William C. Hunter

Background

William C. was born in Kentucky in 1812.

Career

When he was not yet thirteen years of age, he managed to secure engagement as an apprentice to the Canton (China) agency of Thomas H. Smith & Son of New York. Sailing from the latter port on October 9, 1824, in the vessel Citizen, he reached Canton after a voyage of 125 days. In preparation for his work in the Far East, he spent eighteen months studying Chinese in the Anglo-Chinese College at Malacca.

Upon his return to Canton, he continued these studies under the guidance of the eminent Protestant missionary, Robert Morrison, thus earning the distinction of being, perhaps, the first American to devote himself to a systematic study of the spoken and written language. This interest he continued to cultivate throughout his life in the Factories (1825 - 44), occasionally contributing articles of sinological interest to local English-language publications--such as the Canton Register and the Chinese Repository.

The failure, in 1827, of Smith & Company necessitated a brief trip to New York, but by 1829 he was again in Canton as a clerk in the firm of Russell & Company, of which he ultimately became a member. After the Anglo-Chinese War (1842) and the destruction of the Factories, he spent his life in virtual retirement at Macao, or in looking after his business interests. He was part owner of the first American steamship to ply in Chinese waters – the Midas, which sailed from New York November 4, 1844, reaching Hongkong, via Cape of Good Hope, May 14, 1845.

He died in Nice, France.

Achievements

• His chief claim to distinction is the publication in London, in 1882 and 1885 respectively, of The 'Fan Kwae' at Canton Before Treaty Days, 1825-1844, by an Old Resident (fan kwae being Chinese for "foreign devils"), and Bits of Old China – both written with the encouragement of a former chief of Russell & Company, Robert B. Forbes of Boston. They constitute the most intimate and readable account that has come down to us of the circumscribed life in the Canton Factories which for more than a century were almost the sole window through which the West obtained a glimpse of the Middle Kingdom. Writing some decades after the events, he did so with a detachment and a fairness, to both the Chinese and Western viewpoints, that is unusual in the narratives dealing with that period.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The 'Fan Kwae' at Canton Before Treaty Days, 1825-1844 1911

    (Originally published in 1911. This volume from the Cornel...)

References

• Personal Reminiscences 1882
• The International Relations Of The Chinese Empire. (中國清代國際關係)