Diaries of Sir Chaloner Alabaster

The collection includes nine of Alabaster's diaries (1854-1875), which give accounts of his time in China. The later diaries are incomplete and contain far less detail than earlier volumes. Additional material (1868-1898) includes papers and correspondence detailing his military service, accounts, o...

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Date(s) of creation: 1854-1898
Level: Collection
Format: Archive           

Reference number: MS 380451
Summary: The collection includes nine of Alabaster's diaries (1854-1875), which give accounts of his time in China. The later diaries are incomplete and contain far less detail than earlier volumes. Additional material (1868-1898) includes papers and correspondence detailing his military service, accounts, obituaries and copies of A Chapter from the Chinese Gospel , by Alabaster, from Occasional papers on Chinese Philosophy . Material used in The China Consuls , P. D. Coates, OUP, 1988.
Main author: Alabaster; Sir; Chaloner Grenville (1838-1898); Knight; Consul General at Canton
Extent: 1 box
Admin history: Chaloner Alabaster was born in 1838 at Barcombe in Bournemouth, and educated at King's College, London. In 1855 he was appointed student interpreter in China and served through the Opium wars and the Taiping Rebellion. He was Vice-Consul at Shanghai (1869-1873), and went on to become Consul General at Hankow (Wuhan) (1880-1886) and Canton (1886-1891). In 1892, the year of his retirement, he was knighted. He died in 1898. Sir Chaloner Alabaster was married in 1875, to Laura, daughter of Dr. D. J. MacGowan of New York. His elder brother was ... View more
Acquisition: Donated in 1987. The material was presented by Dr. C. A. Curwen, Lecturer in the History of the Far East at the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1987.
Arrangement: The diaries and additional material are arranged in chronological order.
Access status: Open
User restrictions: For permission to publish, please contact Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library in the first instance
Language: English
Finding aids: Unpublished handlist
Publications: Used in The China Consuls P. D. Coates, OUP, 1988
Format: Archive           
Subjects:
Access Points - Person, Corporate & Family Names:
Name Code Person, Corporate or Family Name Type of Entity
GB/NNAF/P132855 Alabaster; Sir; Chaloner Grenville (1838-1898); Knight; Consul General at Canton Person
Access Points - Places:
Place Code Place Name
1814991 China
7729894 Eastern Asia
1796236 Shanghai
1791247 Wuhan