Charles Archibald Walker Rose CIE FRGS (1879–1961) was a British diplomat, explorer and businessman in China during the early twentieth century.[1][2] Rose's obituary in The Times stated that he was 'a lovable and saint-like man. His dandiacal appearance and his taste for drollery were unsure guides to his true character, in which the dominant strain was a sort of earnest but unobtrusive chivalry'.[1]
Archie Rose | |
|---|---|
| Born | 14 July 1879 |
| Died | 3 March 1961 (aged 81) |
| Education | Bedford Modern School |
| Alma mater | King's College, London |
Life
editArchie Rose, the son of Thomas Edward Rose, was born on 14 July 1879.[3] He was educated at Bedford Modern School and King's College, London, before becoming a student interpreter at the British Legation in Peking in 1897.[4]
Rose was awarded the China War Medal and clasp for his role in the defence of western embassies during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900.[5] and provided a lively eye-witness account of life in the Legations during the sieges, for example from Monday 25 June 1900:
'These people are the most shockingly bad shots fortunately for us. If a quarter of their shots and shells came anywhere near our walls and buildings we should all have been in suitable resting-places long ago. They must be utter rotters. If they had any pluck there are several places where they could get into the compound and smash us easily. Every day we are fortifying, trenching, barricading, doing everything that is possible, whilst they stay at a safe distance and blaze away like fun'.[6]
In 1903 Rose was appointed British Consul at Chongqing,[7] and subsequently became consul at Yantai, Ningbo, Hangzhou and Tengyue.[8] He also travelled extensively in China, Mongolia and Central Asia and collaborated on an ethnological study of the tribes of the Chinese-Burmese border region.[9]
In 1911 Rose was appointed CIE and in the same year returned to England to attend an advanced course in Chinese at King's College, Cambridge.[10] Here, he befriended John Maynard Keynes and the two were to maintain a long-running correspondence.[11] He was also elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society for his exploration work.[12][13]
On his return to Asia, Rose served as the Foreign Office representative at the tripartite conference on the subject of the independence of Tibet held at Simla over the winter of 1913-14 and which led to the Simla Accord.[14] In 1915 he was Commercial Attache at Shanghai and from 1917 he held the same position at the Peking embassy.[8] During this period he also developed an enthusiasm for ballroom-dancing to the extent that he was referred to by his friend George Ernest Morrison, The Times China Correspondent, as 'Professor of dancing and deportment in the department of commerce'.[15]
Rose retired from the Foreign Office with the rank of First Secretary in 1921, and embarked on a career in business in the Far East; becoming a Director of British American Tobacco and the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China. He retired to England at Framlingham, Suffolk, and became a JP for the county. He died on 3 March 1961.[16]
References
edit- ^ a b Obituary in The Times, Mr. Archibald Rose, 9 March 1961, p.19
- ^ "Rose, (Charles) Archibald (Walker), (14 July 1879–3 March 1961), JP". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U53283. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1.
- ^ Who was Who Vol. VI, 1961-1970, (London, 1972) p. 977
- ^ Bedford Modern School (Bedford, England), VIPAN, Herbert Edwin (21 April 1901). A register of the old boys of the Bedford Modern School. Compiled and edited by H.E. Vipan ... Together with a few chapters on its history and institutions. W.J. Robinson. p. 107. OCLC 557698898 – via Open WorldCat.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Defence of Legations Medal Roll". Archived from the original on 8 October 2010.
- ^ The Eagle Vol. VIII no 2,pp. 59-60
- ^ The Eagle Vol. 8, no. 9 (November 1903), p.343.
- ^ a b Who was Who, p. 977.
- ^ Archie Rose and J. Coggin Brown, The Lisu (Yawyin) Tribes of the Burma-China Frontier(Calcutta, 1910)
- ^ Maynard Keynes-An Economist's Biography, p. 900, at Google Books
- ^ Their letters from 1912-40 are held at the Library of King's College, Cambridge:"The Papers of John Maynard Keynes".
- ^ Who was Who, p. 977
- ^ The Eagle Vol. XI, no. 5 (March, 1912), p. 182
- ^ Marshall, J.G. (2005). Britain and Tibet 1765-1947: A Select Annotated Bibliography of British Relations with Tibet and the Himalayan States Including Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan. RoutledgeCurzon. p. 443. ISBN 978-0-415-33647-5. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
- ^ Correspondence of George Ernest Morrison, 1912-20 Archibald Rose at Google Books
- ^ Who was Who, p.977