Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet
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Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet GCMG (20 February 1835 – 20 September 1911) attended Wesley College, Dublin and was a British consular official in China.
[edit] Inspector-General
In 1863, he was appointed the Inspector General of China's Imperial Maritime Custom Service (IMCS) to collect the customs duties for the Chinese government. His advice also led to the improvement of China's port and navigation facilities.
Yixin (奕訢), also known as Prince Gong (恭親王, 1833-1898) was head of the Zongli Yamen during the time of Robert Hart's tenure in the Maritime Customs and the two men held each other in high regard. Indeed, Robert Hart was so well known in the Tsungli Yamen that he had an affectionate nickname there of "our hart" (wǒmen de Hèdé. 我們的赫德).
He held his post till his death in 1911.
His name is still remembered in Beijing through a street name in the Legation quarter.
[edit] See also
- Sir Ernest Satow who met Hart many times while he was British Minister in China, 1900-1906. (See Satow's diary).
- Maria Jane Dyer to whom he proposed marriage in Ningbo 1858. She later married James Hudson Taylor
[edit] References
- Hudson Taylor & China’s Open Century Volume Three: If I Had a Thousand Lives; Alfred James Broomhall; Hodder and Stoughton and Overseas Missionary Fellowship, 1982\
- S F Wright. Hart and the Chinese Customs, published by William Mullen and Son for Queen's University, Belfast.
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