Hugh Fraser (22 February 1837 – 4 June 1894) was an English diplomat who served as the Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom to the Japan Empire in the late 1800s.

Early life

Fraser was born on 22 February 1837 in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and was the son of Sir John Fraser,

KCMG KCMG may refer to * KC Motorgroup, based in Hong Kong, China * Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George, British honour * KCMG-LP, radio station in New Mexico, USA * KCMG, callsign 1997-2001 of Los Angeles radio station KKLQ (FM) ...

(1792–1864), and Lady Selima Charlotte Baldwin (1798–1882), who married in 1834. He came from the Balnain ( Inverness) branch of

Clan Fraser Clan Fraser is a Scottish clan of the Scottish Lowlands.Way, George and Squire, Romily. ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). Publish ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. His paternal grandparents were William Mackenzie Fraser, Esq. M.D. of

Balnain Balnain is a small village in Glenurquhart, Scotland, about 5 miles west of Drumnadrochit. It is mostly dependent on tourism, forestry, agriculture and farming. The first buildings were created in the 1870s and 1880s and minor expansions occurred ...

, and Isabel Skinner (herself the fifth daughter of American-born General

Cortlandt Skinner Cortlandt Skinner (December 16, 1727 – March 15, 1799) was the last Royal Attorney General of New Jersey and a brigadier general in a Loyalist force, the New Jersey Volunteers, also known as Skinner's Greens, during the American Revolutionary W ...

, a descendant of the Dutch colonial Schuyler family). His maternal grandfather was William Baldwin Esq. of Stede Hill near

Harrietsham Harrietsham is a rural and industrial village and civil parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England noted in the Domesday Book. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001, it had a population of 1,504, increasing to 2,113 at the 2011 Cen ...

. Through his father, he was related to

Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg Charles Grant, 1st Baron Glenelg PC FRS (26 October 1778 – 23 April 1866) was a Scottish politician and colonial administrator who served as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies Background and education Grant was born in Kidderpor ...

. Fraser, like his father, attended

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, ...

from 1849 to 1854.

Career

Just out of Eton and not quite eighteen, Fraser was appointed, as an unpaid attaché at

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

in January 1855, and was sent to

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

the following month. He moved to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

in November 1857 and passed an examination in August 1859 to become a paid attaché. He was appointed to the British legation in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

in September 1862 and subsequently served in Stockholm, and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. After a brief engagement of six weeks, Fraser and wife set out for

Peking } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

where Hugh Fraser served as Secretary of the Legation. For two years he served as Chargé d'Affaires while British Minister

Sir Thomas Wade Sir Thomas Francis Wade, (25August 181831July 1895) was a British diplomat and sinologist who produced an early Chinese textbook in English, in 1867, that was later amended, extended and converted into the Wade-Giles romanization system for ...

was on leave. He was transferred to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

in 1879, to

in 1882, and was then appointed Minister at Santiago, Chile in 1885.

UK Minister to Japan

His appointment to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

was announced in April 1888 and commenced on 1 May 1889. Fraser headed the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

Legation in

Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary An envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary, usually known as a minister, was a diplomatic head of mission who was ranked below ambassador. A diplomatic mission headed by an envoy was known as a legation rather than an embassy. Under the ...

. He headed the British delegation in the final stages of the negotiations which led to the signing on 16 July 1894 of the revised treaty (called the

Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation The signed by Britain and Japan, on 16 July 1894, was a breakthrough agreement; it heralded the end of the unequal treaties and the system of extraterritoriality in Japan. The treaty came into force on 17 July 1899. From that date British subje ...

) between the United Kingdom and the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of Japan, 1947 constitu ...

. This replaced the "unequal treaty" signed by

James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, (20 July 181120 November 1863) was a British colonial administrator and diplomat. He served as Governor of Jamaica (1842–1846), Governor General of the Province of Canada (1847–1 ...

in 1858 and led to the abolition of

extraterritoriality In international law, extraterritoriality is the state of being exempted from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Historically, this primarily applied to individuals, as jurisdiction was usually cl ...

in Japan in 1899. Thus was Japan freed from the commercial and political burdens imposed by the unequal treaties signed with foreign countries.

Personal life

On 25 June 1874, he met and married the American Mary Crawford in Italy. Mary was the daughter of prominent sculptor Thomas Crawford, and the sister of fellow author

Francis Marion Crawford Francis Marion Crawford (August 2, 1854 – April 9, 1909) was an American writer noted for his many novels, especially those set in Italy, and for his classic weird and fantastical stories. Early life Crawford was born in Bagni di Lucca, in th ...

. She was also the niece of American poet

Julia Ward Howe Julia Ward Howe (; May 27, 1819 – October 17, 1910) was an American author and poet, known for writing the " Battle Hymn of the Republic" and the original 1870 pacifist Mother's Day Proclamation. She was also an advocate for abolitionism ...

, and from her mother's remarriage (after the death of her father in 1857), she was the half-sister of Margaret Ward Terry, who later became the wife of

Winthrop Astor Chanler Winthrop Astor Chanler (October 14, 1863 – August 24, 1926) was an American sportsman and soldier who fought in the Spanish–American War and World War I. Chanler, a descendant of many prominent American families including the Dudley–Winthr ...

. As Mrs. Hugh Fraser, Mary was the author of several memoirs and numerous works of fiction, eventually becoming better known than her husband. Together, they were the parents of two sons: * John Fraser (1875–1931) * Hugh Crawford Fraser (1876–1915), who became a Second lieutenant with the 3rd Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers in 1897. Fraser died aged 57 in his post at

and was buried on 6 June 1894 in the foreigners' section of the municipal cemetery at Aoyama in central Tokyo. With a ceremonial procession arranged by the British architect Josiah Conder, the coffin was carried out of the British Legation at 3.00 pm, and reached St. Andrew's Church, Shiba Koen at 4.00 pm. Many mourners came to pay their respects, including Japanese government ministers and all the Foreign Representatives. The funeral service and committal were conducted by the Bishop Edward Bickersteth. Obituaries were published in ''The

Japan Weekly Mail Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

'' and the '' Nichi Nichi Shinbun'', a semi-official Japanese newspaper. The latter stated: "The singularly just and impartial views taken by him on all occasions were erroneously supposed... to be unwarrantably friendly to Japan... In private life, he was kind, modest, and reserved, winning the respect and love of everybody, both Japanese and foreign, that came into close contact with him. A man of firm resolution, he was never moved from the path of duty by the clamours of his nationals in the settlements."

References

;Notes ;Sources

External links

* UK in Japan
Chronology of Heads of Mission
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Hugh 1837 births 1894 deaths Anglo-Scots Members of HM Diplomatic Service British people of American descent British people of Dutch descent

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...