Hugh Fraser
Encyclopedia
Hugh Fraser was a British
diplomat.
Fraser headed the British
Legation
in Tokyo
as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. He headed the British delegation in the final stages of the negotiations which led to the signing on July 16, 1894 of the revised treaty (called the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation
) between the United Kingdom and the Empire of Japan
. This replaced the 'unequal treaty' signed by James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
in 1858 and led to the abolition of extraterritoriality
in Japan in 1899. Thus was Japan freed from the semi-colonial status imposed by the unequal treaties signed with foreign countries.
) branch of Clan Fraser
, Scotland
.
He was born on 22 February 1837, and sent to Eton College
from 1849 to 1854. He was appointed to the British legation in Central America
in September 1862.
Fraser later served in Stockholm
, Beijing
and Rome
. In 1874, he met and married Mary Crawford in Italy. She is better known than her husband for her book A Diplomatist's Wife in Japan: Letters from Home to Home.
Fraser died aged 57 in his post at Tokyo
and was buried on June 6, 1894 in the foreigners' section of the municipal cemetery at Aoyama
in central Tokyo. The coffin was carried out of the British Legation at 3.00 pm, and reached St. Andrew's Church at 4.00 pm. Many mourners passed the coffin, including Japanese government ministers and all the Foreign Representatives.
The ceremony was arranged by Josiah Conder
, the British architect. Obituaries were published in The Japan Weekly Mail and the Nichi Nichi Shinbun, a semi-official Japanese newspaper. The latter stated: "The singularly just and impartial views taken by him on all occasions were erroneously supposed...to be unwarrantably friendly to Japan....In private life, he was kind, modest, and reserved, winning the respect and love of everybody, both Japanese and foreign, that came into close contact with him. A man of firm resolution, he was never moved from the path of duty by the clamours of his nationals in the settlements."
, Guido Verbeck
, Henry Spencer Palmer
, Edoardo Chiossone
, Joseph Heco
and Edwin Dun
.
The Foreign Section Trust has recently been formed to campaign to preserve the foreign part of the cemetery. Reports from the Asahi Shimbun, October 20, 2005 appear to indicate that the graves are no longer under threat.
/WorldCat
encompasses roughly 8 works in 10+ publications in 1 language and 200+ library holdings.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
diplomat.
Fraser headed the British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
Legation
Legation
A legation was the term used in diplomacy to denote a diplomatic representative office lower than an embassy. Where an embassy was headed by an Ambassador, a legation was headed by a Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary....
in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary. He headed the British delegation in the final stages of the negotiations which led to the signing on July 16, 1894 of the revised treaty (called the Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation
Anglo-Japanese Treaty of Commerce and Navigation
The signed by Britain and Japan, on July 16, 1894, was a breakthrough agreement; it heralded the end of the unequal treaties and the system of extraterritoriality in Japan. The treaty came into force on July 17, 1899....
) between the United Kingdom and the Empire of Japan
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...
. This replaced the 'unequal treaty' signed by James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin
Sir James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and 12th Earl of Kincardine, KT, GCB, PC , was a British colonial administrator and diplomat...
in 1858 and led to the abolition of extraterritoriality
Extraterritoriality
Extraterritoriality is the state of being exempt from the jurisdiction of local law, usually as the result of diplomatic negotiations. Extraterritoriality can also be applied to physical places, such as military bases of foreign countries, or offices of the United Nations...
in Japan in 1899. Thus was Japan freed from the semi-colonial status imposed by the unequal treaties signed with foreign countries.
Life and career
Fraser came from the Balnain (InvernessInverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
) branch of Clan Fraser
Clan Fraser
Clan Fraser is a Scottish clan of French origin. The Clan has been strongly associated with Inverness and the surrounding area since the Clan's founder gained lands there in the 13th century. Since its founding, the Clan has dominated local politics and been active in every major military conflict...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
He was born on 22 February 1837, and sent to Eton College
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
from 1849 to 1854. He was appointed to the British legation in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
in September 1862.
Fraser later served in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, 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...
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. In 1874, he met and married Mary Crawford in Italy. She is better known than her husband for her book A Diplomatist's Wife in Japan: Letters from Home to Home.
