RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003
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high intent, and for Hart it cleared the way, as honourably as he could, for a British marriage.” (ibid: 363) Hart saw his career as I.G. in China as a long-term commitment. He was proud to hold the position of I.G. at twenty-eight years of age and on 24 December 1863 writes in his diary: "My life has been singularly successful: not yet twenty-nine, and at the head of a service which collects nearly three millions of revenue, in, - of all countries in the world! - the exclusive land of China. " (ibid: 53) Thus, when he planned to find a European girl to marry during his home leave in 1866 he definitely hoped that his future wife would stay with him in China. His proposal to Miss Hester Jane Bredon bears this out: "Could you find it in your heart to come to China with me?" (Bell: 57) Planning his future like this, sending the children to England to be educated regardless of the expense seemed the best possible solution to sever all connection with the past and to clear the way for Hart's future married life and career in China.

Hart certainly could not foresee the future when he made such an arrangement for his children with Ayaou. At that time he probably didn't think that his future wife would eventually return to live in London permanently even though he accepted it when it did happen because he felt "matrimony does interfere with a man's work at times". In 1875 when Lady Hart decided to go home, Hart began to think of a new arrangement for his three wards. In his letter to Campbell on 5 June 1875, he asked him, on his private behalf, to make some rearrangements for his three wards who at that time still lived in London and were cared for by Mrs Davison whose husband was a bookkeeper in Smith, Elder & Co. He wanted the two boys to be sent to boarding school at Clifton College and "when being placed at one of the boarding-houses I want it to be arranged that they shall spend their 1875-1876 vacations there"; he wanted the girl "to be sent for three years to a Protestant boarding school on the Continent" and "Her vacations will also have to be spent at school.” (Fairbank, Bruner, Matheson 1975: 192-3). It should be noted that 1875-1876 is when Lady Hart prepared and finally returned to Europe. Thus it may be argued that Hart's changed arrangements for his wards in 1875 was not simply a random act resulting from some past memory of Ayaou as suggested (Wang: 140). Less than a month later in a letter to Campbell on 2 July 1875 Hart tells his friend quite clearly: "Mrs Hart has positively declared that she'll go home next spring" (Fairbank, Bruner and Matherson 1975: 198) In this case, sending his wards to boarding school and arranging for them
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RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-2003
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/2v242g390
83

to remain there for the vacations must have seemed the most appropriate provisions he could make in order to maintain a safe distance between them and his family planning to live in London.

There is no doubt that Hart had great expectations for his wards and wanted to provide them with excellent educational opportunities. This is one of the reasons for him sending them to boarding schools. "From the first I want it to be understood that they (two boys) are to be trained for the Indian Civil Service." (ibid: 192) As N. Ferguson suggests, positions in the Indian Civil Service, at that time, were very desirable and "competition for places was fierce, so fierce that selection had to be based on perhaps the toughest exams in history.” (2002: 185) “As regards Anna I want her to be sent for three years to a Protestant boarding school on the Continent where she can devote herself to music, French, and German”. (Fairbank, Bruner and Matherson 1975: 192-3) Hart did not realise that his expectations were too high until the two boys failed the qualifying examination for entering Clifton College. In general the results of the children's studies were not good at all.

However, disappointment with his wards' poor performance in their studies can't be the only reason Hart changed his mind completely later in 1879 and insisted very firmly that the three wards should not return to London. Hart knew that the Davidson couple treated the three wards well and he appreciated this. In early 1875 he wrote to Campbell "Pay Mrs. Davidson anything that is fair: err on the liberal side, please. She has evidently treated the youngsters kindly." (ibid: 206) However, in his letter to Campbell on 24 August 1879 Hart refused to consider the possibility of the wards returning to their previous London home: "I think, on the whole, anywhere rather than London, and any people rather than the Davidsons." (ibid: 300) At the end of the letter Hart stresses it again: "I repeat, I am of opinion that away from London and not with the Davidsons might be the best.” (ibid)

For the period April 1878 to March 1879 Hart was on leave, reunited with his family in Paris and then later in England. Although his pregnant wife returned to China with him when his leave finished, Hart knew that she would not remain in Beijing for long. Two years later Lady Hart left China to settle in London and the couple did not see each other again for twenty-four years until 1906. Perhaps Lady Hart had made a sensible decision to absent herself and the children
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