACRIFICED?
??ENDEAVOURED TO DIS??
??DUTIES OF THE SITUATION
THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED BY THE BRITISH COMMUNITY

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Summer Palace maze still puzzles visitors

The Old Summer Palace in Beijing features an interesting European style maze.

The maze is still very popular with visitors who find out that things are not as simple as they look. In the middle is an ornate pavilion, or summer house, which is presumably the target destination although anyone reaching it then has to find their way out.

The emperors who lavished money and resources on the Summer Palace, or Yuanming Yuan, were very well aware of the fantastic gardens of Versailles where French kings spared no expense in creating fantasy landscapes. A maze or labyrinth at Versailles was a key feature of the amusements.

Francis Loring Payne wrote a book “The Story of Versailles”, published in 1919. He explained: “An illustrated guide, printed at Amsterdam in 1682, contains the following quaint description of the Labyrinth, or Maze: "Courteous Reader," it begins, "it is sufficiently known how eminently France and especially the Royal Court doth excel above other places with all manner of delights. The admirable faire Buildings and Gardens with all imaginable ornaments and delightful spectacles represent to the eye of the beholder such abundant and rich objects as verily to ravish the spectator.

“Amongst all these works there is nothing more admirable and praiseworthy than the Royal Garden at Versailles, and, in it, the Labyrinth. Other representations are commonly esteemed because they please the eye, but this because it not only delights the ear and eye, but also instructs and edifies. This Labyrinth is situated in a wood so pleasant that Daedalus himself would have stood amazed to behold it. The Turnings and Windings, edged on both sides with green cropt hedges, are not at all tedious, by reason that at every hand there are figures and water-works representing the mysterious and instructive fables of Aesop, with an explanation of what Fable each Fountain representeth carved on each in black marble.

“Among all the Groves in the Park at Versailles the Labyrinth is the most to be recommended, as well for the novelty of the design as the number and diversity of the fountains that with ingenuity and naïveté express the philosophies, of the sage Aesop. The animals of colored bronze are so modeled that they seem truly to be in action. And the streams of water that come from their mouths may be imagined as bearing the words of the fable they represent. There are a great number of fountains, forty in all, each different in subject, and of a style of decoration that blends with the surrounding verdure. At the entrance to the Maze is a bronze statue of Aesop himself--the famous Mythologist of Phrygia."

The Chinese emperors were well aware of the glories of Versailles, largely due to the presence in Beijing of French Jesuit priests. The Qianlong emperor, who ruled from 1735 to 1796 and who grew up at the Summer Palace, was very interested in the French palaces and gardens. Between 1745 and 1796 a large number of foreign-style palaces, fountains, gardens and other delights were built at the Summer Palace. Presumably the stone-walled maze dates from this period. Although it has Chinese elements the maze is in a decidedly foreign style with a particularly distinctive pavilion in the middle.

In the early 1780s, Qianlong decided to have a series of line-engravings made of his European palaces and the series was prepared by local artisans following European styles. Several copies of these engravings are now in the collection of the Biliotheque Nationale de France in Paris, including an etching of the maze which measures 49.4 by 86.7cm. The etching is reproduced in the lavish book “From Beijing to Versailles, Artistic Relations Between China and France, published to accompany a major exhibition in Hong Kong in 1997. ISBN 962 215 151 5. UC 10646. Published by the Urban Council of Hong Kong and produced by the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

The caption to the maze engraving, by Jean-Paul Desroches, explains that the picture “…offers a sort of bird´s eye view to the north with vanishing lines which disappear into the wooded hill in the background. The maze emerges from a lush, green copse, it is surrounded by a river and bordered on three sides by rockwork. The south section is square with a series of walls which fit successively into each other, culminating at the four corners in four honeycombed spaces each planted with a tree pruned into a parasol shape. In the centre stands a high summer-house, octagonal in section and with a basilica roof. To the north, in the alignment of the summer-house, can be seen a rectangular pavilion with similar ornamental features.”

Anyone wishing to visit the maze and the ruins of the palaces, destroyed by the French and British in 1860, should be careful to head for the Old Summer Palace, or Yuanming Yuan, and not the new Summer Palace which is close by. The English signs at Yuanming Yuan are of no help. The palaces are in the Xianglou Area and the best way to get there is by walking due north from the main entrance to the Feng He Lou area where electric vehicles run to Xianglou.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

The Happy Farmer

After a hectic few months of travel around China and other places in Asia it is pleasant to be back in the autumn sunshine at my small farm in Spain.

The trees are heavy with almonds, olives and carobs and life goes on at its traditional relaxed country pace. There is good wine and coffee to drink and fruit and vegetables in abundance together with fresh baked bread.

A Tang Dynasty (618-907)poet, Chu Kwang-hi (in Wades Giles spelling), wrote a poem “The Happy Farmer.” This was translated into English by Charles Budd and appeared in his book Chinese Poems, published in 1912. At the time he worked in the Tung Wen Kwan Translation Office in Shanghai.

I´ve a hundred mulberry trees
And thirty ´mow´of grain,
With sufficient food and clothes,
And friends my wine to drain.

The fragrant grain of ´Ku-mi” seed
Provides our Summer fare;
Our Autumn brew of aster wine
Is rich beyond compare.

My goodwife comes with smiling face
To welcome all our guests;
My children run with willing feet
To carry my behests.

When work is done and evening come,
We saunter to the park,
And there, ´neath elm and willow trees
We´re blithe as soaring lark.

With wine and song the hours fly by
Till each in cloudland roams,
And then, content with all the word,
We wander to our homes.