Death in Japan
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and was buried on June 6, 1894 in the foreigners' section of the municipal cemetery at Aoyama
Aoyama, Tokyo
is a neighborhood of Tokyo, located in the northeastern Minato Ward. During the Edo Period, Aoyama was home to various temples, shrines, and samurai residences. The name Aoyama derived from a samurai named Aoyama Tadanari who served the Tokugawa Shogunate and held his mansion in this area...
in central Tokyo. The coffin was carried out of the British Legation at 3.00 pm, and reached St. Andrew's Church at 4.00 pm. Many mourners passed the coffin, including Japanese government ministers and all the Foreign Representatives.
The ceremony was arranged by Josiah Conder
Josiah Conder (architect)
Josiah Conder was a British architect who worked as a foreign advisor to the government of Meiji period Japan...
, the British architect. Obituaries were published in The Japan Weekly Mail and the Nichi Nichi Shinbun, a semi-official Japanese newspaper. The latter stated: "The singularly just and impartial views taken by him on all occasions were erroneously supposed...to be unwarrantably friendly to Japan....In private life, he was kind, modest, and reserved, winning the respect and love of everybody, both Japanese and foreign, that came into close contact with him. A man of firm resolution, he was never moved from the path of duty by the clamours of his nationals in the settlements."
Gravesite
Many of the graves at the Aoyama cemetery, including Fraser's, are currently (2005) under threat of removal and reburial elsewhere for non-payment of maintenance fees. The deadline was the end of September 2005. Other famous persons buried in the foreign section include Captain Francis BrinkleyFrancis Brinkley
Francis Brinkley was an Irish newspaper owner, editor and scholar who resided in Meiji period Japan for over 40 years, where he was the author of numerous books on Japanese culture, art and architecture, and an English-Japanese Dictionary...
, Guido Verbeck
Guido Verbeck
Guido Herman Fridolin Verbeck was a Dutch political advisor, educator, and missionary active in Bakumatsu and Meiji period Japan...
, Henry Spencer Palmer
Henry Spencer Palmer
Major General Henry Spencer Palmer was a British army military engineer and surveyor, noted for his work in developing Yokohama harbor in the Empire of Japan as a foreign advisor to the Japanese government-Biography:...
, Edoardo Chiossone
Edoardo Chiossone
Edoardo Chiossone was an Italian engraver and painter, noted for his work as a foreign advisor to Meiji period Japan, and for his collection of Japanese art.-Biography:...
, Joseph Heco
Joseph Heco
Joseph Heco was the first Japanese person to be naturalized as a United States citizen and the first to publish a Japanese language newspaper.-Early years:...
and Edwin Dun
Edwin Dun
Edwin Dun was a rancher from Ohio who was employed as an o-yatoi gaikokujin in Hokkaidō by the Hokkaidō Development Commission and advised the Japanese government on modernizing agricultural techniques during the Meiji modernization period.Dun was a native of Chillicothe, Ohio and had studied at...
.
The Foreign Section Trust has recently been formed to campaign to preserve the foreign part of the cemetery. Reports from the Asahi Shimbun, October 20, 2005 appear to indicate that the graves are no longer under threat.
Selected works
In a statistical overview derived from writings by and about Hugh Fraser, OCLCOCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
/WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
encompasses roughly 8 works in 10+ publications in 1 language and 200+ library holdings.
- The Queen's Peril (1912)
- Seven Years on the Pacific Slope (1914)
- The Bale-fire (1914)
See also
- List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Japan
- Anglo-Japanese relationsAnglo-Japanese relationsThe history of the relationship between Britain and Japan began in 1600 with the arrival of William Adams on the shores of Kyūshū at Usuki in Ōita Prefecture...
- Foreign cemeteries in JapanForeign cemeteries in JapanThe foreign cemeteries in Japan are chiefly located in Tokyo and at the former treaty ports of Nagasaki, Kobe, Yokohama, and Hakodate. They contain the mortal remains of long-term Japan residents, and are separate from any of the military cemeteries.-Tokyo:The Tokyo foreign cemetery is a section...
External links
- UK in Japan, Chronology of Heads of Mission