![Rutherford Alcock, Lock & Whitfield woodburytype, 1876-84](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Rutherford_Alcock%2C_Lock_%26_Whitfield_woodburytype%2C_1876-84.jpg)
Sir John Rutherford Alcock,
KCB (25 May 1809
[''London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812'']2 November 1897) was the first British diplomatic representative to live in Japan.
Early life
Alcock was born in
St James's
St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the d ...
, Middlesex, the son of the physician, Dr. Thomas Alcock, who practised at
Ealing, near London, and his wife, Mary.
As he grew up, Alcock followed his father into the medical profession. In 1836, he became a surgeon in the marine brigade which took part in the
Carlist War
The Carlist Wars () were a series of civil wars that took place in Spain during the 19th century. The contenders fought over claims to the throne, although some political differences also existed. Several times during the period from 1833 to 187 ...
, gaining distinction through his services. Alcock was made deputy inspector-general of hospitals. He retired from this service in 1837.
Service in China
In 1844, he was appointed consul at
Fuchow in China, where, after a short official stay at Amoy, he performed the functions, as he expressed it, "of everything from a lord chancellor to a sheriff's officer." Fuchow was one of the ports opened to trade by the
Treaty of Nanking
The Treaty of Nanjing was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later termed the Unequal Treaties.
In the ...
, and Alcock had to perform an entirely new role with regard to the Chinese authorities. He served there for 18 months, arriving in March 1845 (his wife followed shortly after, when appropriate accommodation was found, and his sister in law Emma S. Bacon, and mother in law, Mrs. Bacon, arrived one year later).
[The Englishman in China during the Victorian era : as illustrated in the career of Sir Rutherford Alcock, K.C.B., D.C.L., many years consul and minister in China and Japan by Alexander Michie. ] He was able to work on restoring peace and order and in doing so, he earned a promotion to the consulate at Shanghai.
Alcock, along with his wife, Henrietta, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law, moved to Shanghai in the fall of 1846, where they were part of a burgeoning community of expats, merchants and missionaries from England, France, and North America.
Alcock made it a special part of his duties to superintend the established Chinese government and lay out the British settlement, which had developed into such an important feature of British commercial life in China. This included initially hosting a small church in his home, which his sister in law described as "...an immense rambling Chinese House containing fifty two Rooms / surrounded by courtyards, and divided by Galleries and Passages in all directions".
In April 1847 it was, however, decided to apply to the Church Missionary Society for a Clergyman and to plan and build a church on land donated by a merchant, and it appears that Rutherford was heavily involved in this initiative.
Emma S. Bacon, Alcock's sister-in-law, writes in April 1847, that the consulate was about two miles from Alcock's house and was to be built on ground "...by the River Side appropriated to the English...but as it is not yet commenced, it is uncertain when we shall inhabit it + but on the site appropriated for the Building Rutherford has at present Offices and a pretty sitting Room for our use, opening into a garden very nicely arranged...".
In 1853 Alcock's wife, Henrietta died (March), and the Taiping rebellion reached Shanghai.
The city was besieged and attacked until February 1855 when the rebels were starved and burned out of the city.
Alcock remained in Shanghai until April of that year to restore peace and order, and then moved on to the Consulate in Canton, the original seat of much unrest in the 1840s. He was stationed in Canton for 1 year and then took a furlough to return home to England in October 1856, just before tensions once again ignited in Canton.
Service in Japan (1858–64)
![BritishLegationAttack1861](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/BritishLegationAttack1861.jpg)
In 1858, he was appointed
Consul-General
A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...
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 ...
in Japan, and remained in that position until 1865.
Alcock opened the second British
legation in Japan within the grounds of
Tōzen-ji
, is a Buddhist temple located in Takanawa, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The temple belongs to the Myōshin-ji branch of the Rinzai school of Japanese Zen.Cortazzi, Hugh. (2000) ''Collected Writings of Sir Hugh Cortazzi'', Vol. II, pp. 210211. One of th ...
in
Takanawa
is a neighborhood in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Economy
Sony operates the Takanawa Office in Takanawa.
Education
Minato City Board of Education operates public elementary and junior high schools.
Tanakawa 1-chōme 6-27 ban and 2-4-chōme are ...
,
Edo (now Tokyo), the first being at Hiogo (
Kobe), under Sir
Harry Parkes and the vice-consul
Frank Gerard Myberg (also known as Francis Gerard Mijburg and Frans Gerard Mijberg, died 18 January 1868 buried at Kobe). He saw
In those days, foreign residents in Japan faced some danger, with noticeable Japanese hostility to foreigners (''
sonnō jōi
was a ''yojijukugo'' (four-character compound) phrase used as the rallying cry and slogan of a political movement in Japan in the 1850s and 1860s during the Bakumatsu period. Based on Neo-Confucianism and Japanese nativism, the movement soug ...
''). In 1860, Alcock's native interpreter was murdered at the gate of the legation, and in the following year the legation was stormed by a group of
ronin from the fiefdom of
Mito-han, whose attack was repulsed by Alcock and his staff.
