Japan and the University of Glasgow during the early 20th century

Glasgow University's Great War Project

By Eriko Ueno, MLitt History of Art postgraduate student, University of Glasgow

The first consultation between Ito Hirobumi (later to become the first Prime Minister of Japan) and William John Macquorn Rankine (then Regius Chair of Civil Engineering and Mechanics at the University of Glasgow) took place during the early period of Japan’s Meiji restoration; and this meeting marked the beginning of the fruitful relationship between Japan and the University of Glasgow, particularly in the field of engineering science. Ever since the 1870s, many Japanese students obtained their expertise at the University and later contributed to their home country’s rapid modernization.[1] As part of my Club 21 internship with Glasgow University’s Great War Project in the University of Glasgow Archives, I have come to discover that this flourishing relationship kept alive around the time of the First World War, too. In 1914, Japan allied itself with Britain…

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A Third Visit from Lebanon

Post by Rachael Egan:

Today we welcomed a third visit from Lebanon Evangelical School in Tyre. Ten students from Grade 10A came to visit Special Collections at the University of Glasgow Library and discover the links their school, and Lebanon in general, has with the University.

Their school was founded in 1860 by the wife of Glasgow graduate, James Bowen Thompson (MD CM 1836). Thompson had entered service with the Syrian Medical Aid Association in 1844. In his post as Chief Medical Officer in Damascus, he met and married Elizabeth Maria Lloyd, who set up the first schools for girls from around the region of Syrian Antioch (Turkey) and in to modern day Lebanon. The students viewed James Bowen Thompson’s signature in the Graduation Album of Higher Degrees in Medicine 1817-1883 (GUAS Ref: R1/5/1).

We also explored some further links between Glasgow and Lebanon as seen on the International Story web-pages.

One of the earliest Lebanon-born students at the University, for example, was Munib Emir El Ghurayib.  He enrolled at the University one hundred years ago, in 1915, for two years to study an Arts course, and went on to teach Arabic at Kingsmead, Birmingham, a training institution of the Friends’ Foreign Mission Association.

Mrs Bowen Thompson from ‘Sunrise in Syria’

We also shared the story of Lydia Ida Huber Torrance Allen (née Torrance). She graduated MB ChB from the University in 1918 and MD in 1923 and was a very successful student, winning many prizes and graduating with a Commendation for both degrees. Although born in Tiberias, modern day Israel, where her father, David Watt Torrance, a physician, had established a missionary hospital, Lydia received her early education in Beirut. Perhaps at one of schools established by Elizabeth Bowen-Thompson, who was the first to establish schools for females in the region.

Andrea from the School also brought us along a lovely volume called ‘Sunrise in Syria’ that included information about and a picture of Mrs Bowen Thompson.

Thanks to Caitlin Jukes, PhD student of Microbiology currently working on a project within Special Collections, who helped organise and present the records and thanks to Andrea Smith who contacted us from the School and also brought us along the lovely book to see!

Find out about previous visits from the Lebanon Evangelical School here.

Bruno Touschek, a pioneering physicist

Bruno Touschek, born in Vienna in 1921, was a Glasgow graduate and lecturer in Natural Philosophy from 1949 to 1952 who invented the storage ring for high-energy elementary particles.

Forced to leave the University of Vienna in 1940, he continued his studies at Hamburg, where he worked with Rolf Wideroe on the development of the Betatron, the first circular accelerator for electrons. They were already discussing the possibility of colliding stored electrons and positrons head-on. His work was disrupted by his arrest by the Gestapo in 1945 and subsequent forced march to Kiel. He survived and graduated from Gottingen in 1946.

Touschek became a DSIR fellow at the University in 1947 and began research for a PhD which was published in 1949. He then became a lecturer in Natural Philosophy and he continued to develop his work on accelerators. He left the University in 1952 and became a researcher at the National laboratories of the Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare in Frascati and a lecturer at the University of Rome-La Sapienza. He died in 1978.

Glasgow’s first Malaysian student

To mark Malaysian Independence Day, Hari Merdeka, we’ve got a Glasgow First post.

The University of Glasgow welcomed its first Malaysia student in 1911. Lee Hoe Thye was from Penang, the Straits Settlement, present day Malaysia, son of Yewcheong Thye, a mining engineer.

Lee Hoe Thye, Engineering and Naval Architecture Class 1913–1914 (ACCN173/11/7/1a)

He enrolled at the University in 1911, aged 23, to study Engineering for two years.

Educated at the Penang Free School and at Aberdeen Grammar School, Thye undertook a five-year apprenticeship in 1906 with William McKinnon and Company Ltd, Aberdeen while also attending Robert Gordon’s Technical College.

Thye continued his studies for a further year at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1914 he was employed as a draughtsman with Messrs. Glenfield and Kennedy Ltd, Kilmarnock.

In October 1915, Thye returned to the Federated Malay States, where he was a supervising engineer to Chan Sow Lin and Co, Kuala Lumpur.

He was a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1910, and an Associate Member in 1916, but died in December 1920.

Indonesia’s Independence Day

To mark Indonesia’s Independence Day (17 August), here are some Indonesia-Glasgow stories from the archives.

