Harry Parkes (diplomat) facts for kids
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Sir Harry Parkes
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| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to Japan | |
| In office 1865–1883 |
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| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Preceded by | Sir Rutherford Alcock |
| Succeeded by | Sir Francis Richard Plunkett |
| Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary and Consul General of the United Kingdom to China | |
| In office 28 September 1883 – 22 March 1885 |
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| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Preceded by | Thomas George Grosvenor |
| Succeeded by | Sir Nicholas Roderick O'Conor |
| Minister to Korea | |
| In office 1884–1885 |
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| Monarch | Queen Victoria |
| Preceded by | none |
| Succeeded by | Sir John Walsham |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Harry Smith Parkes
24 February 1828 Birchill Hall, Bloxwich, Staffordshire, England |
| Died | 22 March 1885 (aged 57) Beijing, China |
Sir Harry Smith Parkes (born 24 February 1828 – died 22 March 1885) was an important British diplomat. He worked as a top representative for the United Kingdom in Japan from 1865 to 1883. Later, he served in China from 1883 to 1885. He was also a Minister to Korea in 1884. A street in Kowloon, Hong Kong, is named after him.
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Early Life of Harry Parkes
Harry Parkes was born in Birchill Hall, Bloxwich, Staffordshire, England. His father, also named Harry Parkes, founded a company that worked with iron. Harry's mother died when he was four years old. His father passed away the next year in a carriage accident. Harry then lived with his uncle, a retired naval officer, in Birmingham. He went to a boarding school before attending King Edward's School, Birmingham in 1838.
Harry Parkes's Career in China (1841–64)
First Opium War Experience
In June 1841, Parkes sailed to China to live with his cousin. She was married to a German missionary named Karl Gützlaff. In October 1841, he arrived in Macau. He prepared to work for John Robert Morrison, a translator for Sir Henry Pottinger. Pottinger was the British representative for trade in China. At this time, the First Opium War (1839–42) was happening between Britain and the Qing Empire of China.
Parkes learned some Chinese language. In May 1842, he joined Pottinger in Hong Kong. On June 13, he went with Pottinger on a trip up the Yangtze River to Nanjing. He saw the Battle of Chinkiang on July 21. This was the last big battle of the First Opium War. He was also there when the Treaty of Nanking was signed on August 29.
Working as a Translator and Consul
From September 1842 to August 1843, Parkes worked as a clerk. He worked for Karl Gützlaff, who was a civil magistrate in Zhoushan. In August 1843, Parkes passed a Chinese language exam in Hong Kong. He became a translator in Fuzhou the next month. However, he was sent to Canton instead. He also helped the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong.
In June 1844, Parkes became a translator in Amoy. In March 1845, he moved to Fuzhou with Rutherford Alcock, the British consul. On October 4, Chinese soldiers threw stones at them. In June 1846, he helped Alcock get money from Chinese officials. This money was to pay for British property that was stolen during a riot.
In August 1846, Parkes and Alcock moved to Shanghai. Parkes continued as Alcock's translator. The next year, he started learning Japanese. In March 1848, he went to Nanjing to discuss an attack on three British missionaries. He became a translator in Shanghai on April 9, 1848. After a break in Europe, he returned to China. He worked as a translator in Amoy starting in July 1849. He was sent to Canton again in November 1851. While there, he acted as Consul when Sir John Bowring was away. In August 1853, he was temporarily in charge of the British office in Canton.
Parkes became the British consul in Amoy in 1854. In 1855, he went with Bowring to Siam (now Thailand). They were there to make a trade agreement between Britain and Siam. This agreement, called the Bowring Treaty, was signed in Bangkok on April 18. Parkes then took the treaty back to Britain for approval. He met Queen Victoria on July 9. He spent the rest of the year helping the Foreign Office with business related to China and Siam. He returned to Bangkok in April 1856 to finalize the treaty. In June, he arrived in Canton to work as acting British consul.
Second Opium War Begins
Parkes's role as acting British Consul in Canton led to new problems with Ye Mingchen. Ye was a Chinese official. Their disagreements led to the start of the Second Opium War (1856–60).
