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- Permanent Link:
- https://digital.soas.ac.uk/SO00000029/00001
Notes
- General Note:
- Digitisation funded by the "Visualising China" initiative at the University of Bristol in collaboration with "Visual Cultures in East Africa" at the l'Institut d'Asie Orientale (Lyons Institute of East Asian Studies).
- General Note:
- Image dates from: [unspecified date]
- General Note:
- For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance
- General Note:
- John Charles Oswald (1857-1930), tea merchant, was born in Croydon and educated in Heidelberg. Aged 16, he started work with a tea importers in London, with whom he remained for the next 13 years. Oswald then left Britain for China, travelling to Foochow [Fuzhou] in the late 1880s. In 1888 Oswald was working for Odell & Co., merchants, as a clerk. By 1890 he had moved to Bathgate & Co., where he was to stay, becoming manager in the 1890s. -- In addition to his work for Bathgate & Co. Oswald did work for other companies, including Fairhurst & Co. in the 1900s and Gilman & Co. at a later date. Oswald was also a consul for the Netherlands from the 1890s and later vice-consul for Norway. -- Oswald married Nina Louisa Day, the daughter of Reverend A.B. Day, of Fishponds, near Bristol, on 4 May 1896. The couple had three children, Yvonne, Cynthia ('Bunch'), and John. -- In Foochow, Oswald lived in his house 'Tai Hing' (which was the hong, or registered Chinese name, of Bathgate & Co.). Along with many of the foreign merchants in Foochow, Oswald spent parts of the summer at Kuliang (Guling), which provided a cooler escape from the city. He was active in local social circles, including serving in a variety of positions on the committee of the Foochow Club (of which his son was also a member). In the stables at 'Tai Hing' Oswald kept racehorses, and he rode as an amateur jockey at Foochow racecourse. He was also a keen photographer – a photograph of him in one of his albums is captioned 'Mr Camera' (see MS 380876/06/101). -- Oswald received the Order of the Double Dragon from China, the Order of St Olaf from Norway, the Order of Orange-Nassau from the Netherlands, and a medal from the Red Cross for famine relief work. -- Oswald died in 1930. His remains were returned to Britain after cremation in Foochow. -- Source: 'The Directory & Chronicle for China, Japan, Corea, Indo-China, Straits Settlements, Malay States, Siam, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, &c.' Hongkong: Hongkong Daily Press Office. 1888-1922 [title varies]
Wright, A. 'Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and Other Treaty Ports of China'. 1908; p.838. -- Source: Correspondence with the family of J.C. Oswald
- General Note:
- Related collections at SOAS include those associated with the Chinese Maritime Customs, such as Francis Arthur Aglen (MS 211355); Edward Charles Mackintosh Bowra and Cecil Arthur Verner (PP MS 69); Reginald Follett Cordrington Hedgeland (PP MS 82); Hugh Gordon Lowder (PP MS 81); and Frederick Maze (PP MS 2). Other collections relating to business in China include John Swire & Sons Ltd (JSS) and the China Association archive (CHAS). Other collections including photographs of China are Henry Rue (MS 381233); Robert Ruxton (MS 381142); and the Godsil and White families (MS 380511)
- General Note:
- Digitised as part of the University of Bristol's 'Historical Photographs of China' project (see www.hpcbristol.net)
- General Note:
- Photographs from the Oswald collection are included in the 'Historical Photographs of China' project at the University of Bristol (www.hpcbristol.net), which includes photographs from many other sources.
- General Note:
- VIAF (name authority) : Oswald, John C. : URI http://viaf.org/viaf/68382938
- General Note:
- Donated to SOAS Library in 2004
Record Information
- Source Institution:
- SOAS University of London
- Holding Location:
- Archives and Special Collections
- Rights Management:
- May be used in accord with Creative Commons license, Attribution/Non-Commercial/Share-Alike (by-nc-sa). The digital image is the physical property of SOAS University of London. Contact us for commercial uses.
- Resource Identifier:
- MS 380876/01 ( CALM Reference (SOAS Manuscript Number) )
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