LETTERS FROM CHINA 1835-36
Editor's note. The extracts that follow from three of the surviving letters of James Calder Stewart are reproduced here with the kind permission of Mrs. Christopher Shorland of Warfield, Berks., through the kind offices of Mrs. David Dunkerley of Hong Kong. Both these ladies are descendants of the Herschel side of the family.
It has not been possible with the limited research aids available in Hong Kong to ascertain the writer's dates of birth and death or more details of his life. These will have to await my next leave in Britain and will, I hope, form the subject of a later Note.
James Calder Stewart was the son of Alexander Stewart, D.D., Minister of the Canongate Church, Edinburgh, and his wife, Emilia Calder, daughter of the Revd. Charles Calder of Urquhart. Mrs. Shorland advises that reference to other family letters produces little information about James Stewart. Before going to Canton, where he was apparently in business, he seems to have been in India; a letter written to Sir John Herschel dated L'Epéronnière, 13 October 1837, speaks of his being “still invited to return to India”. According to Mrs. Shorland, an uncle, James Calder, had a business in Calcutta, and it may be presumed that James Stewart found a position with him there. James' brother, Duncan, was also connected with the firm in some capacity. It is likely that Stewart's Canton post was obtained through the Calder connection, or was an extension of the Calder business. Mrs. Shorland states that after his return from China, he was appointed Assistant to the Commissioner of the New Poor Law Bill under Professor Jones 'at not less than £500 per annum'. He married later and had three children.
The "Herschel" mentioned in the letters is Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1791 - 1871), the astronomer, 1st baronet, and only child of Sir William Herschel (1738 - 1832), also famous as an astronomer. Sir John was married to Stewart's sister, Margaret Brodie Stewart (1810-1884). In 1835-36, when the letters were written, and between 1834-1838, Herschel was at the Cape of Good Hope, to which he had gone on a private project to survey the heavens of the Southern Hemisphere.
The prime interest of the extracts taken from these few letters is the view they give of the life and mind of one of the British merchants resident in Canton and Macau and the restrictions
LETTERS FROM CHINA 1835-36
Editor's note. The extracts that follow from three of the surviving letters of James Calder Stewart are reproduced here with the kind permission of Mrs. Christopher Shorland of Warfield, Berks., through the kind offices of Mrs. David Dunkerley of Hong Kong. Both these ladies are descendants of the Herschel side of the family.
It has not been possible with the limited research aids available in Hong Kong to ascertain the writer's dates of birth and death or more details of his life. These will have to await my next leave in Britain and will, I hope, form the subject of a later Note.
James Calder Stewart was the son of Alexander Stewart, D.D., Minister of the Canongate Church, Edinburgh and his wife, Emilia Calder, daughter of the Revd. Charles Calder of Urquhart. Mrs. Shorland advises that reference to other family letters produces little information about James Stewart. Before going to Canton where he was apparently in business, he seems to have been in India a letter written to Sir John Herschel dated L'Epéronnière, 13 October 1837 speaks of his being “still invited to return to India". According to Mrs. Shorland, an uncle, James Calder, had a business in Calcutta and it may be presumed that James Stewart found a position with him there. James' brother, Duncan, was also connected with the firm in some capacity. It is likely that Stewart's Canton post was obtained through the Calder connection, or was an extension of the Calder business. Mrs. Shorland states that after his return from China he was appointed Assistant to the Commissioner of the New Poor Law Bill under Professor Jones 'at not less than £500 per annum'. He married later and had three children.
The "Herschel" mentioned in the letters is Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1791 - 1871), the astronomer, 1st baronet, and only child of Sir William Herschel, (1738 - 1832) also famous as an astronomer. Sir John was married to Stewart's sister, Margaret Brodie Stewart (1810-1884). In 1835-36 when the letters were written, and between 1834 1838, Herschel was at the Cape of Good Hope to which he had gone on a private project to survey the heavens of the Southern Hemisphere.
The prime interest of the extracts taken from these few letters is the view they give of the life and mind of one of the British merchants resident in Canton and Macau and the restrictions
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