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Sir Robert KennawaySir Robert Kennaway Douglas
Barely another year had passed when he was moved to Canton which had been under the control of allied forces since its capture in December 1857. It was here that he acquired the greater part of his knowledge of Chinese life and of the southern dialects. In March 1861, he was transferred to Peking as Third Assistant in the Consular Service. In June 1862, Douglas became First Assistant in the Consulate at Tientsin and worked under General Staveley, who commanded the British Occupation Force there. In October of the same year, he was appointed Vice-Consul at Taku. Here he remained until 1864 when he returned home on leave, never, in fact, to go back to China.bsp;
He was the first Keeper of the British Museum's new Department of
Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts when it was created in 1892.
Until the publication in 1993 of Kenneth Gardner's Descriptive Catalogue of Japanese Books in the British Lthrary Printed before 1700, Douglas's catalogue was the only guide to the British Library's antiquarian Japanese collection. Its Chinese counterpart, however, has not yet been superseded in print to this day. Douglas thus became something of a household name among Orientalists, especially scholars of Japanese literature and of sinology.
During his years at the Museum he lived at Dulwich and was a governor of Dulwich College. He retired in 1907 to the west of England. Failing to find suitable accommodation near his birthplace at Ottery St Mary, to which by coincidence Sir Ernest Satow (a British diplomat and doyen of Japanese historical bibliographers) had retired, he finally settled in Acton Turville where he was to remain until his death in 1913. He left a wife, six sons and two daughters. Douglas was in the Consular Service of China 1858-65 ; Assistant in charge of the Chinese Library at the British Museum 1865-92; Keeper of the Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts at the British Museum 1892-1907 ; sometime Professor of Chinese at King's Coll., London, and a Fellow thereof 1903-13, and who was cr. Knt. 1903 and d. im.—Belcotnle Lodge, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire. He married in 1866 Rachel, daughter of the late Kirkby Fenton, Esq., of Caldecote Hall, Warwickshire. Four of his seven sons were cricketers, Archibald Philip, Sholto, James and Robert. A 5th son, Stuart, played for Dulwich College. His sixth son, Stuart Monro, was wounded serving with 8th Batt., Royal Fusiliers in 1917. He was Indian Educational Service Inspector of Schools, Burma, 1902-6, and Head Master, Lutterworth Grammar School, 1911-30. His seventh and youngest son, Philip, became a Royal Navy Captain. There was apparently much more to the dour looking Douglas than appears in the only known photograph of him (1). He died at Acton Turville, Chippenham, on 20th May 1913. Notes: 1. I have since found another photograph - but he still looks severe!
Sources
Sources for this article include:
• "Douglas, Sir Robert Kennaway, (23 Aug. 1838–20 May 1913),
Professor of Chinese, King's College London (Fellow, 1903–08)".
WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U185486.
ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1.
Any contributions will be gratefully accepted
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Vice-President
of Royal Asiatic Society, and the first Keeper of the British
Museum's new Department of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts
when it was created in 1892, Robert Kennaway Douglas was born at
Larkbeare House, Tallaton, on August 23, 1838. He was the fourth son
of the Rev. Philip W. Douglas, who was appointed to the Chapel of
Ease at Escot, Ottery St.Mary, Devon, by the late Sir John Kennawny,
Bart., and his grand-father was Dr. Philip Douglas, Master of Corpus
Christi College, Cambridge.