Through lattice-window steals a breeze,
As on my couch I lie,
While overhead the ´Silver Stream´
Flows through a splendid sky.

And as I gaze it comes to mind –
A dozen jars at least
Of the aster-scented wine remain
To grace tomorrow´s feast.

The Mulberry trees would have provided food for silk worms. Chinese aster is a flower, Callistephus Chinensi, obviously used to flavour wine – probably rice wine. The “Silver Stream” is the Milky Way is the great arc of stars and dust seen in the night sky. Does anyone know what “Ku Mi seed” is? How much area in modern terms is “Thirty Mow”? What is the name of the author in Pinyin?

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Hong Kong street mystery

A Hong Kong street is shown in this old postcard.

The photographer was obviously shooting downhill, perhaps from Hollywood Road on Hong Kong Island.

Can anyone offer any clues as to the name of the street and location? Click on the picture to enlarge.

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c. Phillip Bruce

Lovely rice

Chinese people have always loved food and this happy chap enjoying a bowl of rice is seen on a 1920s postcard.

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c. Phillip Bruce

Excitement at Shanghai racecourse

This picture shows an exciting finish at the Shanghai Racecourse.

From the straw hats of the spectators on the right, the picture could have been taken in the 1920s, or perhaps a little earlier or later. Shanghai´s residents were fanatical about horse racing and the track was always a popular destination.

The race course site is now the site of the People´s Park.

It is difficult to say with certainty where the picture was taken, but it is possible it was taken from along the line of Nanjing Road, somewhere near where the Radisson Hotel and Pacific Hotels are located.

There is a tower in the distance, which might be that of the Shanghai racing club, but it looks a bit too far away.

If anyone can offer any more information please email me at raxomnium@gmail.com. Click on the picture to enlarge.

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c. Phillip Bruce

What else lurks in the Mekong?

One of Asia´s mightiest rivers, the Mekong, has revealed some more of its secrets. Floating about on the river and venturing up its creeks in Vietnam recenty there were plenty of strange creatures to see. On muddy banks half-glimpsed things scattered and dashed into holes, crabs, insects, reptiles?

Recently biologists announced that they had identified 163 new species in the Mekong as it passes through Cambodia and Vietnam. This total included 100 new plants, 28 new fish, 18 new reptiles, 14 new amphibians, two mammals and a bird.

For decades, the research of naturalists was hampered or prevented by wars but now they are stepping up their investigations. The effects of defoliants, such as Agent Orange, which were widely sprayed to kill vegetation under which guerillas sheltered are still in evidence.

However, the bigger threat today is probably over-development, with roads, new towns and construction destroying habitat.

No doubt, however, the Mekong still contains surprises yet to be discovered.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

How to deal with a snake

British explorers in the 19th century were a tough breed. The Saturday Magazine, of March 8, 1834, recorded how one traveler encountered a snake in South America.

“Waterton, in his Wanderings in South America, gives the following account of his catching a snake. He had sent his Indian servant, Daddy Quashi, to look for something he had lost in the forest, and during his absence, he says, I observed a young Coulacanara, ten feet long, slowly moving onwards, I saw he was not thick enough to break my arm, in case he got twisted round it. There was not a moment to be lost. I laid hold of his tail with the left hand, one knee being on the ground; with the right hand I took off my hat, and held it as you would hold a shield for defence.

“The snake instantly turned, and came on at me, with his head about a yard from the ground, as if to ask me, what business I had to take liberties with his tail. I let him come, hissing and open-mouthed, within two feet of my face, and then, with all the force I was master of, I drove my fist, shielded by my hat, full into his jaws. He was stunned and confounded by the blow, and ere he could recover himself, I had seized his throat with both hands, in such a position that he could not bite me; I then allowed himself to coil himself round my body, and marched off with him as my lawful prize. He pressed me hard, but not alarmingly so.

“In the mean time, Daddy Quashi having returned, and hearing the noise which the fray occasioned, was coming cautiously up. As soon as he saw me, and in what company I was, he turned about and ran off home, I after him, and shouting to increase his fear. On scolding him for his cowardice, the old rogue begged I would forgive him, for the sight of the snake had positively turned him sick.”

Charles Waterton, who was born in 1782, was one of Britain´s great naturalists and spent much of his early life in South America. In 1825 he published his “Wanderings in South America, the North-west of the United States and the Antiles in the years 1812, 1816, 1820 and 1824.” A large octavo edition was published in 1828. The book was very popular. He climbed a tree at his home at Walton Hall, Yorkshire, on his 80th birthday. He died after being injured carrying a log in 1862.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Telling the time in ancient China

To the north of the Forbidden City in Beijing the prominent building known as The Drum Tower can be seen.

The drums inside this building and the bells inside the nearby Bell Tower regulated the day in the Imperial City.

Anyone fit enough for the climb up the steep flight of many steps that rise inside the drum tower can see giant drums which are replicas of those of ancient times. These are regularly beaten for the benefit of visitors. In the silence of the past the sound would have carried for many miles.

However, the drummers needed to know when to beat their drums and that is where an ingenious water clock came in.

The flowing of water between four different containers allowed time to be measured accurately enough for the purposes of the past.

A replica of the water clock can be seen today. This is referred to as a “Clepsydra,” although the term can’t be found in the Oxford English Dictionary.

There are four bronze water containers. The upper one is known as the Sky Pond, the second as Calm Water, the third as Myriad Parting and the fourth as Water Collecting.

