Rutherford Alcock
Encyclopedia
Sir Rutherford Alcock KCB
(18092 November 1897) was the first British
diplomatic representative to live in Japan
.
, Dr. Thomas Alcock, who practised at Ealing
, near London. As he grew up, Alcock followed his father into the medical profession. In 1836, he became a surgeon in the marine brigade which took part in the Carlist War, gaining distinction through his services. Alcock was made deputy inspector-general of hospitals. He retired from this service in 1837.
in China
, where, after a short official stay at Amoy, he performed the functions, as he expressed it, " of everything from a lord chancellor to a sheriff's officer." Fuchow was one of the ports opened to trade by the Treaty of Nanking
, and Alcock had to perform an entirely new role with regard to the Chinese authorities. In doing so, he earned a promotion to the consulate at Shanghai. He worked there until 1846 and made it a special part of his duties to superintend the established Chinese government and lay out the British settlement, which had developed into such an important feature of British commercial life in China.
In 1858, he was appointed Consul-General in the Japan.
Alcock opened the first British legation
in Japan within the grounds of Tōzen-ji
in Takanawa
, Edo
(now Tokyo
).
In those days, foreign residents in Japan faced some danger, with noticeable Japanese hostility to foreigners (sonnō jōi
). In 1860, Mr. Alcock's native interpreter was murdered at the gate of the legation, and in the following year the legation was stormed by a group of ronin
from the fiefdom of Mito Han, whose attack was repulsed by Mr. Alcock and his staff.
In 1860 he became the first non-Japanese to climb Mount Fuji
.
(CB) (1860). In 1862 he was made a Knight of the same order (KCB), and in 1863 received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Oxford University.
In 1864, he returned to Japan, and after a year's further residence he was transferred to Peking, where he represented the British government until 1869, when he retired.
, and he served on many commissions.
He was twice married, first in May 1841 to Henrietta Mary Bacon (daughter of Charles Bacon), who died in 1853, and second (on 8 July 1862) to the widow of the Rev. John Lowder. His second wife died on 13 March 1899.
Alcock was the author of several works, and was one of the first to awaken in England an interest in Japanese art. He tried hard to learn the language and even wrote a text book. His best-known book is The Capital of the Tycoon, which appeared in 1863. He died in London on 2 November 1897, and is buried at Merstham
in Surrey. (R. K. D.)
/WorldCat
encompasses roughly 70+ works in 100+ publications in 5 languages and 1,000+ library holdings.
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(18092 November 1897) was the first British
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
diplomatic representative to live in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
Early life
Alcock was the son of the physicianPhysician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, Dr. Thomas Alcock, who practised at Ealing
Ealing
Ealing is a suburban area of west London, England and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Ealing. It is located west of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. It is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. It was historically a rural village...
, near London. As he grew up, Alcock followed his father into the medical profession. In 1836, he became a surgeon in the marine brigade which took part in the Carlist War, gaining distinction through his services. Alcock was made deputy inspector-general of hospitals. He retired from this service in 1837.
Service in China
In 1844, he was appointed consul at FuchowFuzhou
Fuzhou is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute the Mindong linguistic and cultural area....
in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, where, after a short official stay at Amoy, he performed the functions, as he expressed it, " of everything from a lord chancellor to a sheriff's officer." Fuchow was one of the ports opened to trade by the Treaty of Nanking
Treaty of Nanking
The Treaty of Nanking was signed on 29 August 1842 to mark the end of the First Opium War between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Qing Dynasty of China...
, and Alcock had to perform an entirely new role with regard to the Chinese authorities. In doing so, he earned a promotion to the consulate at Shanghai. He worked there until 1846 and made it a special part of his duties to superintend the established Chinese government and lay out the British settlement, which had developed into such an important feature of British commercial life in China.
Service in Japan (1858-64)
Alcock opened the first British legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
in Japan within the grounds of Tōzen-ji
Tozen-ji
Tōzen-ji is a temple in Takanawa, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It belongs to the Rinzai sect of Zen Buddhism which has its headquarters at Myoshin-ji in Kyoto.In 1610, Ryonan-zenji founded it at Akasaka and in 1636 it was relocated to its present location...
in Takanawa
Takanawa
Takanawa is a neighborhood in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.-Education:*The Takanawa Library is in Takanawa. is a junior high school. Takamatsunomiya contributed some of its own mansions for Minato and a junior high school was built there.-Notable sites:...
