George Macartney (British consul)

Sir George Macartney should not be confused with George Macartney, an earlier British statesman.

Sir George Macartney, KCIE, (19 January 1867 at Nanjing –19 May 1945 on Jersey), was the British consul-general in Kashgar at the end of the nineteenth century. He was succeeded by Sir Clarmont Skrine.

Macartney was half-Chinese—his father, Halliday Macartney, was a member of the same family as George Macartney, the 18th century British ambassador to China, and his mother was a near relative of Lar Wang, one of the leaders of the Taiping rebellion.[1]

In Kashgar his wife, Lady Catherine Macartney, assisted the archaeologists who found the library at Dunhuang.[2]

The Macartneys retired to Jersey in the Channel Islands, where they were trapped by the German occupation during World War II. Macartney died on Jersey, just a few days after the German surrender.

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ Sir Clarmont Skrine & Dr. Pamela Nightingale, Macartney at Kashgar: New Light on British, Chinese and Russian Activities in Sinkiang, 1890-1918 (London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1973)
  2. ^ Isabel Montgomery, "Hear This," The Guardian (London), Oct. 8, 1999.