Byron Brenan CMG, (7 December 1847 – 28 February 1927), was a British diplomat who served in China from 1866. His last position before retirement was as British Consul General in Shanghai from 1899 to 1901. Brenan had English and Irish ancestry. His second brother worked for

Chinese Maritime Customs Service The Chinese Maritime Customs Service was a Chinese governmental tax collection agency and information service from its founding in 1854 until it split in 1949 into services operating in the Republic of China on Taiwan, and in the People's Republ ...

. One of his nephews John Fitzgerald Brenan was also a diplomat who also served as same British Consul General in Shanghai from 1930 to 1937. Brenan joined

UK Foreign Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 September 2020 through the merger of the Foreign an ...

in 1866 and served initially in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province of China, province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei City to the n ...

and

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

. He served as

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

Chefoo Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao o ...

(now

Yantai Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of the People's Republic of China. Lying on the southern coast of the Bohai Strait, Yantai borders Qingdao ...

) from 1883 to 1885, and then served as British consul in Beijing and Tianjin from 1885 to 1893. In June 1886 he went to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

to represent the British Government, on a joint committee on opium and facilitated the signing of regulations on the management of western medicine in Hong Kong. From 1893 to 1898 while serving as the British Consul General in Guangzhou, Brenan had to deal with response to rumours concerning the bubonic plague in Hong Kong and

Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...

's anti-Qing revolutionary movement. Later in 1897, Brenan negotiated with the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi,

Tan Zhonglin Tan Zhonglin (, 1822–1905) was a Qing dynasty scholar-official. He was born in Gaolong, Chaling County, Hunan Province. His courtesy name was Wenqing (). He was the father of Tan Yankai, a politician of the Republic of China. Biography In 1856 ...

about the expansion of Hong Kong, which led to the signing of

Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory The Convention between the United Kingdom and China, Respecting an Extension of Hong Kong Territory, commonly known as the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory or the Second Convention of Peking, was a lease and unequal treaty si ...

in 1898. In addition, in 1895, he was appointed by the British Government as a special commissioner to examine the trade situation of the UK in Far East and published in 1897 a "Report on the State of Trade at the Treaty Ports of China". Brenan was appointed as British Consul-General in Shanghai in 1898 and took office in the following year. During his tenure, he assisted in the rescue of

Kang Youwei Kang Youwei (; Cantonese: ''Hōng Yáuh-wàih''; 19March 185831March 1927) was a political thinker and reformer in China of the late Qing dynasty. His increasing closeness to and influence over the young Guangxu Emperor sparked confli ...

during the 1898 Jiangsu coup. In 1899, he successfully negotiated with the Qing court to expand the total area of

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the 1863 merger of the British Concession (Shanghai), British and American Concession (Shanghai), American list of former foreign enclaves in China, enclaves in Shanghai, in which Brit ...

by more than three times its size to 33,503 acres. In order to honor his performance in Shanghai, the

Shanghai Municipal Council The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the 1863 merger of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction under the terms of ...

on his retirement in July 1901, named a new road in the concession Brenan Road (now Changning Road). He continued to pay attention to Chinese affairs after he retired to the UK. He founded the China Society in 1906 and served as honorary secretary. He died in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1927, at the age of 79.

English Reference Materials

* "The Opium Commission", ''The China Mail'', 22 June 1886, p. 2. *
Enquiry into the Conditions of British Trade with China
, ''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser'', 14 December 1895, p. 3.   * Brenan, Byron,
Report on the State of Trade at the Treaty Ports of China
'. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1897. *
The Treaty Ports of China
, ''The Straits Times'', 30 July 1897, p. 11. *
Settlement Extension at Shanghai
, ''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser'', 18 May 1899, p. 6. *
The Straits Times
', 23 January 1900, p. 2. *
The China Crisis
, ''The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser'', 6 October 1900, p. 3. *
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser
', 11 July 1901, p. 2. *
The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser
', 12 July 1901, p. 2.   * ''The North China Herald'', 17 July 1901. * Crisp, Frederick Arthur,
Visitation of England and Wales
' Vol. 10. Privately Printed, 1902. *
The Chinese Commission
, ''Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser'', 24 April 1906, p. 1. * Edited by Wright, Arnold,
Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and Other Treaty Ports of China: Their History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources
'. London: Lloyds Greater Britain Publishing Company, 1908. * Ruvigny, The Marquis de,
The Roll of Honour: A Biographical Record of All Members of His Majesty's Naval and Military Forces Who Have Fallen in the War
' Volume I. London: The Standard Art Book Company Limited, 1916. * Lunt, Carroll,
The China Who's Who 1922: A Biographical Dictionary
'. Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh, Limited, 1922. * ''Journal of the Royal Society of Arts'' Vol 75. The Society, 1927. * "Obituary - Mr Byron Brenan", ''The South China Morning Post'', 5 April 1927, p. 8. * "The Late Mr. Byron Brenan - Founded the China Society - Untimely Death", ''The South China Morning Post'', 7 April 1927, p. 10. * "BRENAN, BYRON, C.M.G.", ''The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book''. London: Harrison and sons., 1928.   * "Sir John and Lady Brenan - Leaving Shanghai on Well-earned Leave", ''Hong Kong Daily Press'', 31 March 1933, p. 7. * "China Society Luncheon",
The Asiatic Review
' Vol 36. Westminster Chamber, April 1940, pp. 578–587. * Sun, Mary Man-yue,
British Policy and the Chinese Revoluntionary Movement, 1895-1912
'. Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, September 1968. * Edited by Fairbank, John King, Bruner, Katherine Frost, and, Matheson, Elizabeth MacLeod,
The I. G. in Peking: Letters of Robert Hart Chinese Maritime Customs 1868-1907
' Vol One. Harvard University Press, 1975. * Brenan, Gerald,
A Life of One's Own: Childhood and Youth
'. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1979. * Chan Lau, Kit-ching,
China, Britain and Hong Kong, 1895-1945
'. Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1990. * Gao, James Z.,
Historical Dictionary of Modern China (1800-1949)
'. Scarecrow Press, 2009. * "Brenan, Byron", ''Who was Who''. London: A. & C. Black, retrieved on 7 February 2019. (Electronic version. Subscription via the Wikipedia Library) * "Brenan, (Edward Fitz-) Gerald", ''Who was Who''. London: A. & C. Black, retrieved on 7 February 2019. (Electronic version. Subscription via the Wikipedia Library) * "Brenan, Sir John (Fitzgerald)", ''Who was Who''. London: A. & C. Black, retrieved on 7 February 2019. (Electronic version. Subscription via the Wikipedia Library) * "Brenan, Terence Vincent", ''Who was Who''. London: A. & C. Black, retrieved on 7 February 2019. (Electronic version. Subscription via the Wikipedia Library) *
Ohio Death Index, 1908-1932, 1938-1944, and 1958-2007: Eric H Brenan
, ''FamilySearch'', retrieved on 7 February 2019. *
St Luke groom marriages - B
, ''Jerripedia Birth, Marriage and Burial Records'', retrieved on 7 February 2019.

External links

British Consulate General Shanghai

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenan, Byron 1847 births 1927 deaths Consuls-general for the United Kingdom in Shanghai