On October 8, 1856, Chinese officials boarded a ship called the Arrow in Canton Harbour. They believed pirates were on board and arrested 12 Chinese sailors. Parkes claimed the British flag was flying on the ship. He said removing it was an insult to Britain. Ye replied that the Arrow was owned by Chinese people and the flag was not flying. Parkes insisted it was an insult and reported it to Sir John Bowring, the Governor of Hong Kong.
Some facts later showed that the flag might not have been flying. The ship's papers were not in order for it to leave port. The ship's captain was not even on board at the time. Despite this, Parkes demanded the sailors be released and an apology. Bowring saw this as a chance to gain more rights for Britain in Canton. The incident grew into a war to remove trade barriers.
Ye refused to give in. So, the Royal Navy attacked Canton's walls on October 29. Parkes went with Admiral Sir Michael Seymour into Ye's office. The British did not have enough soldiers to stay in Canton. But they kept warships on the river. On December 16, Chinese forces set fire to the European area outside the city. Parkes went back to Hong Kong. He was criticized by some in the British Parliament.
Battle for Canton
British soldiers gathered in Hong Kong in November 1857. They prepared for war against the Qing Empire. Lord Elgin was in charge for Britain. The British worked with the French. The French were also involved in the war because a French missionary had died in China. Parkes was part of the British and French group that gave a final warning to Chinese officials on December 12. When the warning time ran out, the British and French attacked Canton on December 28. They took control of the city by the end of December. Parkes helped find Ye Mingchen in the city.
On January 9, 1858, Bogui was put back in charge of Canton by the Qing government. But the city was really run by a European group. This group included two Englishmen, one of whom was Parkes, and a French naval officer. Parkes was the leader because he could speak Chinese. This group set up a court and a police force. They opened the port on February 10. Even after the Treaty of Tianjin was signed on June 26, Chinese officials in Guangdong were still unfriendly towards Europeans. They even offered a reward for Parkes's capture. Parkes was honored by Queen Victoria on December 6, 1859.
Beijing Campaign
On June 25, 1859, fighting started again. The British attacked the Taku Forts near Tianjin. On July 6, Parkes was asked to join Lord Elgin. He sailed on July 21 and became Lord Elgin's Chinese secretary.
On August 1, 1860, Parkes was sent to Beitang, Tianjin. He was to take control of an empty fort and gather information. After the British successfully attacked a fort on August 21, he helped with talks for the other Chinese forts to surrender. Three days later, he arrived in Tianjin. There, he arranged supplies for the British and French forces. He also met with Chinese officials. The British and French learned that these officials did not have full power from the Xianfeng Emperor. So, the troops moved closer to Tongzhou, near the Chinese capital, Beijing.
Parkes and a group went ahead of the army to talk with Chinese officials in Tungchow on September 14 and 17. They agreed that the Anglo-French army should move to a spot about 5 miles from Tungchow. On September 18, Parkes left Tungchow to mark the army's camp site. But he saw Chinese soldiers gathering there. He went back to talk to the officials. After a harsh response, he and his group tried to return to the British headquarters. But Chinese soldiers arrested them. Parkes was taken to Beijing with Henry Loch and others. In Beijing, they were held captive and treated harshly at the Ministry of Justice.
On September 29, Prince Gong ordered Parkes and Loch to be moved to better living quarters. They were pressured to help with talks between the two sides. Parkes refused to make any promises. On October 8, Parkes, Loch, and six others were released. This happened just before the Chinese government received an order from the Emperor to execute them. On October 18, Lord Elgin ordered British and French troops to burn down the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. This was in response to the harsh treatment and deaths of other captured group members.
After the Second Opium War
After the Convention of Peking was signed on October 18, 1860, Parkes returned to Canton in January 1861. He managed the transfer of Kowloon, Hong Kong, to Britain. The Treaty of Tianjin had opened three Chinese port cities to foreign trade. From February to April 1861, Parkes went on a trip along the Yangtze River. He helped set up consulates in these cities. He also tried to reach an agreement with the Taiping rebels in Nanjing.