The History of Sumatra Map

The first student with links to Indonesia was Charles Campbell, a surgeon and botanist to the East India Company at Sumatra. He studied Arts at the University in the 1760s, and went on to contribute his expertise to William Marsden’s

The History of Sumatra Title Page

The history of Sumatra, containing an account of the government, laws, customs, and manners of the native inhabitants, with a description of the natural productions, and a relation of the ancient political state of that island (1783). It was the first comprehensive account of the island’s natural history, and Special Collections holds a copy

The University’s earliest Indonesian-born student was Charles William Young, son of a merchant born in Batavia, modern day Jakarta, around 1813, who began his studies in 1831.

For more connections with Indonesia see the Indonesia country page of the International Story.

International Story GRAB lunch

Today was the opportunity to give the wider University community an overview of the International Story so far at a special GRAB (Global Regional Activity Briefing) lunch.

The International Story in collaboration with the International Heritage project (covering Special Collections and The Hunterian) usually supports these GRAB lunches with pop-up displays relating to the particular region in focus, from the Americas and South East Asia to China and India.

However, this time it was the turn of the International Story and the University’s Unique Collections that was the focus, which drew staff attention to the extensive range of international stories held in the Archives and Collections. With an introduction from Jim Conroy, Vice-Principal Internationalisation and Lesley Richmond, Deputy Director of University Library and University Archivist, the programme of events was jammed packed and included the following presentations

• The University of Glasgow’s International Story so far
• Discovering the International Stories  (Edith Halvarsson and Sophia Yu, Club 21 International Project Placement Students)
• What’s available to promote the University? – Bespoke gifts available from the University Shop (Matthew Williams, University Shop Manager)
• The University’s Scottish Business Archive – an unrivalled collection of renown Scottish business innovations and connections around the world (Kiara King, Assistant Archivist, Business Collections)
• The University’s Archives– authenticating the University’s International links (Moira Rankin, Head of Archive Services).

The pop-up display was included items from Special Collections (Samantha Gilchrist), Archives (Kiara King) and the Hunterian (Nicky Reeves)

Part of our display with @GUspcoll and @hunterian for the international story grab lunch today pic.twitter.com/PKqpUGfYpD

— UofGlasgowASC (@UofGlasgowASC) August 4, 2014

We hope that this overview of the project has shown how the University’s Collections can be employed to great effect. This resource has proved itself as a valuable resource, able to provide University-wide support, be it in international engagement and networking, or student engagement.

We would urge you to discover how the extensive range of international stories held in Archives and Collections can help you make connections. Contact us: ugs@archives.gla.ac.uk

First international professor & pioneering geologist

Henry Darwin Rogers (UP1/17/1)

Philadelphia-born Henry Darwin Rogers (1808-1868) was perhaps the first international (overseas) professor employed at the University of Glasgow.

He directed geological surveys of New Jersey in 1835 and Pennsylvania in 1836, becoming a freelance geologist and moved to Scotland in 1855.  He was appointed to the Chair of Natural History from 1857, a position he held until his death in 1866. Rogers was also responsible for the care of the Hunterian Museum. His brother, William Barton Rogers, with whom he had founded two high schools in the US,  was founder of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

‘A Chinese Professor from Shanghai University is Tracking his Father’s Footprint in Glasgow University’

Back in September 2013, we warmly received a visit from Professor Rujian Lin of the School of Communication & Information Engineering at Shanghai University, who came to see the University records of his father, Chi Yung Lin, BSc 1924.

Prof Lin kindly sent us a draft of his father’s experiences in Glasgow:

“A Chinese Professor from Shanghai University is Tracking his Father’s Footprint in Glasgow University

Prof Rujian Lin, born in 1939 in Sichuan Province, China is a retired and adjunct professor of Shanghai University in Fiber Optics and Optical Access Networks. He visited Glasgow University in June 2011  and September 2013  to seek and track the footprint of his father, Chi Yung Lin in Glasgow almost 100 years ago.

Chi Yung Lin was a student at the University of Glasgow in engineering during 1915-1924. While in Glasgow he also studied at Royal Technical College during 1915-1920. In social activities he performed as the Chinese secretary of Glasgow University Sino-Scottish Society in the sessions 1919-1920 and 1920-1921.

The Sino-Scottish Society session 1925/26 (UP8/9/1)

Besides the study in Glasgow University, Chi Yung Lin worked for Caledonian Railway Company for almost seven years through the ranks of apprentice, technician and at last engineer when Caledonian Railway was absorbed in London, Midland and Scottish Railway in 1923. He left the company and UK in 1925.

Chi Yung Lin’s route to UK was closely linked to the creation of the Republic of China in 1911, when aged 19 as a student soldier he took part in the Wuchang Uprising that led to the Xinhai Revolution. The revolution ended thousands of years of imperial rule in China and signaled the fall of the Qing Dynasty when China’s last emperor Pu Yi was removed from the throne.

Chi Yung Lin, along with over 70 other students, was then selected according to their contribution to the revolution and sent overseas to Europe and North America by the first Chinese President, Sun Yat-Sen. Mr. Lin came to Glasgow to study civil engineering in order to learn the necessary knowledge and skills for constructing China’s railways under the great plan of Sun Yat-Sen.

