John Bowring
Sir John Bowring KCB FRS (born October 17, 1792 in Exeter , † November 23, 1872 in Claremont near Exeter) was a British statesman , traveler , writer and polyglot .
Live and act
Bowring was born the son of a cloth manufacturer in Exeter, Devonshire , and initially worked in his father's business. Later he visited most of the European continent as a traveling salesman. He gained a certain reputation for collecting and skillfully translating older and more recent folk songs from almost all parts of Europe.
Between 1824 and 1830 he was a collaborator and editor of the Westminster Review founded by Bentham . In 1832 he was elected to the House of Commons . As a member of a British- French commission appointed to examine mutual trade relations in 1834/1835, together with Villiers, he wrote the well-compiled reports on commercial relations between France and Great-Britain (2 vols. London , 1835–1836) intended for Parliament . . New reports to the parliament arose through officially arranged trips to Belgium , Italy (especially to Tuscany ), to Egypt and Syria as well as through Germany (the area of the customs union ) in the year 1840. In new elections he initially lost his seat in the lower house, but was Re-elected in 1841. Here he waged a five-year battle against the grain tariffs.
In 1836 he was made an honorary member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences .
In 1849 Bowring became consul in Canton and was knighted as Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath and made governor of Hong Kong because of the firmness with which he represented English commercial interests there. He was also made superintendent of British trade with China . In Bangkok he concluded the Siamese-British Friendship and Commerce between Her Majesty and the Kings of Siam with King Mongkut , which led to increased trade relations with Siam . He described this journey in The kingdom and the people of Siam (2 vols. London 1857).
The bombardment of Canton imposed by Bowring in October 1856 without a declaration of war as part of the Second Opium War (1856-1860) led to his recall. On his return to England he visited the Philippines , which he described in the book Visit to the Philippine Islands (London 1860), and finally retired from civil service. Nevertheless, in 1861 he was commissioned to negotiate a trade agreement with Italy. Later, as the diplomatic representative of the governments of Siam and Hawaii, he concluded a number of treaties between these countries and Belgium, Holland , Spain , Sweden , Italy and Switzerland .
John Bowring died on November 23, 1872 in Claremont near Exeter.
Works
- Specimens of the Russian poets . 2 vols. London (1821–1823)
- Ancient poetry and romances of Spain . London (1824)
- Batavian anthology . London (1824)
- Specimens of the Polish poets . London (1827)
- Servian popular poetry . London (1827)
- Esthonian anthology . London (1832)
- Poetry of the Magyars . London (1830)
- The kingdom and the people of Siam . 2 vols. London (1857)
- Visit to the Philippine Islands . London (1860)
German language translations
- Report to the English parliament on trade, factories and trades in Switzerland. After d. official edition to Engl. transl. Orell, Zurich 1837 ( digitized version )
- Report on the German Customs Association to Lord Viscount Palmerston . , Besser., Berlin 1840, translator: Friedrich Georg Buek
Web links
- Literature by and about John Bowring in the catalog of the German National Library
- Entry to bowring; Sir; John (1792 - 1872) in the Archives of the Royal Society , London
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Samuel George Bonham |
Governor of Hong Kong 1854-1859 |
Lord Rosmead |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bowring, John |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bowring, Sir John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British politician, Member of the House of Commons, traveler and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 17, 1792 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Exeter |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 23, 1872 |
| Place of death | Claremont at Exeter |