The passage of each quarter of an hour was marked by a small statue of a man with cymbals. A flow of water into the mechanics beneath the figure caused it to clash the symbols together eight times every 15 minutes.

A record of longer periods of time was kept by means of wooden indicators which floated on the water of the lowest tank. Supported by two dragons, the wooden slats were marked with time periods. A store of slats, presumably so that different time periods could be measured, was kept at the side.

The drummers always knew, thanks to the ingenious water clock, when it was time to beat the big drums.

The word "clepsydra" is used to describe a water clock from the Western Han Dynasty (206BC to AD8) which was exhibited in 1998 in Hong Kong at the "Heavenly Creations, Gems of Ancient Chinese Inventions" exhibition This was excavated from a tomb at Mancheng, Hebei in 1968. It is a simple single vertical cylinder with a handled lid at the top and a water outlet at the bottom. The exhibition catalogue explains: "A clepsyrda is an ancient time-measuring device which works by the flow of water. Such water clocks, called "dripping vessels" (louhou) were one type of time-measuring instruments used in ancient China. This particular type came with an indicator called "sinking arrow" (chenjian),inserted through a hole in the handle and the cover. As the water in the vessel dripped through the hole in the bottom, the water level fell and the indicator rod, which was fitted to the float, sank accordingly. The outflow was so adjusted that the marker took a specific time to sink. From graduations on the sinking indicator it was possible to tell the time."

The same exhibition also displayed another clepsydra, from the Yuan Dynasty, cast in 1316. This is similar to the water clock in the drum tower, with four water vessels. The exhibition catalogue states: "Ancient water clocks came in different designs: some consisted of a single vessel, others had multiple vessels. This is the earliest extant example of a multiple vessel design. The four vessels were placed on descending steps of a stepped platform. Water flowed from the sun vessel into the moon vessel, then into the star vessel, finally reaching the water vessel. As the water level rose in the bottom tank, the wooden indicator rose with it, giving a reading of the hour."

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©www.pbbitsandpieces.com 2009

What was that name again?

One of the biggest challenges facing anyone visiting China or attempting to understand Chinese history is the various names that refer to the same emperor.

Many Chinese people, official sources and plaques at historic sites, refer to dates by year of the period in which an emperor reigned. This means that foreigners are often confused as they do not carry around dynastic dates tables in their heads.

Matters are further complicated by the fact that emperors are known by a number of different names.

Take the Qing Dynasty of the Manchu emperors who ruled China from 1644 to 1911. Not to be confused with the Qin dynasty, of the first emperor and his terracotta warriors who ruled from 221 BC to 206BC.

The Qing Dynasty was actually founded in 1616 and at first it was known as the Later Jin. The title was changed to Qing in 1644.

As an example of the naming of emperors take the man who ruled from 1875 to 1908.

His family name, like that of all the Qing Emperors, was Aisin Gioro. His personal name was Aisin Gioro Zaitian. However, use of this name was taboo and it was never spoken. A title would be selected for the reign of each emperor, and, in this case, the name chosen was Guanxu. This was used, particularly by foreigners, as if it was his personal name. In China, during his reign he would normally be referred to simply as “His Majesty The Emperor.”

After an emperor died, however, he would be given a name which would be used for ancestral worship rites. The name selected for this emperor was De Zong. Educated Chinese would never use anything other than De Zong in referring to him, with use of Guangxu being regarded as vulgar.

Few foreigners find it easy to cope with all this and many are mystified as they visit the historic sites of China and attempt to understand explanations and signs.

Reading books on Chinese history in English is further complicated by the fact that many use the old Wade-Giles system of writing the sounds of Chinese Characters, rather than the modern Pinyin system, used above.

In Wade-Giles, you will find this emperor's personal name written as Tsai-T'ien (Zaitian). Guanxu is written as Kuang-Hsü. De Zong is written as Té Tsung.

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©Phillip Bruce.

Shanghai bridge is back

The old bridge over the Suzhou Creek at Shanghai is back in position after being taken away for a complete restoration and makeover.

The bridge has long been a landmark in Shanghai and now it is again carrying traffic and pedestrians over the Creek.

The photograph shows the bridge in the 1930s, with what is probably a building of the British consulate in the foreground. The Russian Consulate can be seen behind the bridge with the Astor House Hotel across the road.

See also the June 2, 2009, story “Historic Shanghai bridge gets a facelift.”

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Museum of Chinese in America re-opens

New York´s museum dedicated to the Chinese experience in the United States has re-opened in Chinatown.

The Museum of Chinese in America has benefited from an $8.1 million makeover and it has 1,300 square meters, or 14,000 square feet of space to show its exhibits, videos and interactive displays.

The New York Times commented that the Chinese museum has joined a roster of American museums of identity. “The strange thing is how similar the arcs of their story are: they recount how after a long period of suffering, prejudice and hatred, a group has carved a distinctive place in the history of the United States, its once scorned identity now a source of strength. Many of these museums also serve as anchors for the community and as educational centers, recounting political morality tales and honoring a shared history. That is certainly the case here as well.”

For a slide show on the museum see - http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/07/08/arts/20090708_CHINESEMUSEUM_SLIDESHOW_index.html

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Disaster for London Zoo founder

Opposite to the main gate of London Zoo is an elegant building that is the headquarters of the Zoological Society of London. “Founded AD 1826” says the lettering above the main door.

Disappointment is a fact of life but the sorrow must have been crushing for Sir Stamford Raffles, one of the founding fathers of the society. Raffles is a towering figure in the history of the Western involvement in Southeast Asia. He is particularly noted for his involvement in the development of Singapore where there are plenty of statues and memorials to him. Perhaps the best known monument is the luxurious Raffles Hotel.

