Papers of Sir Harry Parkes

Sir Harry Smith Parkes (1828-1885) was born on 24 February 1828 at Bloxwich, near Walsall. He was the youngest of three children, and the only son, of an ironmaster and his wife. Following an education at the King Edward the Sixth school in Birmingham, he proceeded to China in 1841 through the influence of a family connection. After a short period studying Chinese, he joined the suite of Sir Henry Pottinger in the Yangtze campaign of 1842, which brought the First China War to a conclusion, and as a fourteen-year-old he witnessed the signing of the Treaty of Nanking. In September 1843 he commenced work for the British consular service in Canton, and in the next few years served as interpreter at posts in Amoy, Foochow, Shanghai and Canton. In 1854 he was appointed consul in Amoy, and the following year he travelled to Siam to assist Sir John Bowring in the negotiations for a British treaty with that kingdom.

From 1856 to 1858 Parkes was acting consul at Canton. Shortly after taking up this post, he assumed direct superintendence, under Bowring's guidance, of the case concerning the Chinese boarding of the lorcha 'Arrow'. His inflexible conduct of the case was approved by his superiors, but became a source of controversy. Following the outbreak of the Second China War and the resulting capture of Canton, Parkes was appointed one of the city's three allied commissioners. He was made a C.B. in 1859.

After the allied forces returned to China in 1860 to enforce the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, Parkes was instrumental in acquiring the Kowloon Peninsula in Hong Kong harbour as British territory, intended primarily as a depot for troops in transit. Parkes accompanied the expedition made to the Peiho in the role of Joint Chinese Secretary of Lord Elgin's Special Embassy, and had leading roles in the reduction of the Taku forts and in the negotiations with the imperial commissioners at Tientsin and Tungchow. When fighting was renewed during the course of the talks, Parkes and his entourage were arrested and transported to Peking. During his three-week captivity he narrowly escaped execution before being freed through the agency of Prince Kung. Parkes' steadfast behaviour throughout this ordeal met with general praise in Britain, and he was appointed a K.C.B. after his return to England in 1862, by which time he had established consulates on the Yangtze at Chinkiang, Kiukiang and Hankow.

Parkes returned to China in 1864 to take up the consulship at Shanghai, and in March 1865 he was appointed envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to Japan. In the course of his eighteen years as minister in Japan, Parkes played an important part in the transition of the country from feudalism to industrial modernity, exerting a influence particularly in the spheres of currency, finance, and railway construction. In 1872 he accompanied the 'Iwakura Mission' on its visit to Great Britain. He returned to England for the period from November 1879 to January 1882, and in 1881 was made a G.C.M.G. In his later years in Japan he attracted further controversy, largely on account of his attitude towards treaty revision.

In July 1883 Parkes was appointed minister plenipotentiary to China. One of his first actions was to travel to Seoul to conclude a treaty with Korea. In 1884 he was made minister plenipotentiary to Korea, and he returned to the country to ratify the treaty. Parkes' tenure of the Peking legation coincided with the Franco-Chinese War, and the disruptions caused by this episode added to his workload. He died in Peking after a brief illness on 22 March 1885.

The collection contains a wide range of professional and personal papers. There is an extensive selection of printed and manuscript material collected in Hong Kong, China and Japan throughout Parkes' career. There are also around 750 letters, including correspondence with Sir Rutherford Alcock, Major-General Charles George Gordon, Lord John Russell and Sir Ernest Satow. Most of the personal correspondence addressed to Parkes dates from the last two years of his life, with much of the remainder relating to periods of particular activity such as the Second China War. The collection also contains maps; a few documents in other languages; and a set of letters, sketch maps, memoranda and other papers regarding Gordon's campaigns at the head of the 'Ever Victorious Army' in the service of the Chinese Imperial government during the 1860s. Most of the material belongs to three main sections: Correspondence and Despatches (Parkes 1-6); Material from O.H.M.S. Envelopes (Parkes 7-30); and Other Material (Parkes 31-42). The remaining papers are documents in Chinese (Parkes 43-46); Japanese (Parkes 47); and Korean (Parkes 48).

The collection is comprised of separate donations made by two sisters, Mrs N.M.B. McGrath and Lady Jean McEwen, granddaughters of Sir Harry Smith Parkes. In 1956 Mrs McGrath deposited with Cambridge University Library the Parkes material over which she exercised control. In March 1968 Lady McEwen of Binfield, Berkshire, despatched a second set of Parkes papers to the Library, which consisted almost entirely of additional correspondence. Both sets of papers were confirmed as donations to the University in April 1969. Further documents, concerning shares purchased by Parkes in the China Shipper's Mutual Steam Navigation Company, were discovered in August 1998 in a storeroom of Matheson & Co. Ltd, and donated to the Library directly by the firm.