, Edo
Edo
, also romanized as Yedo or Yeddo, is the former name of the Japanese capital Tokyo, and was the seat of power for the Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868...
(now Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
).
In those days, foreign residents in Japan faced some danger, with noticeable Japanese hostility to foreigners (sonnō jōi
Sonno joi
is a Japanese political philosophy and a social movement derived from Neo-Confucianism; it became a political slogan in the 1850s and 1860s in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa bakufu, during the Bakumatsu period.-Origin:...
). In 1860, Mr. Alcock's native interpreter was murdered at the gate of the legation, and in the following year the legation was stormed by a group of ronin
Ronin
A or rounin was a Bushi with no lord or master during the feudal period of Japan. A samurai became masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege....
from the fiefdom of Mito Han, whose attack was repulsed by Mr. Alcock and his staff.
In 1860 he became the first non-Japanese to climb Mount Fuji
Mount Fuji
is the highest mountain in Japan at . An active stratovolcano that last erupted in 1707–08, Mount Fuji lies about south-west of Tokyo, and can be seen from there on a clear day. Mount Fuji's exceptionally symmetrical cone is a well-known symbol of Japan and it is frequently depicted in art and...
.
Service in China (1865-69)
Shortly after these events he returned to England on leave on March 1862, and was replaced in Japan by Colonel Neale. Alcock had already been made a Commander of the BathOrder of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...
(CB) (1860). In 1862 he was made a Knight of the same order (KCB), and in 1863 received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Oxford University.
In 1864, he returned to Japan, and after a year's further residence he was transferred to Peking, where he represented the British government until 1869, when he retired.
Later years
Although no longer in official life, he remained active. He was for some years president of the Royal Geographical SocietyRoyal Geographical Society
The Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
, and he served on many commissions.
He was twice married, first in May 1841 to Henrietta Mary Bacon (daughter of Charles Bacon), who died in 1853, and second (on 8 July 1862) to the widow of the Rev. John Lowder. His second wife died on 13 March 1899.
Alcock was the author of several works, and was one of the first to awaken in England an interest in Japanese art. He tried hard to learn the language and even wrote a text book. His best-known book is The Capital of the Tycoon, which appeared in 1863. He died in London on 2 November 1897, and is buried at Merstham
Merstham
Merstham is a village in the Reigate and Banstead borough of Surrey, England, in the London commuter belt. It is just north of Redhill, near the intersection of the M25 and M23 motorways, on the edge of the North Downs and on the North Downs Way.-History:...
in Surrey. (R. K. D.)
Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Rutherford Alcock, OCLCOCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 70+ works in 100+ publications in 5 languages and 1,000+ library holdings.
- Notes on the Medical History and Statistics of the British Legion of Spain; Comprising the Results of Gunshot Wounds, in Relation to Important Questions in Surgery (1838)
- Life's Problems: Essays; Moral, Social, and Psychological (1857)
- Elements of Japanese Grammar, for the Use of Beginners (1861)
- Catalogue of Works of Industry and Art, Sent from Japan by Rutherford Alcock (1862)
- The Capital of the Tycoon: a Narrative of a Three Years' Residence in Japan (1863)
- Correspondence with Sir Rutherford Alcock Respecting Missionaries at Hankow, and State of Affairs at Various Ports in China (1869)
- Despatch from Sir Rutherford Alcock Respecting a Supplementary Convention to the Treaty of Tien-Tsin, Signed by Him on October 23, 1869 by China (1870)
- Chinese Statesmen and State Papers (1871)
- Art and Art Industries in Japan (1878)
- Handbook of British North Borneo: Compiled from Reports Received from Governor Treacher and from other Officers in the British North Borneo Company's Service by Colonial and Indian Exhibition (1886)
External links
- UK in Japan, Chronology of Heads of Mission