Alcock, Rutherford

Japanese: オールコック - Ａｌｃｏｃｋ，Ｒｕｔｈｅｒｆｏｒｄ

Year of death: 1897.11.2 (1897.11.2)
Year of birth: 1809.5
A British diplomat in the late Edo period. Born in Ealing, near London, as the son of a doctor, he enrolled as a student at Westminster Hospital and the Royal Westminster Eye Hospital. In 1825, he went to Paris to study anatomy, chemistry, and natural history. He also mastered French and Italian, and developed a strong interest in literature and the arts. After returning to Japan, he worked as a live-in doctor, and in 1832, after receiving his license as a surgeon from the Royal College of Physicians, he served as a military surgeon for the British expeditionary force in Portugal and Spain until 1838. The following year, he became a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, and served as a lecturer in surgery at Sydenham College. In 1842, he also served as an anatomical inspector for the Home Office, but developed paralysis of the thumbs on both hands, an aftereffect of his time in the Iberian Peninsula. This was fatal for a surgeon. In 1844, he applied for and passed the Foreign Office's recruitment for a consul position in China, becoming the first consul in Fuzhou. He served as consul in Xiamen from November of that year until March of the following year, as consul in Shanghai in 1846, and as consul in Canton in 1855. On December 21, 1858, he was appointed the first Consul General in Japan. He arrived in Edo Bay on May 26, 1859 (June 26, 1859) and took up his post, and was promoted to minister in November. In the spring of 1862, he returned to Japan temporarily. He returned to his post in March 1864 (Genji 1), and contributed to the resolution of the Shimonoseki Incident. On November 26, he returned to Japan following a recall order. While forming the basis of British policy towards Japan, he also wrote Japanese Grammar, Japanese Conversation, and The Tycoon's Capital (translated by Yamaguchi Kosaku, 1962). He became minister to China in 1865, and returned to Japan in 1869. <References> A. Michie, "The Englishman in China during the Victorian Era," Takeshi Masuda, "The Englishman in the Late Tokugawa Period"

(Takashi Utsumi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：1897.11.2(1897.11.2)
生年：1809.5
幕末のイギリスの外交官。ロンドンの近郊イーリングに医師の子として生まれる。ウエストミンスター病院と王立ウエストミンスター眼科病院に学生として入学。1825年パリに行き,解剖学,化学,博物学を学ぶ。一方でフランス語やイタリア語を修得し,文学や芸術に強く目覚めた。帰国後,住み込み医師として働き,32年,ロイヤル・カレッジから外科医の免許を受けるや,ポルトガル,スペインでイギリス軍派遣部隊の軍医として38年まで従軍した。翌39年王立内科・外科協会の会員となり,サイデンハム・カレッジの外科学講師を務め,42年には内務省の解剖検査官をも務めたが,イベリア半島従軍時代の後遺症である両手親指の麻痺症状が出る。これは外科医としては致命的であった。44年,外務省の中国在勤領事の募集に応じて合格,福州の初代領事に転身した。同年11月から翌年3月まで厦門領事,46年上海領事,55年広東領事を歴任。58年12月21日,初代の駐日総領事に任命された。安政6年5月26日(1859年6月26日),江戸湾に来航し着任,11月には公使に昇任した。文久2(1862)年春,一時帰国。元治1(1864)年3月帰任し,下関事件の解決に貢献した。11月26日召還命令に従い帰国。イギリスの対日政策の基礎を形作る一方で,『日本語文法』,『日本語会話』,『大君の都』(山口光朔訳,1962)を書く。65年清国公使,69年帰国した。<参考文献>A.Michie《TheEnglishmaninChinadur‐ ing the Victorian Era.》,増田毅『幕末期の英国人』

(内海孝)

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