The initial deposit in 1956 was received in two parts, which were amalgamated. The combined deposit fell into two categories: material contained in twenty-four O.H.M.S. envelopes, with broadly thematic titles supplied in a hand other than Parkes', and the rest. It has not been established whether the O.H.M.S. envelopes represented an original order deriving from Parkes' own use of the papers; it is more likely that the material was sorted in this way after his death, either by a family member or by a biographer. However, the contents of the envelopes were left intact while the rest of the papers were sorted during 1956-7 into eight series based on the nature of the material.

The correspondence which comprised the bulk of the second deposit was at first listed separately, but by 1988 it had been combined with the correspondence series in the first deposit to form a single alphabetical sequence. Little additional sorting was carried out, but most of the nine series created in 1956-7 were subdivided subsequently, creating a total of forty-eight series.

A few items have been moved from one series to another. Some documents which near the time of their creation would have been located together have been reunited, and several envelopes have been placed with their original contents. The location of a very small number of documents within the O.H.M.S. envelopes has been rationalised.

Any person wishing to consult the collection must obtain written permission from Matheson & Co. Ltd, 3 Lombard Street, London, EC3V 9AQ. Applicants may submit their request using the standard Jardine Matheson letter of application, which is available from the Manuscripts Reading Room and via the University Library web pages (http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/manuscripts/applicationJM.html). They must state specifically on the form that they desire access to the Parkes Papers.

No photographic work of any kind may be carried out without the prior written permission of Matheson & Co. Ltd.

In Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Manchu

Please cite as Cambridge University Library, Department of Manuscripts and University Archives, Papers of Sir Harry Parkes, MS Parkes

Further information about Parkes' life and career can be found in Stanley Lane-Poole and F.V. Dickins, 'The Life of Sir Harry Parkes' (2 volumes; London, 1894), and Gordon Daniels, 'Sir Harry Parkes: British Representative in Japan 1865-83' (Richmond, 1996).

Cambridge University Library holds other papers relating to Sir Harry Parkes, which can be consulted in the Manuscripts Reading Room:

1. Jardine Matheson Archive

Letter from Parkes, Canton, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., Hong Kong, 9 July 1853. (B7/2/2890; microfilm reel 210)

Copy of letter from Parkes, Canton, to R.S. Sturgis, 29 August 1853. (B7/2/3037; microfilm reel 211)

Letter from Parkes, Canton, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., Hong Kong, 25 January 1854. (B7/2/3448; microfilm reel 212)

Letter from Parkes, Canton, to Thomas Hunt & Co., 19 August [1856]. (B7/2/6070; microfilm reel 221)

Copy of circular letter from Parkes, Canton, to the British and foreign communities at Canton, 21 October 1856, with a copy of a letter from Parkes, Canton [to Yeh Ming-ch'en], 21 October 1856, on the same document. (B7/2/6151; microfilm reel 221)

Letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., China, 20 September 1870. (B10/7/1; microfilm reel 437)

Letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., Hong Kong, 21 January 1878. (B10/7/4; microfilm reel 437)

Letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., Hong Kong, 21 January 1878. (B10/7/5; microfilm reel 437)

Copy of letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Terashima Munenori, 30 September 1878, 3 folios. (B10/7/7; microfilm reel 437)

Letter from Parkes (Tokyo?) to Francis Bulkeley-Johnson, 9 October (1878?). (B11/1/501; microfilm reel 578)

Letter from Terashima Munenori to Parkes, 21 October 1878 (copy of a translation into English). (B10/7/8; microfilm reel 437)

Letter from Parkes (Tokyo?) to Francis Bulkeley-Johnson, 21 October 1878. (B11/1/3054; microfilm reel 575)

Copy of letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., Yokohama, 23 October 1878. (B10/7/9; microfilm reel 437)

Copy of letter from Jardine, Matheson & Co., Yokohama, to Parkes, 28 October 1878. (B10/9/2890; microfilm reel 449)

Copy of letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Terashima Munenori, 29 October 1878. (B10/7/10; microfilm reel 437)

Copy of letter from Terashima Munenori to Parkes, 1 November 1878 (copy of a translation into English). (B10/7/11; microfilm reel 437)

