George Thomas Staunton
Encyclopedia
Oriental studies
Oriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
.
Early life
Born at Milford House near Salisbury, he was the son of Sir George Leonard StauntonGeorge Leonard Staunton
Sir George Leonard Staunton, 1st Baronet was an employee of the East India Company and a botanist.He was born in Cargins, Co Galway, Ireland and educated at the Jesuit College, Toulouse, France and the School of Medicine in Montpelier, France...
(1737–1801), first baronet, diplomatist and Orientalist. In 1792, at the age of 12, he accompanied his father, who had been appointed secretary to Lord Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney
George Macartney, 1st Earl Macartney, KB was an Irish-born British statesman, colonial administrator and diplomat. He is often remembered for his observation following Britain's success in the Seven Years War and subsequent territorial expansion at the Treaty of Paris that Britain now controlled...
's mission to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, to the Far East (1792–1794). Prior to the trip the young George Staunton had begun to learn Chinese (the only member of the mission to bother) and for the duration was therefore given the role of Page to Lord Macartney. During the mission his Chinese proved good enough to engage in diplomatic banter and he received a personal gift from the Qianlong Emperor
Qianlong Emperor
The Qianlong Emperor was the sixth emperor of the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty, and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper. The fourth son of the Yongzheng Emperor, he reigned officially from 11 October 1735 to 8 February 1796...
. In 1797 he spent two terms at Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College, Cambridge
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Trinity has more members than any other college in Cambridge or Oxford, with around 700 undergraduates, 430 graduates, and over 170 Fellows...
.
In the employ of the East India Company
In 1798 was appointed a writer in the British East India CompanyBritish East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
's factory at Canton (Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
), and subsequently its chief. During this time his knowledge of Chinese increased. In 1805 he translated a work of Dr George Pearson
George Pearson (doctor)
George Pearson, MD, FRS , physician, chemist and early advocate of Jenner's cowpox vaccination.Davies Gilbert, who was then President of the Royal Society, began his 1829 memoir of Dr. Pearson thus:He continued:...
into Chinese, thereby introducing vaccination
Vaccination
Vaccination is the administration of antigenic material to stimulate the immune system of an individual to develop adaptive immunity to a disease. Vaccines can prevent or ameliorate the effects of infection by many pathogens...
into China. Five years later he published a translation of a significant part of the Chinese legal code.
In April 1803 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
In 1816 Staunton proceeded as second commissioner on a special mission to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
with Lord Amherst and Sir Henry Ellis. During the mission he landed in Hong Kong in July, 1816. He walked from the shore of Hong Kong to Hong Kong Village
Shouson Hill
Shouson Hill is a hill on the coast of Deep Water Bay east of Wong Chuk Hang on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is also an upmarket residential area located just to the north of the hill...
via Wong Chuk Hang
Wong Chuk Hang
Wong Chuk Hang is an industrial and residential town to the east of Aberdeen and to the north of Nam Long Shan and to the west of Shouson Hill, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong...
. After the trip, Wong Chuk Hang was named Staunton Creek and the valley where Hong Kong Village was located was named Staunton Valley. Staunton Creek later became a cesspool of mud and rotting sampans and was eventually cleared to create Wong Chuk Hang Nullah with the residents housed in Wong Chuk Hang Estate. Hong Kong Village was most likely Wong Chuk Hang Lo Wai; only Wong Chuk Hang San Wai still exists at the bottom of Shouson Hill. After the ceding of Hong Kong from China to Great Britain, Staunton Street
Staunton Street
Staunton Street is a street in Central and Sheung Wan, on Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. Together with the upper section of Elgin Street, it is the heart of the Soho entertainment area, featuring a number of restaurants, bars and shops...
in Central
Central, Hong Kong
Central is the central business district of Hong Kong. It is located in Central and Western District, on the north shore of Hong Kong Island, across Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui, the southernmost point of Kowloon Peninsula...
was named after him.
The embassy was unsuccessful and shortly after it departed back to Britain Staunton decided to leave China permanently.
Back in Britain
George Staunton had been looking for a country home for some years before his permanent return from China and in 1818 put in a bid for Newstead AbbeyNewstead Abbey
Newstead Abbey, in Nottinghamshire, England, originally an Augustinian priory, is now best known as the ancestral home of Lord Byron.-Monastic foundation:The priory of St...
but was outbid by Thomas Wildman
Thomas Wildman
Colonel Thomas Wildman was an officer in the Napoleonic Wars, a draftsman, and landowner. He was a nephew of the political reformer John Horne Tooke and friend of Lord Byron at Harrow. In 1816 he married Louisa Preisig...
. In 1820 he purchased the Leigh estate in Hampshire which included what was to become Staunton Country Park
Staunton Country Park
Staunton Country Park is a listed Regency landscaped parkland and forest encompassing approximately in Hampshire, England.An ornamental farm, ornamental lake, follies, maze, walled garden and glasshouses can be found within it...
. He lived there for part of each year and made substantial alterations to the buildings and the landscape.
Three years later he was heavily involved with the founding of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Their Sir George Staunton prize is awarded annually.
Between 1818 and 1852 he was MP for several English constituencies, finally for Portsmouth
Portsmouth (UK Parliament constituency)
Portsmouth was a borough constituency based upon the borough of Portsmouth in Hampshire. It returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, elected by the bloc vote system.- History :...
. He latter described himself as being during his early years in parliament a liberal Tory who looked to George Canning
George Canning
George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...
for leadership. He was a member of the East India Committee, and in 1823, in conjunction with Henry Thomas Colebrooke
Henry Thomas Colebrooke
Henry Thomas Colebrooke was an English orientalist.-Biography:Henry Thomas Colebrooke, third son of Sir George Colebrooke, 2nd Baronet, was born in London. He was educated at home; and when only fifteen he had made considerable attainments in classics and mathematics...
founded the Royal Asiatic Society
Royal Asiatic Society
The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland was established, according to its Royal Charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia." From its incorporation the Society...
.
From 1829 until 1856 he was a member of the Society of Dilettanti
He had never married and the baronetcy became extinct on his death (in London). He left his Irish estate, Clydagh House, to his eldest cousin George Staunton Lynch and Leigh Park and his London house (17 Devonshire Street, Marylebone) to George Staunton Lynch's younger brother, Captain Henry Cormick Lynch.
Publications
His publications include translations of Great Qing Legal CodeGreat Qing Legal Code
The Great Qing Legal Code or Qing Code was the legal code of Qing dynasty . The code was based on the Ming legal system, which was kept largely intact...
, known as the Fundamental Laws of China (1810) and of the Narrative of the Chinese Embassy to the Khan of the Tourgouth Tartars (1821); Miscellaneous Notices Relating to China and our Commercial Intercourse with that Country (1822); Notes of Proceedings and Occurrences during the British Embassy to Peking (1824); Observations on our Chinese Commerce (1850). For the Hakluyt Society
Hakluyt Society
Founded in 1846, the Hakluyt Society is a registered charity based in London, England, which seeks to advance knowledge and education by the publication of scholarly editions of primary records of voyages, travels and other geographical material...
he edited Pedro González de Mendoza
Pedro González de Mendoza
Pedro González de Mendoza was a Spanish cardinal and statesman.-Biography:He was born at Guadalajara in New Castile, the chief lordship of his family. He was the fourth son of Íñigo López de Mendoza, marqués de Santillana, deceased 1458, and one of the cadet brothers of Diego Hurtado de Mendoza, 1...
's History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China.