Sir Daniel Brooke Robertson, the British Consul, Shanghai

Sir Daniel Brooke Robertson, the British Consul, Shanghai

Collection

Vacher-Hilditch

Identifier

VH02-187

Notes

University of Bristol - Historical Photographs of China reference number: VH02-187. Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution reference: L04357-081b. Daniel Brooke Robertson (1810-1881) had a distinguished career in the China Consular Service from its inception, in 1843, until his retirement in 1877, but one which went largely unrecognised by the Foreign Office. Having served as British Consul in Shanghai for three years, when he returned from home leave in the early 1860s, he was appointed to Canton. Complaining that he had been passed over, he became somewhat eccentric, ‘a withered figure dressed on formal occasions, all in black, down to black silk gloves’. Eventually offered the Shanghai Consulate in 1877, ill-health prevented him taking up the position. Returning to England, Robertson was awarded the KCMG, and died three years later. (Source: P.D. Coates, ‘China Consuls’, pp191-200).

Caption in album or on mount

D.B. Robertson - H.M. Consul / Shanghae

Location

Shanghai

Date

1858

Material

Paper

Media

Black and white photograph

Repository

Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, Bath