Copy of letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., Yokohama, 2 November 1878. (B10/7/12; microfilm reel 437)

Copy of letter from Jardine, Matheson & Co., Yokohama, to Parkes, 15 November 1878, with a copy of a motion placed before the Tokyo Saibansho on 1 November 1878 by Montague Kirkwood in the case of Robert Jardine, William Keswick, Herbert St Leger Magniac, Francis-Bulkeley Johnson, William Paterson, John Bell-Irving and James Johnstone Keswick v. Goto Shojiro, and a copy of the judgement of the Tokyo Saibansho in regard to this motion. (B10/9/2903; microfilm reel 449)

Copy of letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Terashima Munenori, 19 November 1878. (B10/7/13; microfilm reel 437)

Copy of letter from Terashima Munenori to Parkes, 21 November 1878 (copy of a translation into English). (B10/7/14; microfilm reel 437)

Copy of letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., Yokohama, 23 November 1878. (B10/7/15; microfilm reel 437)

Copy of letter [from Jardine, Matheson & Co., Yokohama] to Parkes, 9 December 1878. (B10/9/2921; microfilm reel 449)

Copy of letter from Jardine, Matheson & Co., Yokohama, to Parkes, 9 December 1878. (B10/9/2922; microfilm reel 449)

Copy of letter from Francis Bulkeley-Johnson, Yokohama, to Parkes, 19 February 1879. (B10/9/2977; microfilm reel 450)

Certificate of payment of $5,000 by Parkes to the Peabody Consolidated Mining Company of Nevada for 5,000 shares of the capital stock of the company, signed by Henry Greenfield and George A. Mercer, New York, 17 December 1879. (Part of A8/94/1)

Letter from Parkes, Chertsey, to Jardine, Matheson & Co., Hong Kong, 16 September 1881. (B6/8/8021; microfilm reel 281).

Letter from James D. Walker, San Francisco, to Parkes, 22 November 1881. (B6/2/4792; microfilm reel 492)

Account of Parkes with Falkner, Bell & Co., San Francisco, 6 December 1881. (Part of A8/29/11)

Copy of letter from Leonard Harper, Christchurch, New Zealand, to Parkes, 14 February 1882. (B6/3/4761; microfilm reel 462)

Letter from James D. Walker, San Francisco, to Parkes, 22 August 1882, including arithmetical calculations in Parkes' hand. (B6/2/4831; microfilm reel 492)

Account of Parkes, San Francisco, with Falkner, Bell & Co., 23 August 1881. (Part of A8/29/11)

Letter from Parkes, Yedo, to Jardine, Matheson & Co. [Hong Kong], 30 April (no year). (B10/7/19; microfilm reel 4370)

Letter from Evan J. Fraser, New York City, to Parkes, 9 May 1883. (B6/2/4833; microfilm reel 492)

Letter from Harper & Co., Christchurch, New Zealand, to Parkes, 7 January 1885 (B6/3/4762), with a copy of the same letter (B6/3/4763) (microfilm reel 462).

Letter from Henry S. King & Co., London, to Parkes, 20 March 1885. (B6/10/20678; microfilm reel 369)

Letter from William Henry Wilkinson, Peking, to William Keswick, concerning the Parkes estate, 14 May 1885. (B7/34/14; microfilm reel 548)

Bill for $67.35 (partly expressed in lious and pie) from Constable J. Wilkin to (the estate of?) Parkes for forage, petty expenses and wages, March 1885, including a receipt from Wilkin, 2 April 1885. (Part of A8/33/12)

Bill for $15.25 (partly expressed in lious and pie) from Constable J. Wilkin to (the estate of?) Parkes for forage, petty expenses and wages, March 1885, including a receipt from Wilkin, 2 April 1885. (Part of A8/33/12)

Bill for $26.55 from Constable J. Wilkin to Albert Edmeades Pirkis for expenses incurred waiting for Marion Keswick at Langchow, March 1885, including a receipt from Wilkin, 2 April 1885. (Part of A8/34/2)

Bill for $76 from R.D. Herring to the Parkes estate for cart, boat, and chair-bearer hire, March 1885, docketed 'Paid 1/4/85' in Albert Edmeades Pirkis's hand. (Part of A8/34/2)

Bill for $2 from R.D. Herring to the Parkes estate for the transport of cases, March 1885, docketed 'Paid 1/4/85' in Albert Edmeades Pirkis's hand. (Part of A8/34/2)

