Wade, Sir Thomas Francis, 1818-1895 (Knight, diplomat)
Dates
- Existence: 1818 - 1895
Biography
Sir Thomas Francis Wade (1818-1895) was born in London on 25 August 1818, son of Major (later Colonel) Thomas Wade (d. 1846). He lived in Mauritius, 1823-1827, and in the Cape, 1829-1832, before returning to England and attending Harrow, 1832-1837. He entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1837, but left to join the army in 1838. He was made lieutenant in 1841, and was posted to Hong Kong, where he arrived in 1842. During the voyage he studied Chinese, leading to his appointment as interpreter at Hong Kong, 1843-1851. He was made vice-consul at Shanghai in 1852, and Chinese Secretary at Hong Kong in 1855. At the outbreak of war in 1857 Wade was attached to Lord Elgin's special mission, and was given responsibility to negotiate the treaty of Tientsin with the Chinese authorities. He was also attached to Elgin's second mission in 1860. Wade was a member of the Peking legation, 1861-1871, and ambassador at Peking, 1871-1883. He retired in 1883, and on returning to England settled in Cambridge, where he became the university's first professor of Chinese in 1888. Wade published many papers on China and the Chinese language. His large Chinese library was left to the university after his death on 31 July 1895.
Found in 23 Collections and/or Records:
Business letters: Canton, 1814-1904
Decree of the Prince of Kung, circa 1860
Despatch from Sir Harry Parkes, 1865
A copy of a despatch [from Parkes to Thomas Francis Wade], 20 February 1865.
Despatches concerning Parkes: China, 1860
Despatches of Parkes and related papers, 1857-1865
Envelope from Thomas Wade
An undated envelope from Thomas Wade to Parkes in Yedo.
Japan Daily Herald, 2 July 1883
'Japan Daily Herald', vol. XLII, no. 6024 (Yokohama, 2 July 1883): the front page and verso, including correspondence from Sir Thomas Wade and others reprinted from the 'Pall Mall Gazette' under the title 'Sir Harry Parkes and the Chinese Wars'.
Latimer Neville: Scrapbook on Cambridge University Elections
Letter from Charles Winchester, 1856
A letter from Hong Kong, 23 December 1856, with an undated memorandum of sums payable to the diplomatic mess by Thomas Francis Wade, Sir John Bowring and others.
Letter from Sir T. Wade to E.B. Cowell, 6 Oct. 1894
Letter from Sir Thomas Wade, 12 Nov. 1856
From Canton.
Letter from Sir Thomas Wade, 5 Apr. 1865
From Peking.
Letter from Sir Thomas Wade, 17 Apr. 1871
A copy of a letter from Peking.
Letter from Sir Thomas Wade, 18 Sep. 1874
From Peking.
Letter from Sir Thomas Wade, 4 Sep. 1879
From Peking.
Letter from Sir Thomas Wade and Parkes, 9 May 1861
A copy of a letter from Sir Thomas Wade and Sir Harry Parkes, Peking, to an unidentified correspondent.
Letter from Thomas Wade, 25 Jan. 1875
A copy of a letter from Thomas Wade, Peking, to Sir Arthur Kennedy in four different hands, 25 January 1875.
Notice of the Reception of the Ministers of Western Powers, circa 1873
'Notice of the Reception of the Ministers of Western Powers by the Emperor of China' (in Peking on 29 June 1873), an undated English translation by T.F.W. (Thomas Francis Wade) 'from an account drawn up for distribution in China', including explanatory notes by Wade.
Papers concerning General Charles George Gordon
Regulations for opening Chiang-ning to British trade, circa 1865
Sir T.F. Wade to W .Robertson Smith, 11 June 1889
Correspondence and miscellaneous papers concerning Cambridge University Library business.
Sir Thomas Francis Wade: Letter to John Peile, 1893
Artificial collection of single item or small collection accessions. Mainly correspondence but includes other papers.
Thomas Francis Wade: Notes
Includes notes on Tibet, Chinese history and geography and the opium trade.
Additional filters:
- Type
- Archival Object 20
- Collection 3
- Subject
- China 2
- Chronology 1
- Diplomacy 1
- Opium trade 1
- Tibet 1