During his many years traveling through Southeast Asia, Raffles showed an unceasing interest plants and animals and formed an extensive collection of samples, drawings and paintings, and specimens of species many of which had never been recorded before. On February 2, 1824, Raffles and his wife Sophia embarked on board the Fame at Bencoolen, now Bengkulu, on the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, an important settlement of the East India Company. The couple left behind four of their children in the cemetery at Bencoolen.
The personal collection, carefully packed in 122 cases, together with papers which Raffles intended to work on during the voyage, were loaded. A collection of animals and plants was also taken aboard. Raffles wrote: “There was scarce an unknown animal, bird, beast, or fish, or an interesting plant, which we had not on board: a living tapir, a new species of tiger, splendid pheasants &c, domesticated for the voyage: we were, in short, in this respect, a perfect Noah´s ark.” Nothing was insured and the collection took up a third of the cargo space. The rest of the cargo was saltpetre. This is potassium nitrate, the chief ingredient of gunpowder.

Two days after departure, disaster struck. Raffles wrote:

“The ship was everything we could wish; and having closed my charge here, it was one of the happiest days of my life. We were, perhaps, too happy; for in the evening came a sad reverse. Sophia had just gone to bed, and I had thrown off half my clothes, when a cry of fire, fire! roused us from our calm content, and in five minutes the whole ship was in flames! I ran to examine whence the flames principally issued, and found that the fire had its origin immediately under our cabin. Down with the boats. Where is Sophia? – Here. The children? – Here. A rope to the side. Lower Lady Raffles. Give her to me, says one; I´ll take her, says the Captain. Throw the gunpowder overboard. It cannot be got at; it is in the magazine close to the fire. Stand clear of the powder. Scuttle the water casks. Water! Water! Where is Sir Stamford? Come into the boat, Nilson! Nilson! come into the boat. Push off, push off. Stand clear of the after part of the ship.

“All this passed much quicker than I can write it; we pushed off, and as we did so, the flames burst out of our cabin-window, and the whole of the after part of the ship was in flames; the masts and sails now taking fire, we moved to a distance sufficient to avoid the immediate explosion; but the flames were now coming out of the main hatchway; and seeing the rest of the crew, with the Captain, still on board, we pulled back to her under the bows, so as to be more distant from the powder. As we approached we perceived that the people on board were getting into another boat on the opposite side.”

A check showed one man, sick in his cot, was still on board but a daring rescue by the Raffles boat saved him, so no lives were lost. The boats started to move away from the blazing ship. “She was now one splendid flame, fore and aft, and aloft, her masts and sails in a blaze and, rocking to and fro, threatening to fall in an instant. There goes her mizzen mast! Pull away, my boys! There goes the gunpowder! Thank God! thank God!

“You may judge our situation without further particulars. The alarm was given at about twenty minutes past eight, and in less than ten minutes she was in flames; there was not a soul on board at half past eight, and in less than ten minutes afterwards she was one grand mass of fire…She continued to burn till about midnight, when the saltpetre she had on board took fire, and sent up one of the most splendid and brilliant flames that ever was seen, illuminating the horizon in every direction, to an extent of not less than fifty miles, and casting that kind of blue light over us, which is of all others most horrible. She burnt and continued to flame in this style for about an hour or two, when we lost sight of the object in a cloud of smoke.”

The survivors were quickly picked up by a passing ship Soon Raffles and his family were searching for another ship to take them home to Britain. “…with the exception of a bruise or two, and a little pain in the bones from fatigue, we have nothing to complain of.”

However, the loss of his papers and collections built up over 30 years in Southeast Asia greatly saddened Raffles. “The loss I have to regret beyond all, is my papers and drawings – all my notes and observations, with memoirs and collections, sufficient for a full and ample history, not only of Sumatra, but of Borneo, and almost every Island of note in these Seas; - my intended account of the establishment of Singapore – the history of my own administration; - eastern grammars, dictionaries, and vocabularies; - and last, not least, a grand map of Sumatra, on which I have been employed since my arrival here, and on which, for the last six months, I had bestowed almost all my whole undivided attention. This, however, was not all; - all my collections in natural history – all my splendid collections of drawings, upwards of two thousand in number – with all the valuable papers and notes of my friends, Arnold and Jack.” He also lamented the loss of the animals and plants. “A loss like this can never be replaced, but I bow to it without repining.”

The family eventually arrived back in England at Plymouth on August 22, 1824. Later they found a London house at 23, Lower Grosvenor Street.

Raffles wrote: “I am much interested at present in establishing a grand Zoological collection in the Metropolis with a Society for the introduction of living animals, bearing the same relation to Zoology as a science that the Horticultural Society is to Botany.” A prospectus was published in March 1825. London Zoo traces its genesis back to this initiative.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Historic Shanghai bridge gets a facelift

Shanghai´s Garden Bridge across Suzhou Creek played a prominent role in the city’s turbulent history.

Suzhou Creek, or Soochow Creek as it used to be known, runs off the Huangpu, or Whangpoo, River at the start of the Bund where historic and imposing waterfront buildings stand. At this corner there was, and is, a garden, hence the name of the bridge over the Creek.

On a visit earlier this year the Garden Bridge had vanished. Not for any sinister reason but because it is being thoroughly restored before being put back in place in time for Shanghai´s international expo which will take place in 2010. Traffic flows busily over a modern bridge.

