|
Sir Harry Parkes
Sir Harry Smith Parkes (24 February 1828 – 22 March 1885) was a British diplomat who served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to the Empire of Japan from 1865 to 1883 and the Chinese Qing Empire from 1883 to 1885, and Minister to Korea in 1884. Parkes Street in Kowloon, Hong Kong is named after him. Early life Parkes was born in Birchill Hall in the parish of Bloxwich in Staffordshire, England. His father, Harry Parkes, was the founder of Parkes, Otway & Co., ironmasters. His mother died when he was four, while his father was killed in a carriage accident in the following year. He lived with his uncle, a retired naval officer, in Birmingham and was educated at a boarding school in Balsall HeathOxford DNB (2004) before entering King Edward's School, Birmingham in May 1838. Career in China (1841–64) First Opium War In June 1841, Parkes sailed to China to live with his cousin, Mary Wanstall, who was also the wife ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Ambassadors Of The United Kingdom To Japan
The Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Japan is the United Kingdom's foremost diplomatic representative in Japan, and is the head of the UK's diplomatic mission there. The following is a chronological list of British heads of mission ( ministers and ambassadors) in Japan from 1859. Before 1905, there were no ambassadors exchanged between the two countries, the highest rank being envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiarya rank just below ambassador. Before 1859, there was no treaty and no diplomatic relations, because Japan was isolated from the world by the Tokugawa shogunate's policy of national isolation called ''sakoku'' (literally ''locked country''). List of heads of mission Envoys Extraordinary and Ministers Plenipotentiary Ambassadors ''No representation (1941–1946, due to World War II)'' During World War II, Setsuya Beppu worked in a consulate in Dublin in the Irish Free State, and was responsible for the Japanese citizens in the UK and Ireland. Poli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diplomat
A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or international organizations. The main functions of diplomats are representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state; initiation and facilitation of strategic agreements, treaties and conventions; and promotion of information, trade and commerce, technology, and friendly relations. Seasoned diplomats of international repute are used in international organizations (for example, the United Nations, the world's largest diplomatic forum) as well as multinational companies for their experience in management and Negotiation, negotiating skills. Diplomats are members of foreign services and diplomatic corps of various nations of the world. The sending state is required to get the consent of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Language
Chinese ( or ) is a group of languages spoken natively by the ethnic Han Chinese majority and List of ethnic groups in China, many minority ethnic groups in China, as well as by various communities of the Chinese diaspora. Approximately 1.39 billion people, or 17% of the global population, speak a variety of Chinese as their first language. Chinese languages form the Sinitic languages, Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The spoken varieties of Chinese are usually considered by native speakers to be dialects of a single language. However, their lack of mutual intelligibility means they are sometimes considered to be separate languages in a Language family, family. Investigation of the historical relationships among the varieties of Chinese is ongoing. Currently, most classifications posit 7 to 13 main regional groups based on phonetic developments from Middle Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin with 66%, or around 800&nb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Opium War
The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of their ban on the opium trade by seizing private opium stocks from mainly British merchants at Guangzhou (then named ''Canton'') and threatening to impose the death penalty for future offenders. Despite the opium ban, the British government supported the merchants' demand for compensation for seized goods, and insisted on the principles of free trade and equal diplomatic recognition with China. Opium was Britain's single most profitable commodity trade of the 19th century. After months of tensions between the two states, the Royal Navy launched an expedition in June 1840, which ultimately defeated the Chinese using technologically superior ships and weapons by August 1842. The British ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Henry Pottinger
Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom), Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Pottinger, 1st Baronet (3 October 1789 – 18 March 1856) was an Bombay Army officer and colonial administrator who served as the first governor of Hong Kong from 1843 to 1844. Early life Henry Pottinger was born at his family estate of Mount Pottinger in Ballymacarrett in the north of County Down in Ulster, the northern Provinces of Ireland, province in Ireland, on 3 October 1789. At the time of his birth, all of Ireland was part of the British-ruled Kingdom of Ireland. An Ulster Protestants, Ulster Protestant, he was descended from the Pottingers of Berkshire, an English people, English family by origin with a branch that had settled in Ulster during the Plantation of Ulster in the seventeenth century. He was the fifth son of Eldred Curwen Pottinger and his wife Anne. They had three daughters and eight sons. His nephew was also named Eldred Pottinger. Henry attended the Belfast Academy until the age of 12. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Robert Morrison
John Robert Morrison (; 17 April 1814 – 29 August 1843) was a British interpreter and colonial official in China. Born in Macau, his father was Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary in China. After his father's death in 1834, Morrison replaced him as Chinese Secretary and Interpreter to the Superintendents of British Trade in China. In 1843, he was appointed as Acting Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong and a member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, but died eight days later in Hong Kong from fever. Early life Morrison was born on 17 April 1814 in the Portuguese colony of Macau. He was the second son and third child of missionary Robert Morrison's marriage to Mary Morton. Morrison left Macau on 21 January 1815 with his mother and elder sister aboard a ship bound for England. They returned to Macau on 23 August 1820, but less than two years later his mother died and he was sent back to England to receive an education. Over the next four years, he was educa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Gützlaff
Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff (8 July 1803 – 9 August 1851), anglicised as Charles Gutzlaff, was a Germans, German Lutheran missionary to the Far East, notable as one of the first Protestant missionaries in Bangkok, Thailand (1828) and in Korea (1832). He was also the first Lutheran missionary to China. He was a magistrate in Ningbo and Zhoushan and the second Chinese Secretary of the British administration in Hong Kong. He wrote widely read books and served as interpreter for British diplomatic missions during the First Opium War. Gützlaff was one of the first Protestant missionaries in China to wear Chinese clothing. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1839. Early life Born at Pyritz (present-day Pyrzyce), Pomerania, he was apprenticed to a saddler in Stettin, but was able to secure admission to Pädagogium in Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Halle, and associated himself with the Janike Institute in Berlin. The Netherlands Missionary Society s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Edward's School, Birmingham
King Edward's School (KES) is an independent school (UK), independent day school for boys in the British Public school (UK), public school tradition, located in Edgbaston, Birmingham. Founded by Edward VI of England, King Edward VI in 1552, it is part of the Foundation of the Schools of King Edward VI. It is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. It shares its site and is twinned with King Edward VI High School for Girls (KEHS). While the two schools run separately, dramatic arts, societies, music and other events are often shared; the schools also share a couple of hockey pitches and several clubs. The shared area is called Winterbourne after the nearby Winterbourne Botanic Garden. Since September 2024, the two schools have shared a joint head teacher, styled Chief Master & Principal. Alumni of the school include two Nobel Prize, Nobel laureates, a Fields Medal, Fields medallist, as well as J. R. R. Tolkien (author of ''The Lord of the Rings''), and Fiel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Balsall Heath
Balsall Heath is an inner-city area of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. It has a diverse cultural mix of people and is the location of the Balti Triangle. History The name is first found as Bordeshale in 1275, which is derived from the Old English words ''Bord's healh'' meaning 'Bord's heath' or 'Bord's nook' implying a corner or small area of land, perhaps a sheltered hollow in the landscape, protected by trees, possibly within a river-bend. The name stems from the Anglian personal name of one ''Bord'', who held property in the area, and in this way shares its origin with that of neighbouring Bordesley, first record as Bordesleie or Bordeslea meaning 'Bord's clearing'. Balsall Heath was largely agricultural and park land between Moseley village and the city of Birmingham until the 1850s when expansion along Moseley Road joined the two. Balsall Heath was formerly a chapelry in the parish of King's Norton, in Worcestershire, it was added to the county borough of Birmi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the List of English districts by population, largest local authority district in England by population and the second-largest city in Britain – commonly referred to as the second city of the United Kingdom – with a population of million people in the city proper in . Birmingham borders the Black Country to its west and, together with the city of Wolverhampton and towns including Dudley and Solihull, forms the West Midlands conurbation. The royal town of Sutton Coldfield is incorporated within the city limits to the northeast. The urban area has a population of 2.65million. Located in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England, Birmingham is considered to be the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ironmaster
An ironmaster is the manager, and usually owner, of a forge or blast furnace for the processing of iron. It is a term mainly associated with the period of the Industrial Revolution, especially in Great Britain. The ironmaster was usually a large-scale entrepreneur and thus an important member of a community. He would have a large country house or mansion as his residence. The organization of operations surrounding the smelting, refining, and casting of iron was labour-intensive, and so there would be numerous workers reliant on the furnace works. There were ironmasters (possibly not called such) from the 17th century onward, but they became more prominent with the great expansion in the British iron industry during the Industrial Revolution. 17th-century ironmasters (examples) An early ironmaster was John Winter (Royalist), John Winter (about 1600–1676) who owned substantial holdings in the Forest of Dean. During the English Civil War he cast cannons for Charles I of England, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kowloon
Kowloon () is one of the areas of Hong Kong, three areas of Hong Kong, along with Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. It is an urban area comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. It has a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006. It is the smallest, second most populous, and most densely populated of the divisions. Location Kowloon is located directly north of Hong Kong Island across Victoria Harbour. It is bordered by the Lei Yue Mun strait to the east, Mei Foo Sun Chuen, Butterfly Valley, and Stonecutters Island, Stonecutter's Island to the west, a mountain range, including Tate's Cairn and Lion Rock to the north, and Victoria Harbour to the south. Administration Kowloon comprises the following Districts of Hong Kong, districts: *Kowloon City District, Kowloon City *Kwun Tong District, Kwun Tong *Sham Shui Po District, Sham Shui Po *Wong Tai Sin District, Wong Tai Sin *Yau Tsim Mong District, Yau Tsim Mong Name The name 'Kowloon' () ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
