People · merchant, Municipal Council member, school founder
Thomas Hanbury
汉璧礼Hànbìlǐ · 1832–1907
British merchant and Municipal Councillor whose Eurasian school became the Hanbury School, the first school run by the Shanghai Municipal Council.
Thomas Hanbury (汉璧礼, Hànbìlǐ) was a British merchant who made his money in Shanghai property and left a lasting mark on the settlement’s schooling. He arrived in 1853, joined the Municipal Council in 1865, and in 1871 founded a school for Eurasian children before moving to France.
In 1882 he offered the school to the Council, asking that it stay Eurasian-only and carry his name. The Council said it could not yet take it on but began an annual grant. In 1889 the school merged with a new Children’s Home as the Hanbury School, and in 1890 the Council took it over as its first Council-run school. A new building followed on Poo Road in 1891, and the pupils came to include poor children of several nationalities. When Hanbury visited in 1893 and gave 5,000 taels to charities, the Council named a road after him.