After finishing his study in the major courses at Royal Technical College he briefly returned to China in 1918 after World War One to report to the Education Ministry of Beijing government, but at that time China was still in turmoil as warlords vied for power, so he came back to Scotland to continue his study at Glasgow University and engineering practice in Caledonian Railway before finally settling back in China in 1925.

After returning to China, Chi Yung Lin worked in various jobs including:

• 1926-1927 Director of Construction Bureau of Chengdu, Sichuan Province
• 1928            Engineer of Railroad Ministry, Chinese government, Nanjing
• 1929-1935  Professor, Head of Civil Engineering Department, Central       University of China, Nanjing
• 1936-1937  Chief Engineer of Huai River Conduction Committee, Chinese government, Nanjing
• 1938-1947  Senior Engineer of Construction Bureau of Sichuan Province
• 1948-1952  Professor, Head of Civil Engineering Department, Dean of Engineering College, Sichuan University
• 1953-1962  Professor, Chengdu Engineering Institute

Reviewing Chi Yung Lin’s life in UK and China,his son, Prof. Rujian Lin, is always feeling indebted to universities of UK which educated Chinese students to be intellectual scholars and engineers, giving them the ability to contribute to the China’s re-construction and serve Chinese people. In 10-20’s of last century, among the Chinese students in England and Scotland, Chi Yung Lin had a few closed friends who were Mr. Sze Kwang Li at Birmingham University, Mr. Kho-Seng Lim at Medical College, Edinburgh University and Chong En Lee at Medical College, Glasgow University. They became the famous geologist, physiologist and medical specialist respectively after returning to China. Prof. Rujian Lin sincerely hopes the friendship and professional exchange between universities of China and UK will be developed forever.”

Professor Lin continues to research his father’s experiences and hopes to eventually write a book on early Chinese students who came to the UK for their education.

 

The German Class of 1890

Following on from Germany’s World Cup win, we thought it was an opportune time to write about the unusual German Class of 1890.

Not until 1887 was a part-time lectureship in Modern Languages first established at the University, and it was Dr Ernst Elster who received the appointment as lecturer of German Language and Literature (GUA21932, 27 Nov 1886 Letter from Dr Emile Elster to Professor Young applying to be allowed to give lectures in German language and literature).

Elster went on to appointments as Professor of German Literature in the universities of Leipzig and Marburg, and was followed in post by Dr Hermann Georg Fiedler, in 1889, (later Professor of German at Oxford University); and in 1890 by Dr Alexander Tille.

It was the German Literature course given during the academic sessions of 1889 and 1890 that attracted the most attention as around 15 German students matriculated for the class. They were

• 

  Letter from Emile Elster to Prof Young, 27 Nov 1886 (GUA21932)

  Johann Nicolaus Kiep

• Ernst Alfred Schmidt
• Samuel Ernst George Von Schulze
• Simonis
• Forss Rottenburg
• Paul Rottenburg
• Koppern
• Heinrich Eberhard
• Max Tuch
• August Hafter
• Adolf R Hertwig
• Alfred Himi
• Carl Schneider
• Vockel
• Walter Arend

As the information they provided on their matriculation slips is sparse, it could suggest that all were residents of and working in Glasgow at the time, like Johann Nicolaus Kiep,  who was serving as Imperial Consul at Glasgow at the time of his matriculation and had extended family connections in the Glasgow area.

Interest in the teaching of Modern Languages as a legitimate subject-area of study in British universities wasn’t developed late in the nineteenth-century and with an amount of opposition, as student Editor Carol Hunter noted in her blog post on the first appointee to the Lectureship of French Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow in 1895, Alfred Mercier. So this German class of 1890 shows to a great extent that the introduction of teaching of Modern Languages at University was actively supported by diverse members of the local community who were eager to foster international understanding and relationships through education.

Bahamian Independence

Here at Archive Services, we are in a particularity celebratory mood – not just because of the imminent Commonwealth Games or the International Story GRAB lunch  on 4 Aug – but we are having an authentic celebration of Bahamas Independence Day led by our colleague, Antoinette Seymour.

Anto with Dr Farrington’s matriculation slip

Antoinette has come to us from her home in the Bahamas as an affiliate member of staff. After graduating MSc Information Management & Preservation from Glasgow University in 2010, Antoinette now works for the University of The Bahamas and is responsible for establishing the archives in her institution.

http://www.internationalstory.gla.ac.uk/country/?id=17

Anto with Dr Farrington’s matriculation slip

Antoinette, along with all of her other activities at Archive Services, has been helping our Club21 International Story editor, Poppy, to shed light on our connections. Poppy wrote a blog post on the early missionary links, and also an overview of our connections that appears on the Bahamas country page of the website.

The Bahamas gained their independence from the UK on 10 July 1973, forty-one years ago, and remains as a member of the Commonwealth of Nations – and we hope to see them in action at the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.  We continue to learn from Antoinette about everyday life and customs in the Bahamas; from the Junkanoo street parades to the paddling pigs.

Happy Bahamas Independence Day!