Thomas William Bowlby (7 January 1818 – 22 September 1860) was a British correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' in Germany and China in the 19th century. A "pioneer in the risky business of war reportage", his torture and death during the

Second Opium War The Second Opium War (), also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted the British Empire#Britain's imperial ...

was a factor in the British and French decision to raze the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) in Beijing.

Early life

Born in

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, he was the son of Thomas Bowlby, a Captain in the

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

, and Williamina Martha Arnold Balfour, daughter of Major-General William Balfour, a former Lieutenant-Governor of

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. Bowlby's parents moved while he was young to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, where his father became a timber merchant. Bowlby was educated by Dr Cowan, a Scottish school teacher living in Sunderland. After finishing his schooling he trained as a solicitor under his cousin Russell Bowlby of Sunderland and on completion of his training he moved to London where spent some years as a salaried clerk to a law firm in The Temple. In 1846 he became junior partner to the firm of Lawrence, Crowdy and Bowlby. However, Bowlby found the law uncongenial and felt drawn to a career in writing.

Career

Although he remained as a member of the firm of Lawrence, Crowdy and Bowlby until 1854, Bowlby went to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

as a special correspondent for ''The Times'' in 1848 to report on the revolutions occurring in Europe at the time. In 1860, Bowlby was engaged to travel to China as the special correspondent of ''The Times'' to cover the

, which was fought by the Chinese

Qing Empire The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu people, Manchu-led Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin (1616–1636), La ...

against the British and French.

Lord Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the h ...

and Baron Gros were his fellow passengers on the steamship SS ''Malabar'', which sank in Galle harbour on 22May 1860 after being beached in a severe storm. Bowlby's report of the shipwreck was considered one of his best pieces of work. Bowlby's reports from China were informative and popular with readers of ''The Times''. Whilst focusing on political and military developments, he also described many elements of local culture, such as gardening.

Imprisonment and death

After the capture of Tientsin (Tianjin) on 23August 1860, Bowlby accompanied the British envoys Henry Loch and Harry Smith Parkes and their escorts to Tungchow (present-day Tongzhou District, Beijing) to arrange a

peace treaty A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, which formally ends a state of war between the parties. It is different from an armistice, which is an agreement to stop hostilities; a surre ...

with the Qing Empire. However, when the negotiations broke down, the Qing general Sengge Rinchen arrested Bowlby and the delegation. Bowlby and the other captives were held at Tungchow and tortured, sometimes to death, over several days. Constricting ligatures were applied to their bodies; as they dried, they tightened. Those who cried out for water had dirt poured into their mouths. Bowlby died on 22September. In retaliation for the treatment of the delegation, the British and French burnt down the Qing Emperor's Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan) in Beijing. Lord Elgin reportedly told a French commander "What would ''The Times'' say of me, if I did not avenge its correspondent?" Bowlby's mangled body was retrieved later and buried in the Russian cemetery outside the Anding Gate of Beijing on 17October 1860. He was survived by his widow and five young children, among whom included the surgeon Sir Anthony Alfred Bowlby.

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