Eight-Nation Alliance

William. Cowan Personal profile

八國聯軍

威廉.考恩 個人檔案輯

Item number: C108-M100, M100

Year: AD 1859-1906

Provenance: Spink 2023

These are private letters and related documents belonging to William Cowan, a recipient of the British China Medal (1900) in AD 1902, who participated in the fighting while besieged in the Peking Legation Quarter during the Boxer Rebellion in AD 1900.

On May 10, AD 1854, William Cowan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he pursued studies in architecture. In AD 1896, William was assigned as a surveyor to serve in the China Station of the British fleet. His responsibilities included leasing, construction, and management of British properties in China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Siam, and other regions in the Far East. He was also involved in the design project for the British consulate in Chongqing. In AD 1900, while in Beijing, William found himself caught in the anti-foreign storm of the Boxer Rebellion. During the siege of nearly two months, he participated in the defense of the legations as part of the volunteer fighting force until the relief on August 14.

On October 4, AD 1900, William mentioned in a letter sent to his parents:

^{“The settlement of the Chinese question, seems very far off yet. It is so different to get at the Emperor, the Court and all the offenders having fled into the Interior so there is no one to carry on the Government…… The destruction of life & property in Tientsin + Peking and land about there has been shocking. The Army is doing very little now. We have a large force of Ghoorkas, Sikhs and Bengal Cavalry in Shanghai waiting developments.”}

After the conflict, instead of immediately leaving Beijing, William engaged in the reconstruction work of the legations. He continued to work for the British government in the Far East until his death on October 6, AD 1906, in Shanghai at the age of 52.

The batch of documents includes an obituary from “The Leith Observer” of Edinburgh, William’s hometown, announcing his death and accompanied by his photograph; a letter dated October 4, AD 1900, sent by William to his parents from Shanghai after the relief of the legations; an invitation letter sent in AD 1906 inviting William for a visit to Tokyo by a member of the royal family; William’s death certificate issued by the British Supreme Court in China in AD 1907, along with a condolence letter to his parents; and finally, three membership certificates from various periods and locations where William joined the Masonic lodge.

物件編號: C108-M100, M100

年代: 公元 1859-1906 年

來源: 斯賓克拍賣行 2023

這是一批公元1900年八國聯軍之役時，受困於北京東交民巷使館區參與戰鬥，並在公元1902年獲贈英國「第三次中國戰爭勳章」綬勳者：威廉.考恩的私人信件和相關檔案。

公元1854年5月10日，威廉.考恩出生於蘇格蘭愛丁堡，在學期間主修建築。公元1896年，作為測量員的威廉被外派到中國艦隊總司令服務。威廉的業務是租賃、建設和管理英方在中國、日本、朝鮮、台灣、暹羅和遠東地區的房產，還曾參與英國在重慶領事館的設計工程。公元1900年，前往北京的威廉發現自己捲入義和團的排外風暴，近兩個月的圍城戰期間，威廉參與保衛使館的志願作戰隊伍直到8月14日解圍。

公元1900年10月4日，威廉在寄給雙親的信中提到：

^{解決中國問題似乎仍遙遙無期。連同中國皇帝在內的整個朝廷和冒犯者們都逃至內陸，因此沒有人能繼續執行政府的職責…… 天津、北京和周邊地區的生命和財產損失令人震驚。現在聯軍沒有採取太大的軍事行動，我們在上海已經集結一批龐大的廓爾喀兵、錫克兵和孟加拉騎兵團靜待後續的發展。}

作戰結束後，威廉並未馬上離開北京，而是參與北京使館的重建工作。後續威廉仍留在遠東替英國政府工作，直到公元1906年10月6日，享年52歲病逝於上海為止。

這一批檔案包含故鄉愛丁堡《利斯觀察報》對其死訊的訃聞，並且附上威廉的照片；一封公元1900年10月4日使館解圍後，威廉從上海向雙親寄出的平安信；公元1906年出訪東京的皇室成員寄出的邀請函；公元1907年英國在華最高法院開立的威廉死亡證明書和致其雙親的唁文；最後則是威廉在不同時期和地點加入共際會的三份會員證書。

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更多相關訊息請參考:

John Hayward, Diana Birch and Richard Bishop, British Battles and Medals Seventh Edition (London: Spink, 2006)