Reading from the Letters of Sir Thomas Hanbury K.C.V.O. (1832-1907)
Thomas Hanbury played a pioneering role in the development of the British concession in Shanghai. He arrived as a young man aged 21 in September 1853 and stayed over ten years, witnessing many of the exciting events of that time, while retaining his Quaker commitment to pacificism, temperance and charity.
In 1866 he returned to Britain a very rich man, having won the trust of the Chinese merchants and amassed a huge real-estate portfolio, counted as the largest individually owned holding in the concession. Not content to rest on his laurels, he, with the help of his brother, the famous pharmacognocist Daniel Hanbury, founded the botanical garden at Ventimiglia in Italy that to this day is know as the Giardini Hanbury.
In 1901 he was made a knight of the Royal Victorian Order by King Edward VII.In this introductory talk on the life and achievements of Thomas, William Hanbury-Tenison will read selectionsfrom the letters Thomas wrote home to his father and elder brother during his stay in Shanghai and answer questions.
William Hanbury-Tenison is a very distant cousin of Thomas Hanbury who himself came to work in China aged 21 for the merchant house Jardine Matheson.In 1994 he was transferred to Shanghai as the East China Director of Jardine Matheson (China).He took early retirement in 1999.From 1999 to 2005 he lived in Los Angeles where he started a fine art agency which has remained his primary activity.In 2005 he moved back to Shanghai with his wife, the writer Mina Choi, and their two children.
Entrance: RMB 30 (RAS members) and RMB 80 (non-members) those unable to make the donation but wishing to attend may contact us for exemption, prior to the RAS Studio. Membership applications and membership renewals will be available at this event.