Suzhou Creek starts at Guajingkou, on Taihu Lake, and flows 125 kilometers, or nearly 80 miles, down to Shanghai. The part of the waterway that flows through the Shanghai municipal area is being extensively upgraded and improved with environmental considerations a high priority. Designs show gardens extending around the southern bank along the creek.

There has been a crossing over the creek ever since foreigners first arrived in Shanghai. On June 16, 1889, a survey showed that 20,968 rickshaws crossed the old Willis Bridge, as did 2,759 singe-wheeled carts, 1,633 carriages, 22 goods vehicles, 27 sedan chairs and 28 horses. The Shanghai Municipal Council completed a replacement bridge the same year. In 1909, the famous Garden Bridge replaced that.

In 1948, G.R.G. Worcester, a member of the Chinese Maritime Customs, decided to travel up to Suzhou from the Garden Bridge. Despite the modern measurement of the length of the Creek, he put it at 117 miles. He said in his book, The Junkman Smiles, published in 1959:

“Time was when travel by junk or sampan in the bewildering and intricate network of waterways of Kiangsu and Chekiang was the only means of long-distance, cross-country transport, and nobody was in a hurry. But about the turn of the century things began to change, and there came into being a service composed of small launches. Finally, a variety of dumb-lighter, carrying passengers, was added. This immediately became popular, and today there are few waterways without their boat trains, so called because the procession, with very short tow-ropes, looks more akin to the coaches of a railway train than to the lengthy water-borne tow. Everything possible is left to chance. The deck is usually unsafe and leaks. The hand-rails are liable to give way at any moment, and the whole, pantechnicon, for so it may be called, is grossly overcrowded. Nevertheless, it generally manages to retain its stability against the most fearful odds. Frequent stops en route are made, and at the end of the voyage it would probably be found that not a single passenger who embarked at the beginning of the trip was still on board at the terminus; and yet the density of the human cargo has always remained the same.

“I could have gone from Shanghai to Hangchow [Hangzhou] in four and a half hours in the afternoon express train, in a first-class compartment, with dinner in the dining-car, but I preferred to go the hard way, the way the junkmen would travel. To me the joy of moving down the creeks, with the sights and sounds of Chinese life afloat around one, is a pleasure I would not willingly forgo for any form of rapid transport. So I proceeded (this was 1948) to the Soochow Creek to join the 4.30 p.m. Shanghai-Hangchow boat train. No rigorous time-table is adhered to, but the ´trains´ do leave within one or two hours of the advertised time. This one was due to reach its destination the following night, taking thirty-six hours to cover the 117 miles.

“The departure of these ´trains´ is rich in human interest, and presents an unrivalled scene of confusion. Hawkers, coolies, loafers, thieves, beggars, and tea-boys crowd round the prospective passengers and offer free advice or highly-priced service. The traveling kitchens are everywhere to be seen. Everyone seems to be struggling with one or more pieces of unhandy luggage. But the chief interest centres in the mass of craft of all kinds with which the creek appears to be completely blocked, so that the question occurs, how did the boat train worm its way in among this congestion of junks, sampans and launches; and, having got there, how will it extricate itself? But it does.”

The picture shows an old view of the bridge, at the junction of the Suzhou Creek with the Huangpu River, with the Astor House Hotel at the left end.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Queen´s welcome at Holborn Viaduct

The young Queen Victoria proposed to Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and the two were married on February 10, 1840. The Queen loved her new husband deeply and his guiding hand saw her take up her royal duties with much greater confidence than previously.

However, Victoria´s beloved husband died of typhoid fever on December 14, 1861, at Windsor. The Queen was distraught and retired from public life. Her grief was all consuming and continuing. She was seldom seen in public and, as years passed, there was increasing comment at her failure to be seen to be carrying out her duties.

Sir Theodore Martin, was commissioned to prepare a five volume “Life of His Royal Highness The Prince Consort” which appeared between 1875 and 1880. He became a close friend of the Queen, staying at her Isle of Wight residence and coming to know her very well indeed. In addition to his monumental work, he also penned a small volume: “Queen Victoria As I Knew Her.”

He explained that it was pressure of work, rather than just grief, that kept her from public engagements. Victoria had learned from Albert to pay close attention to every detail of the vast amount of papers and policy documents that were sent to her by the government. She worked long hours, reading everything, and, commenting if she felt this necessary. In the past, Albert had taken a large share of this load but now the Queen had to deal with it alone.

The criticism of her failure to appear in public wounded her and in January 1868, she wrote to Sir Theodore asking him to “take means to let the public know the truth.” He advised against this, saying: “Whatever might be said by some, her people, I was sure, had entire trust in her doing what was best, and that she would appear in public whenever the necessity for doing so arose.”

In 1863 work began on a bridge that was to remove a barrier to the flow of traffic and people in London. The slopes of Holborn Hill and the valley of the Fleet River cut across the east-west axis and an impressive bridge and viaduct was designed by the City Surveyor, William Heywood. The project was not completed until 1869 and it cost some two million pounds. Today the bridge is known as Holborn Viaduct and is hardly noticed by the thousands of people who cross it in cars and buses each day. There used to be a Holborn Viaduct Station nearby but this is now a City Thameslink station.

Queen Victoria finally appeared in public to open the Holborn project, on November 6, 1869, and the event was a great success with a hugely enthusiastic reception from the crowds. Victoria wrote to Martin on November 11: “Nothing could be more successful than the progress and ceremony of Saturday. The greatest enthusiasm prevailed, and the reception by countless thousands of all classes, especially in the City, was most loyal and gratifying – not a word, not a cry that could offend anyone.” On the same day she also opened the new Blackfriars Bridge across the Thames.