Bill for $7.75 from H. Blow & Co., Tientsin, to the Parkes estate for provisions, 1 April 1885, including a note by Albert Edmeades Pirkis, 18 April 1885. (Part of A8/33/12)

Receipt for $53 for packing and other expenses received from Albert Edmeades Pirkis, signed by Elizabeth Grover, dated Peking, 7 April 1885. (Part of A8/34/2)

Statement of 'The late Sir Harry Parkes's Funeral expenses', including 'Expenses incurred by Escort', April 1885, also including a receipt for $265.70 signed by R.D. Herring, Peking, 16 April 1885, with a note of a payment of $5 as a gratuity, 26 March 1885. (Part of A8/34/2)

Bill for $50.55 (partly expressed in lious and pie) from Constable J. Wilkin, Peking, to the Parkes estate for forage, petty expenses and wages, April 1885, including a note by Albert Edmeades Pirkis and a receipt from Wilkin, 30 April 1885. (Part of A8/33/12)

Statement of 'Expenses incurred in transporting the late Minister[']s Cases from Peking to Tientsin', April 1885, including a receipt for $79.50 signed by R.D. Herring, 25 April 1885, with a statement of 'Payments on account of Mrs [Marion] Keswick', and an envelope. (Part of A8/34/2)

Copy of application for a grant of probate for Parkes' will, including accounts of his personal estate and a schedule of his debts and funeral expenses, sworn before C.F. Murray by Thomas Douglas Forsyth and Hall Rokeby Price in London on 6 May 1885 (printed form with manuscript insertions). (Part of A8/34/2)

Letter from William Henry Wilkinson, Peking, to William Keswick concerning the Parkes estate, 10 June 1885. (B7/34/15; microfilm reel 548)

'List of goods sold from the late Sir H.S. Parkes's Store', [Peking], May 1885, with a bill for $14.59 (also expressed in sterling) for stores from E.F. Bennett to the Parkes estate, June 1885. (Part of A8/34/2)

Bill for $20.25 (partly expressed in lious and pie) from Constable J. Wilkin to the Parkes estate for forage, petty expenses and wages, May 1885, including a receipt from Wilkin, 1 June 1885. (Part of A8/33/12)

'List of Wines sold the property of the late Sir H.S. Parkes', May 1885. (Part of A8/34/2)

Bill for $8.72 from R.D. Herring, Peking, to Marion Keswick, for sundries, June 1885. (Part of A8/33/12)

Account of the Parkes estate with Falkner, Bell & Co., San Francisco, 9 July 1885. (Part of A8/29/11)

Letter from Walter Caine Hillier, Peking, to (James Johnstone?) Keswick concerning the Parkes estate, 7 September 1885. (B7/34/16; microfilm reel 548)

Letter from Thomas Lowndes Bullock, Peking, (to William Keswick?), concerning the Parkes estate, 12 October 1885. (B7/34/17; microfilm reel 548).

'List of Articles being the Property of the late Sir Harry S. Parkes Sold at Public Auction on 30th & 31st of October & 2nd of November 1885.' (Part of A8/34/2)

Letter from Thomas Lowndes Bullock, Peking (to William Keswick?), concerning the Parkes estate, 28 November 1885. (B7/34/19; microfilm reel 548)

Statement of 'Total amount of Stores sold the property of the late Sir H.S. Parkes', 1885. (Part of A8/34/2)

Statement of 'Miscellaneous payments' concerning Parkes and his estate (1885?). (Part of A8/34/2)

Copy of the account of the Parkes estate with Falkner, Bell & Co., San Francisco, 2 January 1886. (Part of A8/33/3)

Balance sheet of the Parkes estate drawn up by William Henry Wilkinson, Peking, 22 March 1886. (Part of A8/34/2)

Certificate made by William Henry Wilkinson, Peking, concerning the employment of Ts'ui Hsi as caretaker in Parkes' former residence, 22 March 1886. (Part of A8/34/2)

2. Papers of the Earl of Mayo

Letter from Richard Southwell Bourke, Earl of Mayo, Simla, to Parkes, 6 August 1869. (MS Add.7490/150, fol. 206)

The following repositories also keep significant holdings of material relating to Sir Harry Parkes:

1. The Bodleian Library, Oxford

Letter from Parkes, 1851. (MS.Clar.dep.c.71)

Despatch from Parkes, Yedo, to George William Frederick Villiers, Earl of Clarendon, 20 June 1869. (MS.Clar.dep.c.490)

Letter from Parkes, Chislehurst, to Sir Edmund Frederick Du Cane (1872?). (MS.Eng.hist.c.648, ff. 59-60)

