William S. Frederick Mayers (1831–1878) was a British official and

sinologist Sinology, or Chinese studies, is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of China primarily through Chinese philosophy, language, literature, culture and history and often refers to Western scholarship. Its origin "may be traced to the ex ...

About

He was son of the Rev. Michael John Mayers, and was born on 7 January 1831 in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. At the time his father was colonial chaplain there, and was subsequently appointed consular chaplain at

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

, where Mayers received most of his schooling. After spending some years as a journalist in New York, Mayers in 1859 went to China as a student-interpreter, accompanying

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 ...

Beijing } 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 ...

. and, after serving as interpreter to the allied commission charged with the government of Canton, was appointed interpreter to the consulate there. He encountered

Gustaaf Schlegel Gustaaf Schlegel (30 September 184015 October 1903) was a Dutch sinologist and field naturalist. E. Bruce Brooks (9 June 2004)Gustaaf Schlegel, Sinology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, retrieved 17 September 2011 Life and career Gustaaf S ...

there in 1861. In 1864 he was at Shanghai, assisting with

Harry Smith Parkes Sir Harry Smith Parkes (24 February 1828 – 22 March 1885) was a British diplomat who served as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to the Empire of Japan from 1865 to 1883 and the Chinese ...

the

Bakufu , officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakur ...

officials Moriyama Takichirō and Yamaguchi Shichijirō. Mayers filled consular posts at Chinese ports until 1872, when he was made Chinese secretary of legation at Pekin. In the same year he visited England, and in August read a paper on the ''Pathays of Yünan'' before the geographical section of the

British Association The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Chie ...

at Brighton. Mayers in 1861 became fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

; he was also a member of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

, He died on 24 March 1878 at Shanghai of

typhus fever Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

, and was survived by his wife.

Career

Mayers was a noted Chinese scholar. He wrote: *''The Anglo-Chinese Calendar Manual'', 1869. *''The Chinese Reader's Manual'', London 1874. *''Treaties between the Empire of China and Foreign Powers'', 1877. *''The Chinese Government'', Shanghai, 1878. He collaborated with

Henry Fletcher Hance Henry Fletcher Hance (4 Aug 1827 – 22 June 1886) was a British diplomat who devoted his spare time to the study of Chinese plants. Born in Brompton, London, his first appointment was to Hong Kong in 1844. In May 1852 in Exeter he married his f ...

, as sinologist and botanist. In 1867, with Nicholas Belfield Dennys and Lieutenant Charles King, Mayers wrote ''The Treaty Ports of China'', and in 1877 translated the ''

Peking Gazette The ''Peking Gazette'' was an official bulletin published with changing frequency in Beijing until 1912, when the Qing dynasty fell and Republican China was born. The translated name, as it is known to Western sources, comes from Ming dynasty-era ...

'' for that year. His official report on ''The Famine in the Northern Provinces of China'' was published as a parliamentary paper. He was a contributor to periodical publications, especially the ''China Review'', published at Shanghai, He published in 1869 in the ''Journal'' of the Royal Asiatic Society a paper on the ''Lamaist Septem in Tibet''.

Notes

External links

Online Books page
;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Mayers, William S. Frederick 1831 births 1878 deaths 19th-century British diplomats British sinologists 19th-century British translators