People · British consul, British minister to China
Sir Rutherford Alcock
阿礼国Ālǐguó · 1809–1897
British consul in Shanghai 1846-1855 who pressed the Qingpu case, extended the settlement in 1848 and helped found the Municipal Council in 1854.
Sir Rutherford Alcock (阿礼国, Ālǐguó) was the British consul at Shanghai who shaped the settlement’s boundaries, its customs arrangements and its governing council.
A former surgeon, he served at Fuzhou and Xiamen before being named to Shanghai in August 1846, succeeding George Balfour. In November 1846 he issued port regulations fixing the seaward limit of the port and the anchorage on the Huangpu between Wusong and the Yangjingbang.
In March 1848 the Qingpu incident gave him a lever against daotai Xian Ling: he threatened to stop tax payments until the Chinese side acted. In November of that year he agreed with Lin Gui to extend the British settlement to the Muddy City Creek. In 1854, during the Small Swords uprising, he proposed a customs inspectorate to daotai Wu Jianzhang, and on 5 July, with the American and French consuls, published a revised Land Regulations. A residents’ meeting held under it elected the board that became the Municipal Council (工部局).
He was minister in Japan from 1859, wrote The Capital of the Tycoon, and from 1865 to 1871 was British minister to China.
Timeline
Connections
- B. Edan爱棠Co-signed the 1854 customs notice with Consul Rutherford Alcock
- Gong Muju宫慕久Refused the return of the Catholic church site raised by consul Alcock
- Henry G. Wolcott吴利国Drew a protest from British consul Alcock by raising the US flag
- Lin Gui麟桂Agreed the settlement extension with daotai Lin Gui
Sir George Balfour巴富尔Succeeded Balfour as British consul- Wu Jianzhang吴健彰Proposed the customs inspectorate to daotai Wu Jianzhang
- Xian Ling咸龄Pressed daotai Xian Ling over the Qingpu incident