RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1989 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/8336pm92h 252 JOHN FRYER'S EARLY YEARS IN CHINA: I. Diary of His Voyage to Hong Kong FRED DAGENAIS* John Fryer (1839-1928) is perhaps best known as a translator of English language books on science and technology into Chinese. During a period of three decades as head of the translation department at the Kiangnan Arsenal (1867-1896), Fryer worked to translate and publish over 100 works. Fryer's translations were well-received by Chinese intellectuals, often reprinted, and were widely distributed. His translations, along with the translations of others, thus made available the then state-of-the-art Western science and technology to late Ch'ing reformers and intellectuals. During adolescence Fryer was caught up in the religious fervour of the mid-nineteenth century and the enthusiasm for things Chinese. He began his career as a pupil teacher at St. James' School in Bristol and completed his education at Highbury Training College in London. His principal at Highbury, the Reverend (later Bishop) Charles R. Alford, recruited him to serve as headmaster of St. Paul's College in Hong Kong, a school for Chinese boys sponsored by the Church Missionary Society. He worked as headmaster of St. Paul's from 1861 until 1863, when he went to Peking to become a "professor" at the T’ung-wen Kuan, or Government sponsored "Interpreter's College". While in Peking Fryer continued his association with the Church Missionary Society under the guidance of the Reverend (Later Bishop) James Shaw Burdon. In 1865 he was asked by the Church Missionary Society to become superintendent of the Anglo-Chinese School in Shanghai, where he worked until 1868, when he joined the arsenal at Kiangnan. Fryer sailed for Hong Kong on March 10, 1861. He reached Victoria on July 30th, after a voyage of 142 days, including a brief stop in Batavia, seven days before his 22nd birthday. The voyage was not unlike voyages * Centre for Chinese Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Editor's Note. It is hoped to publish a series of accounts of Hong Kong and its environs written by John Fryer in this and the next issues of the Journal. They have been edited by Dr. Dagenais, who is preparing a full edition of Fryer's papers. A portrait of Fryer is at Plate 22. A few minor editorial changes to Fryer's text have been made to remove possible ambiguities and to conform with current usage. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 146 JOHN FRYER'S EARLY YEARS IN CHINA: II. First Impressions of Hong Kong and the Chinese People FRED DAGENAIS* Upon his arrival in Hong Kong at the end of July 1861, John Fryer (1838-1927) went to work with great vigour. He quickly provided a description of his voyage from England to Hong Kong by sailing ship in the form of a letter to be circulated among family and friends in England. Within two weeks of his arrival he wrote a second letter in which he recorded his impressions of Hong Kong and its inhabitants, and of St. Paul's College, where he was to superintend under Church Missionary Society sponsorship. Fryer debarked from the Prince Alfred on July 30, 1861, celebrated his 23rd birthday on August 6th, and completed his "Impressions" letter sometime around August 13th. John Fryer was born at Hythe, Kent, England, August 6, 1839. His father, the Reverend John Fryer, was a Dissident itinerant preacher of more-or-less Methodist persuasion; his mother, Mary Wiles Fryer, at different times operated a school and was proprietress of a small shop. Fryer had trained at Highbury Training College, London, where he prepared to become a schoolmaster. He had the model of his mother when she conducted a school at Hythe, and as a teenager had gained experience teaching alongside his mother at a school in Bristol. According to the hagiography surrounding Fryer, the principalship of St. Paul's College was offered to the ranking member of Fryer's class at Highbury. Fryer ranked second, but the rival opted for a different position and thus Fryer was launched on his career in China, **though for him, too, it was a second choice**. +2 Details on the course of events leading to Fryer's selection by the Church Missionary Society and his appointment as principal of St. Paul's College, are not known. While at Highbury Training College Fryer came into contact with the Reverend Charles R. Alford. Alford, who is often referred to as "Bobby" in Fryer's letters, was Principal of * Center for Chinese Studies, University of California, Berkeley. Editor's Note. This is the second of three accounts of Hong Kong and its environs by John Fryer to be published in the Journal. Please see the Editor's Note at p. 252 of Vol. 29 of the Journal. