Correspondence of James Duncan Campbell to Sir Robert Hart

Manuscript letterbooks, 1898-1906, containing copies of letters from James Duncan Campbell in London to Sir Robert Hart. Letters series Z, number 1125-1564, 5 August 1898 - 21 December 1906, 2 vols.

James Duncan Campbell was born in Edinburgh in 1833. Educated at Cheltenham College and the universities of Paris and Heidelberg, he worked for the Post Office and the Treasury before 1862. In that year he joined the Chinese Maritime Customs and became non-resident secretary in London in 1874. He was sent to Paris in 1884 by Robert Hart to negotiate on behalf of the Quing government a cease-fire agreement in the Sino-French War. He married Ellen Mary Lewis in 1870. He died on 3 December 1907.

Sir Robert Hart (1835-1911) was Inspector General of the Imperial Maritime Customs (later Chinese Maritime Customs) from 1863.

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Presented by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in December 1967.

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Letter series Z, nos 1125-1564.

The School of Oriental and African Studies holds correspondence and papers of Sir Robert Hart (Ref: PP MS 67); a volume of typescript copies of Sir Robert Hart's letters to Sir Francis Arthur Aglen, 1888-1911 (Ref: MS 211081); a volume of typescript copies of Sir Robert Hart's letters to J D Campbell, 1903-1907 (Ref: MS 211351). For other related collections at SOAS, see published guide: Papers Relating to the Chinese Maritime Customs 1860-1943. In addition to Sir Robert Hart's papers, these include the papers of Sir Frederick Maze (Ref: PP MS 2); George H Fitzroy (Ref: MS 258361); Edward Charles Macintosh Bowra and Cecil Arthur Verner Bowra (Ref: MS 201813, now ref PP MS 69); and Sir Francis Arthur Aglen (Ref: MS 211355).

The Second Historical Archives of China, Nanjing, hold the administrative archive of the Chinese Maritime Customs. The customs records date from 1861 and are largely in English. A published guide Brief Guide to the Second Historical Archives of China is available. Queens University of Belfast Library holds correspondence, diaries and papers, 1854-1908, of Sir Robert Hart (see Manuscript Sources for the History of Irish Civilisation, supp. 1965-1975, 1979). The British Library, Manuscript Collections, holds a manuscript of 'The Peking Legations' (Ref: Add MS 46499). Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Department of Western Manuscripts, holds miscellaneous letters and papers, 1866-1908, of Sir Robert Hart (Ref: MSS Eng Lett c 304, d 319-27, e 124-27, Eng misc b 108-09, c 530-31). The National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records, holds Sir Robert Hart's correspondence with Lord Rendel, 1880-1910 (Ref: NLW MSS 19440-67, 20569-72, 23028-35) and his letters to Lord Rendel, 1882-1900 (Ref: 31). The Public Record Office holds Sir Robert Hart's correspondence with Sir E M Satow, 1901-1906 (Ref: PRO30/33/10/3).

The National Library of Wales, Department of Manuscripts and Records, holds J D Campbell's correspondence with Lord Rendel, 1881-1894 (Ref: NLW MSS 19440-67, 20569-72, 23028-35).