2. The British Library, London

Letter to Parkes (from General Sir James Hope Grant?), 1860. (MS Add. 52414, f. 30b)

Letter from Parkes to Austen Henry Layard, 1863. (MS Add. 58222, f. 92)

Letters from Parkes, Shanghai, to Austen Henry Layard, 1864. (MS. Add. 39109, f. 188 and MS Add. 39110, f. 17)

Copy of a letter from Charles George Gordon to Parkes, 1864. (MS. Add. 39109, f. 198)

Draft instructions to Parkes as Minister to Japan, 1865, in the papers of Austen Henry Layard. (MS Add. 39116, f. 491)

Copies of letters, etc., to Lord Granville, 1885, including correspondence with Li Hung-chang, Prince Ch'ing, and the Tsungli yamen (MS Add. 52400, ff. 214-223)

Copies of letter, etc., to Lord Granville, 1885, including correspondence with Prince Ch'ing and the Tsungli yamen. (MS Add. 52402, ff. 32-37b)

3. Lambeth Palace Library

Letters from Parkes, 1884, in the correspondence of Edward White Benson. (Benson Papers, Vol. 19, ff. 3-6, 14-16.)

4. The National Archives, Kew

Archival materials concerning Parkes can be found in the following files:

Foreign Office: Political and Other Departments: General Correspondence before 1906, China. (FO 17)

Foreign Office: Political and Other Departments: General Correspondence before 1906, Japan. (FO 46)

Foreign Office: Political and Other Departments: General Correspondence before 1906, Siam. (FO 69)

Protocols of Treaties. (FO 93)

Foreign Office and predecessors: Political and Other Departments: Supplements to General Correspondence before 1906. (FO 97)

Foreign Office: Consulates and Legation, China: General Correspondence, Series I. (FO 228)

Foreign Office: Consulates and Legation, China: Letter Books. (FO 230)

Northern Department and Foreign Office: Consulates and Legation, China: Miscellaneous Papers and Reports. (FO 233)

Foreign Office: Embassy and Consulates, Japan: General Correspondence. (FO 262)

Foreign Office: Consulates and Legation, Japan: Letter Books. (FO 344)

Tenterden Papers (Papers of Charles Stuart Aubrey Abbott, Baron Tenterden). (FO 363)

Hammond Papers (Papers of Edmund Hammond, Baron Hammond). (FO 391)

Foreign Office: Consulate, Amoy, China: General Correspondence. (FO 663)

Foreign Office: Consulate, Shanghai, China: General Correspondence. (FO 671)

Foreign Office: Chinese Secretary's Office, Various Embassies and Consulates, China: General Correspondence. (FO 682)

Foreign Office: Consulate, Nagasaki, Japan: General Correspondence and Consular Court Records. (FO 796)

Foreign Office. (FO 881)

Satow Papers (Papers of Sir Ernest Mason Satow). (PRO 30/33)

5. The National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh

Correspondence from Parkes to Henry Brougham Loch, with letters referring to Parkes. (Loch Muniments, GD 268)

6. The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh

Letter from Parkes to Sir Thomas Cochrane, Koolangsoo, 13 January 1845. (MS. 2381, ff. 16-17)

7. Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast

Approximately 177 letters from Parkes to Hiram Shaw Wilkinson, 1875-1885, and 26 letters from Wilkinson to Parkes, 1874-1885. (D.1292.A.1)

Copies of letters from Sir Frederick William Adolphus Bruce to Parkes, 1858-1861, with a memorandum by Parkes, 'Access to Peking How Obtainable by H.M.'s Ambassador', 15 July 1857 (see Parkes 4/3 and 7/1). (D.1292.B.1)

8. The Royal Geographical Society

Articles by Parkes sent for publication in the Royal Geographical Society's journal. (Jnl Mss Central Asia, 1854; Jnl Mss S.E. Asia, 1856)

Letters from Parkes. (RGS Corr. Bl. 1851-60; RGS Corr. Bl. 1861-70)

9. The Schools of King Edward the Sixth in Birmingham: Foundation Office

Secretary's Register of Admissions, 1838-1857. (S/FHSB/Schol 11)

Index to Secretary's Register of Admissions, 1838-1868. (S/FHSB/Schol 13)

Register of boys in Free Grammar School by classes, 1825-1838. (S/HSB/Schol 11)

School Lists, 1839-1850. (S/HSB/Schol 21)

A catalogue is available in the Manuscripts Reading Room.