Taking a walk across the Holborn Viaduct today, the four fine statues that decorate it still impress. The Fleet River has long since vanished from view and now runs beneath Farringdon Road which passes under the viaduct.

The two statues on the south of the viaduct represent Commerce and Agriculture, and are by the sculptor Henry Bursill. The two on the north side represent Science and Fine Art and are by the firm of Farmer and Bailey.

Queen Victoria and Albert can be found in many places in London, with statues and monuments. But the little bridge at Holborn has its own place in Victoria´s story.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

A fine London lunch

When it comes to a proper lunch there are few things more satisfying than a proper pork pie.

In the morning I had fought my way through the crowds at Selfridges to buy a ceramic pie vent in the shape of a blackbird so that I could have a go at making a traditional English pork pie at home. No doubt, the form comes from the old nursery rhyme: “Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie.”

A pleasant walk in the May sunshine then brought me to the doors of Fortnum and Mason. The upper floors are now stuffed with tat for tourists but fine food can still be found in the basement and I was soon the proud possessor of an individual pork pie. Carrying this carefully in my Fortnum bag I walked along Piccadilly to the churchyard of St James, near to Piccadilly Circus. William Blake was baptized here. The church was closed but I found a seat outside and ate half the delicious pie.

Then I headed back along Piccadilly, on the other side of the road, and walked up to Grosvenor Square, buying a takeaway cup of Earl Grey tea from a café on the way. The remainder of the pork pie was eaten and the tea drunk under the shade of the huge plane trees, bright green in their early summer leaves. The square was originally at the center of the Mayfair housing developments, which started in the 1720s, of the Grosvenor family. In 1946 it was opened to the public and is now looked after by the Royal Parks. The Grosvenor family remains today one of the wealthiest in Britain with huge property holdings.

Grosvenor Square has a very close association with the United States. The country´s embassy opened there in 1938. A statue of President Roosevelt stands at the north side of the square. At the south side stands a monument to the American fliers of the Eagle Squadrons of the Royal Air Force who fought the Nazis with Britain before their nation´s entry into the Second World War. 244 Americans served with the squadrons. A quiet garden commemorates all the people who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attack on New York.

There are many over-priced restaurants in London and many scruffy cafes. But, when the sun is shining in early summer, all it takes is a cup of tea and a pork pie to make one of the world's great lunches.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

The ultimate academic test

In Imperial China the competitive examinations for government office were open to everyone. Except for people like actors, of course.

Men from all over the country would compete in examinations at local, city and regional level. The very best would finally travel to Beijing to sit the highest level of examinations, supervised by the emperor himself. Students would be locked into cells for a week or so and told “write what you know.” Food was passed in through a small hole. The papers were marked by the most eminent scholars with comments added by the emperor.

Those who passed this ultimate test would be eligible for appointment to the higher levels of the Imperial government.

Scholarship gave the greatest status in China and the Imperial examinations required a vast memorized knowledge of ancient works of literature and history. Free thinking was not encouraged.

This picture, taken in about 1905 in the depths of the Beijing winter, shows the cells in which the scholars were locked for their ultimate examination.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

The riches of tin

Rich river deposits of tin were the impetus for the settlement of the muddy flats that became known as Kuala Lumpur.

Tin produced vast fortunes, though not for the coolies who laboured to extract it. Chinese businessmen dominated the trade and their countrymen worked in the hot sun as indentured labourers, dreaming of a return home with plenty of cash, perhaps to find a wife and buy a house and farm.

The railway that connects Singapore today with Malaysia can be found in the heart of the city and it features a beautiful early 20th century building erected at the time when the island state was still a part of Malaya. The main salon is decorated with large panels showing aspects of life and business – including tin. The picture shows the tin panel.

Having completed the long rail journey from Singapore up to Penang, the advice is don´t bother unless you like looking at endless palm plantations and enjoy films played at full blast on a TV set in each carriage that can´t be turned off or down. However, the Singapore station is well worth a visit.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

An Islamic inscription

The ancient city of Xian lies at the end or start of the Silk Road, depending how you look at it.

The Silk Road was, in fact, a broad collection of routes that connected the Middle East with China and the highly valued arts and products of China were packed onto camels, or dromedaries, for the long journey across deserts and mountains.

Not surprisingly, there was, and is, a sizeable Islamic community at Xian. A large and historic mosque looks, at first glance, like a Chinese temple but it is very definitely a mosque. The Chinese architecture and decorations are beautiful and Islamic inscriptions are prominent in many places.

However, no English translations are provided. This picture shows the inscription over the entrance to the main prayer hall. Can anyone translate?

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

An unusual chapel

An unusual chapel

The Gunners Roll of Hong Kong was founded in 1947. The Roll flourished with plenty of dinners and social activities. As time moved on, however, the requirement for artillery in Hong Kong vanished, with the likelihood of conflict evaporating and the focus turning to the return of the British colony to China in 1997.

As there were few, or no, gunners left in Hong Kong in the final years of British rule, I found myself president of the Gunners Roll, despite never having served with the Royal Artillery. Although membership was dropping, we still had a damn fine gathering each year for St Barbara’s Day, with formal dress and plenty of port and toasts.

There was a St Barbara’s Chapel on Stonecutters Island. This island situated in the middle of the harbour, had been in military hands since its acquisition by the British in the middle of the 19th century. At one time, it had been thought a good idea to construct a prison there but, after a batch of prisoners drowned, chained together, while being brought ashore, this was soon closed.