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1990 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/d79206299 NOTES 167 From manuscripts in the John Fryer Papers, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. The title on the holograph was added in pencil at the top of the page and underlined; a pencil was used to cross out the salutation, probably at the time when the title was added prior to typing many years later. In transcribing this material I have followed the holograph document. Minor changes have been made to bring punctuation and use of numbers into conformity with modern usage and to improve readability. Editorial additions are in square brackets. Fryer tended to write run-on paragraphs; a caret indicates where long paragraphs have been broken up. Colons and semicolons are not easily distinguished in the holograph; Fryer was inconsistent in his use of the apostrophe. 1 Fryer mentions below that it has been a fortnight since his arrival. This would place the date for this letter around August 13, 1861. 4 A sketch of the general plan of St. Paul's College, drawn in ink and tinted with watercolors by Fryer, accompanies the holograph document. See Plans in text, redrawn from Fryer's sketch plan. 4 Fryer generally wrote "&" in his handwritten letters, but converted these to "etc." and "and" in his typewritten transcriptions. Fryer became engaged to Anna Roleston of Chudleigh, Devon, before embarking for Hong Kong, The Second Anglo-Chinese War, 1858-1860, which led to a stoppage of much of the trade of Hong Kong with China to 1861. # This is one of the rare examples of Fryer's use of hyperbole; other examples can be detected below. HI The Reverend George Smith, Bishop of Victoria. Rev. William Roberts Beach arrived in Canton in 1853 sponsored by the Wesleyan Missionary Society. He joined the Church of England in 1855. In 1857 he became Warden of St. Paul's College and Chaplain to the Bishop of Victoria. His other appointments included a period in Macao as Missionary Chaplain in 1857, and service as Chaplain to the Forces under Sir Hope Grant in 1861. He was appointed Colonial Chaplain and Canon of St. John's Cathedral by the Rev. Alford, who in 1867 became "Lord Bishop of the see of Victoria, and Warden (for the Church Missionary Society) of St. Paul's College'. (see E. J Bitel, Europe in China, Hong Kong: Kelley and Walsh, 1895. p. 466.) Alford was Principal of Highbury Training College, London, at the time when John Fryer was enlisted for work at St. Paul's College. || This was the College in Staunton Street, later renamed St. Saviour's (1863), and then (1875) St. Joseph's. זן Fryer travelled to Hong Kong on the sailing ship Prince Alfred. Published in Volume 29 (1989) of the Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 14 See Plans in Text. 15 See Plates 2-4. 16. Charles R. Alford; see note 10. דן * "animals" standard English school master-speech for "schoolboys". श्र Possibly the British Museum. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1995 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/95941j25g 174 with radio and telephone, which is manned continuously. In the wall, at head height around the circumference, windows afford a 360° arc of vision to the duty constable. The Control Room gives access on either side to the flat roof of the arms of the post. This roof has a low, castellated parapet, and forms the Observation Bridge. Here is located a petrol generator and a searchlight. The former supplies electricity to the searchlight by night, and re-charges the R/T batteries by day. The bridge is also manned throughout the twenty-four hours of the day. The lower storey of the tower forms the men's mess room. In one of the wings, there is sleeping accommodation for the personnel, with built-in bunks and lockers. In the other wing, there is a kitchen, bathroom, and storage space, all small, but adequate. The windows of the ground floor perform the dual function of admitting light and protecting the post, since they are fitted with movable steel shutters bearing loopholes. The whole building is surrounded by a barbed wire perimeter of some depth. The personnel are Cantonese and Hakka constables, the number varying with the area covered by the post, and the activities which it has to perform. This also influences the choice of command: in the more heavily staffed posts, a Sergeant is in charge, and in the remainder, a Corporal. All posts are well armed, having automatic weapons and grenades as well as the rifles and revolvers normally to be found in the N.T., and there is a plentiful supply of ammunition. Emergency signalling and lighting equipment is installed so that the posts are able to continue in their work in the event of a breakdown in their mechanical equipment. In short, each post is so designed, constructed, equipped, and staffed that it can, if need be, carry on an independent existence as a unit, without assistance from the main station. Today the posts still retain very much the same appearance as when they were built. They are in a good state of preservation despite their exposed positions. Modern installations include room coolers, thermal imagers, external cat ladders, safety railings, and windows to the upper storey of the control tower. In the fenced compound of each post, there is a separate ablution block and generator house, and at some locations ================================================================================