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Call Number:
MSS 38
Creator:
Porcher, Edwin Augustus, 1824-1878
Title(s):
Letter to Madelina Porcher
Date:
1849 December 29
Classification:
Archives and Manuscripts
Series:
Series III: Miscellaneous
Part of Collection:
Vol. 2, no. 6
Provenance:
E.A. Porcher donated 16 drawings related to his Cyrene expedition to the British Museum in 1865. He left his remaining papers and watercolor works to Lieut. Col. Cecil Du Pre Penton Powney (b. 1862), his sister’s surviving son, who donated views, plans and elevations from the Cyrene expedition to the British Museum in 1894. The remaining manuscripts and drawings were inherited by Powney’s daughter, Beryl Wyndham Powney (c. 1896 -1976). Several components of the Porcher collection were sold by private dealers beginning in the 1970s (see 'Related Archival Materials Note' for Porcher holdings in other institutional collections).
Conditions Governing Access:
The materials are open for research.
Conditions Governing Use:
The collection is the physical property of the Yale Center for British Art. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts.
Scope and Content:
Headed: "HMS Cleopatra, Hong Kong." A letter from Porcher to his sister, Madelina, in London. He expresses concern about the cholera epidemic in Europe. He also describes a trip to Canton with some fellow officers, which he obtained leave to conduct. He relates an outsider’s view of the city around the ‘factories’ area, where foreigners were permitted to stay. He also describes Whampoa, the location where foreign boats docked: “This is a very stupid place… As the town is built on piles on a mud flat, but all the merchant shipping remains here, as they cannot get nearer Canton on account of the river being shallow about this.” Hong Kong leisure activities is a topic of interest for Porcher, who lists a dinner with the Governor and the Club as the "chief amusement." However, he is careful to note the danger which the island presents to Englishmen: “it is not safe at present to go far into the country as there have been many murders lately.”
Physical Description:
1 sheet (4 pages) : autograph letter signed, written in pen and black ink ; 25 x 20 cm
Genre:
Correspondence , Pictorial works, Diaries, Letters, Ships' logs, and Watercolors (paintings)
Subject Terms:
Anglo-Burmese War, 2nd, 1852
Antiquities
Antiquities, Roman
Cholera
Chron
Colonies
Description and travel
Excavations (Archaeology)
Fortification
Harbors
History, Naval
Junks
Navigation
Pagodas
Piracy
Pirates
Punic antiquities
Ships
Temples
Voyages and travels
Subject Period:
1849-1861
1850-1900
Associated Places:
Asia
Burma
Carthage (Extinct city)
China
China Sea
Cyrene (Extinct city)
East Asia
Gozo Island (Malta)
Grand Harbour (Malta)
Great Britain
Guangzhou (China)
Hong Kong (China)
Huangpu Qu (Guangzhou Shi, China)
Malta
Mellieh̳a (Malta)
Pulau Pinang (Malaysia : State)
Qrendi (Malta)
Singapore
Trincomalee (Sri Lanka)
Tunis (Tunisia)
Tunisia
Utica (Extinct city)
Valletta (Malta)
Associated People/Groups:
Porcher, Edwin Augustus, 1824-1878
Porcher, Madelina
Finding Aid Title:
Edwin Augustus Porcher Collection
Archival Object:
https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/3/archival_objects/2893
Metadata Cloud URL:
https://metadata-api.library.yale.edu/metadatacloud/api/aspace/repositories/3/archival_objects/2893?mediaType=json&include-notes=1&include-all-subjects=1