CHP-058 Sir Robert Hart
Sir Robert Hart
This week’s episode runs a little long as there won’t be anything for the following week. Today’s episode looks at the life and interesting career of Sir Robert Hart (赫德), an Ulsterman from Northern Ireland. For most of his life he lived in China in the employ of the Zongli Yamen. Though his official title was Inspector General of the China Maritime Customs Service, he played an important behind the scenes role during the Treaty Port Era. His was an amazing life and today we look at his days in China from 1853 to 1908. I’m in Shanghai and Ningbo all this week so there won’t be any episode until after I get back.
For those interested in further info on Sir Robert Hart, go to www.tiffaniabooks.com
Friends of Sir Robert Hart: Three Generations of Carrall Women in China, by Mary Tiffen
I am about to publish ‘Friends of Sir Robert Hart: Three generations of Carrall Women in China”. After reading it Professor Hans van de Ven, Professor of Chinese History at Cambridge University told me he would put it on his studnets’ reading list and offered the following descriptive blurb:
“‘Friends of Sir Robert Hart’ brings to life the private and social lives of foreigners who committed themselves to work for the Chinese Customs Service in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The book is revealing about the prsonal anxieties, the financial worries and the illnesses that blighted so many lives … but also the firendhsip support and empathy that was so frequently given and which gave an uncommon strenth to the Customs community. Th book is a thoghtful and huma evaocation of this world.”
It is illustrated by over 70 photographs. A website will be set up shortly.