The structure, however, survived and one of the corner houses of the walls survived. There is a similar structure at the junction of Arbuthnot Road and Chancery Lane, on Hong Kong Island.

This little fort became the St Barbara´s Chapel. No doubt the building is still there, although being used for some other purpose. The Chinese navy now has its Hong Kong base at Stonecutters´Island.

Does The Gunners Roll of Hong Kong still exist and is St Barbara´s Day still celebrated?

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

What happened to Frank Riley?

One of the most annoying aspects of going through old photographs is when lack of captioning and a blurry shot give a tantalising glimpse of an interesting story.

In the early 1980s, I visited Perth, Western Australia. In a church, whose name I now can´t remember, there was a brass memorial on the wall. A slide found recently is blurred but the inscription is roughly as follows:

Frank Basil Riley
Born 20 September 1893 at Preston England.
Rhodes Scholar to New College Oxford from High School Perth.
B.A. Oxon 1919 M.A. 1920.
Served 1914-18 in 3rd Bat. Wilts Regt and in captivity in Germany.
In the Education Department, Iraq, and in the service of the Times(?) 1919-1927. Fell victim of an unknown fate at Checkchou(?), China, 23 July, 1927.
Always his friends remember him…(illegible).

The year 1927 in China was a tumultuous one with uprising and revolts widespread as the Communists and Nationalists fought for power. In February an uprising in Shanghai was brutally suppressed with heavy Communist losses. Nationalist troops attacked and looted the British and other embassies in Nanjing on March 24. The British responded with a barrage from its ships in the river, said to be to protect the foreign community. On August 1, the Communists attacked and soon took Nanchang – the date later being marked as the birthday of the Red Army. Somewhere in all this Frank Riley was killed.

If he was, in fact, a correspondent of The Times, perhaps the newspaper carried an obituary? Can anyone check that?

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©Phillip Bruce 2009.

Keeping time with water and cymbals

To the north of the Forbidden City in Beijing there are two towers which used to provide time signals for residents of the capital city.

These are the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower. Every two hours one or other would sound a signal that would drift across the city letting everyone know the time. Naturally, there is a huge bell in the Bell Tower and huge drums in the Drum Tower.

But, the timekeepers needed to know the time themselves in order to start hammering on the giant drums or applying the clapper to the bell. An ingenious bronze water clock, known as a clepsydra, kept track of the time. This used four tanks with water flowing from one to the other. The original machine, from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) has been lost but a replica can be seen today in the Drum Tower. Originally the tower was known as the Qi Zheng, or Administration Unification Tower.

The top tank was known as the Sky Pond, the second as Calm Water, the third as Myriad Parting and the fourth as Water collecting. A little statue of a man, the God of Cymbals, clashed his symbols together eight times every quarter of an hour, triggered by the flow of water. Time could, therefore, be tracked.

The water clock was sophisticated as a wooden ruler protrudes from the bottom tank, supported by two dragons. Nearby is a rack with other rulers, and all are carefully marked with divisions. No doubt, different rulers could be used for different purposes. Being wood they would float upwards with the rise of water in the tank, allowing different time divisions to be marked.

Today visitors make the steep climb up to the drum chamber of the tower and every so often a team comes out and beats the huge drums. But the sound does not carry far across the roar of modern Beijing traffic. Few people do more than glance at the remarkable water clock.

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©Phillip Bruce

An early Latin memorial at Whithorn

The oldest Christian monument in Scotland can be found at Whithorn, Dumfries and Galloway. This is a memorial to a man named Latinus and his daughter who lived and died in the area about 450AD, some 50 years after the Romans had departed from Britain.

Originally, the memorial stood in the early Christian cemetery at the top of the hill where the current church now stands. The Latin inscription is translated as: “We praise you, the Lord! Latinus, descendant of Barravados, aged 35, and his daughter, aged 4, made a sign here.”

The stone is on display in the Whithorn Visitor centre and it is explained that until about 410 the northern border of the Roman empire was at Carlisle, a short distance from Whithorn across the Solway Firth. Although they were on the other side of Hadrian´s Wall, the leading families of Galloway adopted Roman culture and language. Latinus had taken a Roman name and he followed the official Roman faith – Christianity. But the fact that he refers to his Celtic ancestor, Barrovadus, shows that he was also proud of his heritage.

The stone was re-used in the construction of the medieval cathedral and it was rediscovered during archaeological investigations in 1890. There may be traces of the chi-rho Christian symbol, which looks like an x-shaped cross with a “p” running through it. This represents the first two letters of Christ´s name in Greek and is said to indicate Roman influences.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

A late Victorian pub survives

Walking the streets of London provides many pleasures and also some sadness, particularly when it comes to pubs.

So many pubs, once an important part of local life, have been closed in recent years. Where once people enjoyed a pint of bitter, a half of mild ale or a bottle of India Pale Ale, there are now scruffy cafes or shops. Some pubs have been converted into offices or homes. Others still function as bars or restaurants but have been given stupid names and sell fizzy lagers and alcopops while being blighted by TVs, gambling machines and large sports screens.

One very grand place that still survives and is flourishing is the Salisbury, which can be found at the end of the Grand Parade in Haringey, on Green Lanes at the junction with St Ann´s Road.

This fine establishment opened at the very end of the Victorian era, in 1899, and it was known as the Salisbury Hotel. In those days Haringey was a posh place to live with many fine homes for well-off families. The builder was the Scotsman, J.C. Hill. Although the pub had fallen on hard times, a full renovation in 2003 has restored the Victorian glory, with many fine interior features, such as the stained glass skylight in the back room and the impressive main saloon.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

Young man founders in China Seas

A forgotten memorial in the old cemetery in Stoke Newington, London, mentions a young man who died when a ship foundered in the China Seas in 1886.

