| Summary: |
Letters survive from Addis to Murray Stewart for the period 1891 to 1910 and from Stewart to Addis from 1898 to 1922. Addis began writing to Stewart in Shanghai when he left there for Calcutta and often inquired after mutual friends and interests as well as describing his life in his overseas postings. Stewart was unmarried and in poor health and Addis's letters to him usually concerned banking and loan business and the politics of foreign powers in China. Stewart also dwelt on these matters and wrote, too, of the affairs of Hong Kong and of his personal life. In 1919, Stewart, who for a period worked with Addis in the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) London Office, resigned and went abroad but continued to take an interest in Addis'swork and in Hong Kong matters. Addis last saw him in hospital in California in 1922, shortly before he died. Most of these letters are in good condition but some from Stewart are damaged and, because he often wrote in pencil, difficult to decipher.
|