Parkes went back to Beijing in April 1861. But he left for Nanjing again in June to meet more Taiping rebel leaders. On October 21, the British and French gave control of Canton back to the Chinese government. This ended Parkes's work as the British commissioner in Canton. Parkes traveled to Shanghai in November. He met with the Taiping rebels again in Ningbo in December. In January 1862, he returned to England. Stories about his capture in China had made him famous. On May 19, 1862, Queen Victoria made him a knight for his service. This meant he was called "Sir." Parkes left England in January 1864. He arrived in Shanghai on March 3. He took up his position as consul there. He was also chosen to lead the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1864.
Harry Parkes's Career in Japan (1865–83)
In May 1865, Parkes received news that he would become Britain's top representative in Japan. He would replace Sir Rutherford Alcock. One of his jobs was to make sure the Imperial Court in Kyoto approved the Anglo-Japanese Friendship Treaty of 1854 and the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Amity and Commerce of 1858.
During this time, known as the Bakumatsu period, Japan was going through big changes. Parkes tried to stay neutral between the old government (the Tokugawa shogunate) and the new forces who supported the Emperor. He hoped for a peaceful solution. Because he supported the reformers, some people who wanted to keep the old ways hated him. They tried to kill him three times. The overthrow of the shogunate and the Boshin War surprised him. But he kept Britain neutral. On May 22, 1868, he met Emperor Meiji. This made Britain the first foreign country to officially recognize Japan's new Meiji government.
For 18 years, Parkes played a key role in Japan. He helped bring many British experts to Japan. These experts trained the Imperial Japanese Navy. They also helped build modern things like lighthouses, a telegraph system, and a railway between Tokyo and Yokohama.
He ran the British mission in a way that encouraged younger staff to study Japan deeply. Ernest Satow and William George Aston became great scholars of Japanese studies because of this.
While in Japan, Parkes's wife became famous in 1867. She was the first non-Japanese woman to climb Mount Fuji. She became sick and died in London in November 1879. Parkes rushed to London but arrived four days after her death. He had six children to care for after she passed away.
Japanese Paper Report
In 1869, British Prime Minister William Gladstone asked for a report on washi (Japanese paper). Parkes and his team studied papermaking in different towns. They published a government report called Reports on the manufacture of paper in Japan. They also collected over 400 sheets of handmade paper. Parts of this collection are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. This collection is important because it carefully recorded where each paper came from, its price, how it was made, and what it was used for.
Harry Parkes's Career in Korea (1883–84)
Parkes helped Britain and Korea make a treaty of "Friendship, Commerce and Navigation." This treaty was signed in Seoul on November 26, 1883. Parkes was then appointed as the British Minister to Korea in 1884. The new treaty started in April 1884. Parkes returned to Seoul to finalize it.
Death of Sir Harry Parkes
Parkes died from a fever on March 21, 1885, in Beijing. On April 8, 1890, a statue of Parkes was revealed in the Bund in Shanghai. It stood there until it was removed during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in World War II. There is also a memorial for him in St Paul's Cathedral in London.
Harry Parkes's Family
In England, Parkes met Fanny Plumer. She was the granddaughter of Sir Thomas Plumer. A friend described her as "a beautiful girl." After a short time, Parkes and Plumer married on New Year's Day, 1856. They left England on January 9.
Lady Fanny Parkes is known for being the first non-Japanese woman to climb Mount Fuji. She did this on October 7 and 8, 1867. She died from illness in October 1879.
Parkes's older daughter, Marion Parkes, married James Johnstone Keswick. His second daughter, Mabel Desborough Parkes, married Captain Egerton Levett. She died in 1890 after falling from her horse.
Selected Works
Harry Parkes wrote or was written about in many works. These include:
- Observations on Mr. P.P. Thoms' rendering of the Chinese word ... Man. (1852)
- File concerning Harry Parkes' mission to Bangkok in 1856 from the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, London by Harry Parkes (1856)
- Papers, 1853–1872
See also
- Thomas Blake Glover
- Anglo-Chinese relations
- Anglo-Japanese relations
- British Japan Consular Service
- List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Japan
- List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Korea
- List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to China