The memorial is to members of the Shore family, whose patriarch of the time is listed as Thomas Goss Shore. Other members of his family are buried in the same plot. Except for his son Daniel.

An inscription reads: “Also Daniel, son of Thomas Shore, reported drowned in China Seas by foundering of S.S. Ferntower August 29 1886 in his 28th year.”

What was Daniel doing in the China seas?

John Shore, First Baron Tiegnmouth, was born in 1751 and died in 1834. His father had been a supercargo, or commercial manager of voyages, of the East India Company and his mother was the daughter of an EIC captain. In 1768, after schooling at Harrow, John sailed for India as a writer in the service of the Company. He progressed well and became a firm friend of Hastings. The Court of Directors of the Company appointed him Governor General Of India in succession to Cornwallis in 1792. He served in the post until 1798 when he returned to England. He was an enthusiastic evangelical.

There is no supporting evidence, but could the presence of young Daniel Shore in the China Seas be explained by some family connection to the former Governor General of India?

Why did the S.S. Ferntower founder?

The cemetery is now known as the Abney Park Abney Park Nature Reserve and Architectural Conservation area. It is well worth a visit. The graves are all of Non-Conformists, or non Anglicans, and the cemetery was opened after the Non-Conformists cemetery at Bunhill Fields was filled up. Amongst the people buried there are William Booth, Founder and First General of the Salvation Army.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009

The Readymoney Fountain

A stroll in beautiful May sunshine through Regent´s Park in London turned up a link to the early days of the China trade.

The big avenue that runs right through the royal park is known as The Broad Walk and stately trees loom over the path as walkers stroll along.

Towards the London Zoo end of the Broad Walk there is a large fountain, constructed of white stone, known as the Readymoney Fountain. The ornate monument has a steeple rising above its four sides and is richly decorated. On two of the panels there are reliefs showing an Indian bullock and a lion, both with palms behind. There are weathered faces, one with a moustache probably of the donor, another with a tiara presumably of Queen Victoria. The letters “VR” indicate Victoria Regina. No water flows in the fountain today and the four basins are dry. Passing dogs poke their heads hopefully into the little recesses provided for them at the base where once Victorian dogs could find a drink. At the top of the fountain there are leaves and a stone fruit which also appears on four spires lower down. A clock is set into one side though, naturally, it has stopped.

So, who was Readymoney? A plaque explains:

“This fountain erected by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association was the gift of Sir Cowasajee Jehangir Companion of the Star of India a wealthy Parsee gentleman of Bombay as a token of gratitude to the people of England for the protection enjoyed by him and his Parsee fellow countrymen under the British Rule in India. Inaugurated by H.R.H. Princes Mary Duchess of Teck 1869. Restoration supported by The Heritage Lottery Fund 1999-2000.”

The Parsee, or Parsi, community in and around Bombay was already prosperous as the British established their empire in India. With their ancient beliefs in Zoroaster and the conflicts between light and dark, good and evil, the Parsis have always been noted for their tremendous charitable and public service achievements, which continue today.

One of the mysteries of the China trade in the early 19th century, was how relatively poor British men, such as William Jardine, could find the money to indulge in the China trade which, at the time, was a euphemism for the opium trade. Jardine was tough, intelligent and ruthless and he built a mighty firm running opium from India up to Canton and beyond. But, he came from a relatively humble Scots background and opium clippers, stocks of the drug and trade finance required a huge amount of money. A surgeon, he first traveled to India in 1802. By 1816 he had gathered enough cash to set himself up in London as a merchant. He sailed for India again in 1819 and on a visit to Canton met the man who was to become his partner, James Matheson.
By 1820 he was set up in Bombay in partnership with the Parsi merchant, Framjee Cowasjee. In 1822 he moved to Canton where he was an agent for Cowasjee and others, dealing in Indian opium. Jardine was to become the greatest of the opium merchants, known as The Iron Headed Old Rat by the Chinese after he shrugged off a blow to the head during a disturbance.

It can be speculated that Jardine provided the drive and administrative ability to make his firm flourish, while the Cowasjee firm provided the finance. They adopted the nickname “Readymoney” into their family name.

The boy who was to become Sir Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney came from a wealthy family, but he started humbly enough at the age of 15 as a warehouse clerk in Bombay with Duncan, Gibb and Co. He learned fast and by 1846 was trading on his own account. In 1846 be became a Commissioner of Inland Revenue and revenues and efficiency increased significantly.

He became a leader of the Parsi community, an industrialist and philanthropist. Like so many Parsis, he saw charity as an essential obligation and today there are many buildings in Bombay that were financed by him, including the Sir Cowasjee Jehangir High School, which still flourishes, and the Convocation Hall of the University of Bombay, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. He was made a Companion of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India in 1871 and was created a Knight Bachelor of the United Kingdom in 1872. He had made substantial donations to London´s Indian Institute and many charitable activities in Bombay, worth some 200,000 pounds. He had a particular fondness for drinking water fountains – hence the fountain in Regent´s Park, London.

In 1908, his nephew and adopted son and heir, Jehangir Cowasjee Jehangir Readymoney was created a Baronet. The “Readymoney” was subsequently dropped from the family name. The fourth Baronet, Sir Cowasjee Jehangir, was born in 1953.

The name Cowasjee is also spelled as Cowasji in some reference sources.

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©Phillip Bruce 2009