The Stauntons of Galway in China: Irish Catholic networks and the expansion of the British Empire in Asia

George Leonard Staunton, who travelled on the first British embassy to China in 1793, and his son George Thomas Staunton, who translated the Chinese legal code into English, are well-known figures in the history of China. Their British identity was constructed by George Thomas to conceal the family&...

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Main Author: Harrison, H
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2024
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author Harrison, H
author_facet Harrison, H
author_sort Harrison, H
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description George Leonard Staunton, who travelled on the first British embassy to China in 1793, and his son George Thomas Staunton, who translated the Chinese legal code into English, are well-known figures in the history of China. Their British identity was constructed by George Thomas to conceal the family's Irish Catholic background, but in fact George Leonard used that background for the benefit of an imperial career that propelled him from Galway to the West Indies, India and, finally, China. It enabled him to win the support of the papacy for the British embassy to China, and his son to learn Chinese and make a career as a merchant and translator. Their story shows some of the mechanisms that connected the nineteenth-century British Empire in Asia to the Catholic Church which had been the great global institution of the early modern age. Moreover, a distinctively Irish concern with property law can be seen to have influenced George Thomas's great work on Chinese law. The Stauntons’ imperial careers made the family wealthy and much of this wealth came back to County Galway.
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spelling oxford-uuid:38fcf9e1-2f79-4271-a87d-23c5c4ccbb3a2025-02-26T13:21:42ZThe Stauntons of Galway in China: Irish Catholic networks and the expansion of the British Empire in AsiaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:38fcf9e1-2f79-4271-a87d-23c5c4ccbb3aEnglishSymplectic ElementsCambridge University Press2024Harrison, HGeorge Leonard Staunton, who travelled on the first British embassy to China in 1793, and his son George Thomas Staunton, who translated the Chinese legal code into English, are well-known figures in the history of China. Their British identity was constructed by George Thomas to conceal the family's Irish Catholic background, but in fact George Leonard used that background for the benefit of an imperial career that propelled him from Galway to the West Indies, India and, finally, China. It enabled him to win the support of the papacy for the British embassy to China, and his son to learn Chinese and make a career as a merchant and translator. Their story shows some of the mechanisms that connected the nineteenth-century British Empire in Asia to the Catholic Church which had been the great global institution of the early modern age. Moreover, a distinctively Irish concern with property law can be seen to have influenced George Thomas's great work on Chinese law. The Stauntons’ imperial careers made the family wealthy and much of this wealth came back to County Galway.
spellingShingle Harrison, H
The Stauntons of Galway in China: Irish Catholic networks and the expansion of the British Empire in Asia
title The Stauntons of Galway in China: Irish Catholic networks and the expansion of the British Empire in Asia
title_full The Stauntons of Galway in China: Irish Catholic networks and the expansion of the British Empire in Asia
title_fullStr The Stauntons of Galway in China: Irish Catholic networks and the expansion of the British Empire in Asia
title_full_unstemmed The Stauntons of Galway in China: Irish Catholic networks and the expansion of the British Empire in Asia
title_short The Stauntons of Galway in China: Irish Catholic networks and the expansion of the British Empire in Asia
title_sort stauntons of galway in china irish catholic networks and the expansion of the british empire in asia
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