Rutherford Alcock grave monument in St Katherine Church burial ground, Merstham, Surrey, England
Rutherford Alcock grave monument: legible names and details
| full name | burial date | age | birth date | relationship | notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sir Rutherford Alcock | 1897 | 88 | 1809 | first name on monument | late Ambassador to the Court of Peking. Sir Rutherford Alcock, KCB (May 1809 - 2 November 1897) was the first British diplomatic representative to live in Japan. Early life Alcock was the son of the physician, Dr. Thomas Alcock, who practised at Ealing, near London. He was named John Rutherford Alcock, but dropped the John very early. As he grew up, Alcock followed his father into the medical profession. In 1836, he became a surgeon in the marine brigade which took part in the Carlist War, gaining distinction through his services. Alcock was made deputy inspector-general of hospitals. He retired from this service in 1837. Service in China In 1844, he was appointed consul at Fuchow in China, where, after a short official stay at Amoy, he performed the functions, as he expressed it: of everything from a lord chancellor to a sheriff's officer. Fuchow was one of the ports opened to trade by the Treaty of Nanking, and Alcock had to perform an entirely new role with regard to the Chinese authorities. In doing so, he earned a promotion to the consulate at Shanghai. He worked there until 1846 and made it a special part of his duties to superintend the established Chinese government and lay out the British settlement, which had developed into such an important feature of British commercial life in China. Service in Japan (1858-64) In 1858, he was appointed Consul-General in Japan.Alcock opened the first British legation in Japan within the grounds of Tōzen-ji in Takanawa, Edo (now Tokyo). He saw: peace, plenty, apparent content, and a country more perfectly cultivated and kept, with more ornamental timber everywhere, than can be matched even in England. In those days, foreign residents in Japan faced some danger, with noticeable Japanese hostility to foreigners. In 1860, Alcock's native interpreter was murdered at the gate of the legation, and in the following year the legation was stormed by a group of ronin from the fiefdom of Mito Han, whose attack was repulsed by Alcock and his staff. In 1860 he became the first non-Japanese to climb Mount Fuji. Service in China (1865-69) Shortly after these events he returned to England on leave on March 1862, and was replaced in Japan by Colonel Neale. Alcock had already been made a Commander of the Bath (CB) (1860). In 1862 he was made a Knight of the same order (KCB), and in 1863 received an honorary Doctorate of Laws from Oxford University. In 1864, he returned to Japan, and after a year's further residence he was transferred to Peking, where he represented the British government until 1869, when he retired. Later years Although no longer in official life, he remained active. He was for some years president of the Royal Geographical Society, and he served on many commissions. The official Japanese section at the 1862 International Exhibition in London was prepared by Sir Rutherford and included his own collection. This is considered one of the most important events in the history of Japanese art in the West and a founding date for English Japonism in the decorative arts, the Anglo-Japanese style. From 1882-93 he was chairman of the British North Borneo Chartered Company. He was twice married, first in May 1841 to Henrietta Mary Bacon (daughter of Charles Bacon), who died in 1853, and second (on 8 July 1862) to the widow of the Rev. John Lowder. His second wife died on 13 March 1899. Alcock was the author of several works, and was one of the first to awaken in England an interest in Japanese art. He tried hard to learn the language and even wrote a text book. His best-known book is The Capital of the Tycoon, which appeared in 1863. He died in London on 2 November 1897 |
Lucy Alcock | 1899 | wife of Rutherford Alcock | Lucy Alcock nee Windsor formerly Lowder was baptized on 29 August 1814 at St Mary's Chapel Walcot near Bath, the daughter of James William Windsor, missionary, and Alicia. She married (1) the Reverend John Samuel Lowder 1811 to 1849 on 1 September 1840 at St Swithn's Walcot. (Note by John Owen: John Lowder was the nephew of Thomas Henry Lowder who married Maria Lewis, my 4 x great aunt on my mother's side). Lucy and John Lowder had 5 children: Windsor 1841 - 1897, John Frederick 1843 - 1903, George Glass 1844 - 1880, Alicia Eirene 1845 - 1861 and Amy Henrietta 1847 - 1924 who married Sir Lewis Pelly. After John Lowder's death Lucy married (2) Sir John Rutherford Alcock 1809 - 1987 in Brussels on 8 July 1862. Here are some details of a letter she wrote to Kew when with her husband in China: Letter from [Lady] Lucy Alcock to Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker; from British Legation, Peking; 25 Nov 1867; four page letter comprising two images; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Archives: Directors' Correspondence. Description. Alcock has not forgotten Hooker's instructions to send home any sheets or specimens of plants, but she has not yet succeeded in getting any. She took a Ward's case to the hills with her last summer and tried to strike some cuttings of the Popler [Poplar?] plant, of which she sent some dried seeds, but none has taken and there are no seeds to be procured. She will try again next summer and hopes for better luck. They have a very pretty Acacia there that she never sees in England; she describes the flower and sends a leaf and flower dried and some seeds. She also sends two ferns found at the hills, which are unlike those they have seen before, although they may be old friends of Hooker's. They made a trip to the Great Wall this autumn but she saw no new flowers or plants although she looked about carefully. Her husband wrote to Hooker last mail asking Hooker to send some vegetable seed. She wonders if Hooker might add in some watercress, mushroom seed and a little mustard and cress. The flower seeds do not succeed at all there, whether owing to the great heat or dry sandy soil, she does not know. On looking over their collection of dried plants Alcock finds a wild creeper that she does not remember seeing elsewhere. It is a parasite, quite white and succulent and it grows freely on the hills. She encloses a specimen for Hooker. Lucy died in London and was buried at Merstham on 17 March 1899. |
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Reasons why the image for this memorial was requested
Sir John Rutherford Alcock married Lucy Lowder nee Windsor whose first husband the Reverend John Lowder was the nephew of Thomas Henry Lowder, the husband of my 3 x great aunt on my father's side Maria Lewis. Remote, I know but once you get the genealogy bug!
(requested on 03 06 2015)
(requested on 03 06 2015)
My wife is Japanese, and from Fujinomiya the starting point of the climb to Mt. Fuji. She has an original printing of Rutherford Alcock’s book, “The Capital of the Tycoon”, 1863. This was owned by her great grandfather, It is possible that the great grandfather met Alcock, as he was a journalist there. It would be nice to link with any descendants or relations of Rutherford’s.
(requested on 30 03 2018)
(requested on 30 03 2018)
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St Katherine Church burial ground
Location of the above Rutherford Alcock monument
St Katherine Church burial ground, Merstham, Surrey, England
St Katherine Church burial ground
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