In September 1860 he became the first non-Japanese to climb
Mount Fuji.
From March 1862 to March 1864, Alcock was on leave in England.
Service in China (1865–69)
Shortly after these events he returned to England on leave in March 1862, and was replaced in Japan by
Colonel Neale. Alcock had already been made a
Commander of the Bath (CB) (1860). In 1862 he was made a Knight of the same order (KCB), and in 1863 received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Oxford University.
In 1864, he returned to Japan, and after a year's further residence he was transferred to Peking, where he represented the British government until 1869, when he retired.
Later years
![RutherfordAlcockGrave](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9c/RutherfordAlcockGrave.jpg)
Although no longer in official life, he remained active. He was for some years president of the
Royal Geographical Society, and he served on many commissions. The official Japanese section at the
1862 International Exhibition
The International Exhibition of 1862, or Great London Exposition, was a world's fair. It was held from 1 May to 1 November 1862, beside the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, South Kensington, London, England, on a site that now houses ...
in London was prepared by Sir Rutherford and included his own collection. This is considered one of the most important events in the history of Japanese art in the West and a founding date for English
Japonism
''Japonisme'' is a French term that refers to the popularity and influence of Japanese art and design among a number of Western European artists in the nineteenth century following the forced reopening of foreign trade with Japan in 1858. Japo ...
in the decorative arts, the
Anglo-Japanese style
The Anglo-Japanese style developed in the United Kingdom through the Victorian period and early Edwardian period from approximately 1851 to the 1910s, when a new appreciation for Japanese design and culture influenced how designers and craftspe ...
. From 1882-93 he was chairman of the
British North Borneo Chartered Company
The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia ...
.
He was twice married, first in May 1841 to Henrietta Mary Bacon (daughter of Charles Bacon), who died in 1853, and second (on 8 July 1862) to Lucy Lowder (née Windsor) widow of the Rev. John Lowder. Lucy died on 13 March 1899.
Alcock was the author of several works, and was one of the first to awaken in England an interest in Japanese art. He tried hard to learn the language and even wrote a textbook. His best-known book is ''The Capital of the Tycoon''
shogun.html"_;"title="Shōgun.html"_;"title="_Shōgun">shogun">Shōgun.html"_;"title="_Shōgun">shogun_which_appeared_in_1863,_whilst_the_Emperor_of_Japan.html" "title="Shōgun">shogun.html" ;"title="Shōgun.html" ;"title=" Shōgun">shogun">Shōgun.html" ;"title=" Shōgun">shogun which appeared in 1863, whilst the Emperor of Japan">Mikado
Mikado may refer to:
* Emperor of Japan or
Arts and entertainment
* ''The Mikado'', an 1885 comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan
* ''The Mikado'' (1939 film), an adaptation of the opera, directed by Victor Schertzinger
* ''The Mikado'' (1967 f ...
's Seat was at Kyoto. He died in London on 2 November 1897, and is buried adjacent to Sir Lewis_Pelly , Lewis Pelly in St Katharine's Churchyard at Merstham in Surrey.
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Rutherford Alcock,
encompasses roughly 70+ works in 100+ publications in 5 languages and 1,000+ library holdings.
* ''Notes on the Medical History and Statistics of the British Legion of Spain; Comprising the Results of Gunshot Wounds, in Relation to Important Questions in Surgery'' (1838)
* ''Life's Problems: Essays; Moral, Social, and Psychological'' (1857)
* ''Elements of Japanese Grammar, for the Use of Beginners'' (1861)
* ''Catalogue of Works of Industry and Art, Sent from Japan by Rutherford Alcock'' (1862)
* ''The Capital of the Tycoon: a Narrative of a Three Years' Residence in Japan'' (1863), a volume of memoirs covering his service in Japan, but only until March 1862 though he remained in that post until 1865.
* ''Correspondence with Sir Rutherford Alcock Respecting Missionaries at Hankow, and State of Affairs at Various Ports in China'' (1869)
* ''Despatch from Sir Rutherford Alcock Respecting a Supplementary Convention to the Treaty of Tien-Tsin, Signed by Him on October 23, 1869 by China'' (1870)
* ''Chinese Statesmen and State Papers'' (1871)
* ''Art and Art Industries in Japan'' (1878)
* ''Handbook of British North Borneo: Compiled from Reports Received from Governor Treacher and from other Officers in the British North Borneo Company's Service by Colonial and Indian Exhibition'' (1886)
1994, 'Sir Rutherford Alcock, the first British minister to Japan 1859-1864: a reassessment', ''Transactions of the
2 vols. Edinburgh, London: W. Blackwood & sons, 1900.
*
. (2004). ''British Envoys in Japan 1859-1972.'' Folkestone, Kent: Global Oriental.
* Perrin, Noel (1979). ''Giving up the gun''. Boston: David R. Godine. .
* Denney, John. ''Respect and Consideration: Britain in Japan 1853 - 1868 and beyond''. Radiance Press (2011).