Sources guide: Far East (Archives and Manuscripts)

(Borneo, China, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam)

Sources guides and handlists

NB collections range in size from single items to large personal or organisational archives.

Further information about the materials mentioned below can be found on the Archives and Manuscripts online catalogue.

In some cases the full detailed catalogues of archive collections are not yet in this online database: hard copy versions are available in the Rare Materials Reading Room and on request to archs+mss@wellcome.ac.uk.

George Costard (1710-1782): letter in the papers of Martin Folkes (1690-1754), President of the Royal Society, concerning Chinese chronology and astrology, 1747 MS.5403/23

Cornelis de Bruin (1652-1719): incomplete manuscript translation of de Bruin's travels including the East Indies, 1703-6 MS.1378-9

Manungal: manuscript on the therapeutic uses of manungal, the local name in the Philippines for a particular species of Samandura plant, c.1750 MS.Amer/10

F Savary, French missionary priest: account of journey from France to Tonkin via Macao, and description of missionary work in Tonkin (now Vietnam), 1755-8 MS.6065

Rabies: description of "An infallible cure of the bite of a mad dog, brought from Tonquin by Sir George Cobb Bart. ... receipts may be had of Will Frederick, Bookseller in Bath", n.d. [c.1764] MS.7019/2

Trading account book of a merchant in the China trade, probably based in India, showing movement of commodities such as opium, ginseng and other drugs, 1774-7 MS.832

Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820): letters, several written during the Napoleonic Wars on the subject of scholars held captive, including the Chinese scholar Thomas Manning (1772-1840), 1787-1818, n.d. MS.7331; Letters and papers on China and its customs, received from John Reeves (1774-1856), East India Company Inspector of Tea at Canton, 1812-6, n.d. MS.5217

Jacques Julien Houton de Labillardière (1755-1834), botanist and traveller: 2 items relating to his voyage to the Pacific under Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni chevalier d' Entrecasteaux (1737-1793) in search of the explorer Jean-François de Galaup comte de la Pérouse (1741-1788): letter prior to his departure, n.d. (1792?) (no.34) and folios V-VII of a manuscript description in Latin of the flora of Tasmania and Carteret Atoll (New Ireland, Papua New Guinea), 1792 (no.35), 1792, n.d. MS.7830/34-35

George Macartney (1737-1806), 1st Earl Macartney, ambassador from the United Kingdom to China: journal of voyage from London to China, via Batavia (Djakarta), 1792-3 (copy taken c.1805) MS.3352

Sir Robert Wigram M.P. (1744-1830): paper arguing for lower duties on medicinal plants imported from the East to Great Britain, n.d. (probably early 19th century) MS.7226

Royal Army Medical Corps Muniment Collection: 19th century Chinese anatomical charts; reports,etc, re Japanese army medical services 1890s-1905 and 1944; reports re public health in Japan, 1920s, and Thailand, 1940s; records of Japanese occupation of Hong Kong and Singapore, 1940s; photographs, articles, etc, re the Gurkha Sanatorium at Kinrara, Malaya; memoirs of service in the Far East; photographs and cuttings. See under Borneo, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaya, Singapore, Thailand in place name index RAMC

Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles (1781-1826): 2 letters, one concerning the plants of Java (no.48) and one written at Bencoolen (Bengkulu, Sumatra) to the Danish botanist Nathaniel Wallich (no.49), 1812-23 MS.7830/48-49; Letter to Nathaniel Wallich (1787-1839), 1819 MS.7453/4

Robert Morrison (1782-1834), missionary in China: Miscellaneous letters and papers, 1814-49 MS.5827-52,7127

John Ryland (1753-1825): 1 autograph letter, signed, to Thomas Raffles (1788-1863), independent minister, regarding Brother Robinson's missionary activities in Java and dealings with Raffles' cousin Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles (1781-1826) 1814 MS.7830/53

William Jack (1795-1822): letters written at Bencoolen (Bengkulu, Sumatra) to Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854), superintendant of the Calcutta Botanic Gardens, 1821-2 MS.7830/31-32

Jean Florimond Boudon de Saint-Amans (1748-1831): "Observations critiques sur l'espèce de riz sec de montagne ou de la cochinchine", 1823 MS.7571/13-14

John Robert Morrison (1814-1843), Chinese interpreter and Colonial Secretary to the Hong Kong Government: letters from his father, 1824-34 MS.5829; Miscellaneous letters and papers including will and obituaries, 1825-60 MS.5831; letters on the Peacock expedition to Thailand and Vietnam led by the United States merchant and diplomat Edmund Roberts (1784-1836), 1832 MS.5830

Dr. William Aurelius Harland (1822-1858): letters and associated papers describing Hong Kong and events in China, 1841-58 MS.7682-3

Benjamin Hobson (1816-1873), medical missionary in China, son-in-law of Robert Morrison (qv): letters to and from Hobson and members of his family, 1831-71 MS.5832-9; Diplomas, testimonials and miscellaneous items, 1838-93 MS.5840-1; Other family letters and papers, 1844-83 MS.5848-51; Morrison and Hobson collection of printed material, acquired with the family papers (see above): includes reports of missionary societies and hospitals in China, 1839-72 MS.5852

Hugh Cuming (1791-1865),: note describing the skull of a native of the island of Samar, Philippines, 1838 MS.7830/6

Thomas Graham, assistant naval surgeon: diary of passage to China to join expedition against pirates (died shortly after arrival), 1849-50 MS.5462

Alfred Bowyer Barton (1825-1905), P.& O. Company medical officer: journals of voyages between Bombay, Singapore and Hong Kong, including descriptions of the progress of Chinese rebellion. 1853-8 MS.5958-9, 5962-3; Journals and sketches mainly relating to the Yangtse expedition, led by Captain Thomas W Blakiston, on which Barton served as medical officer, 1861, plus associated later papers, 1967, n.d. MS.7589-94

Sir John Bowring (1792-1872): letters to whilst Consul at Canton and Plenipotentiary and Superintendent of Trade in China, including announcement of the death of the Emperor Tao Kuang; correspondents include the King of Siam; Japanese visiting card. 1850-8, n.d. MS.6128

John Bishop King, medical practitioner at Penang, and his wife Joanna King: diaries, covering J.B. King's settling in Penang and life there before and after their marriage, 1855-68 MS.7630-2; graphological analysis of Mrs Faber Brown of Penang by King's brother, 1857 MS.7157

Thomas Hodgkin (1798-1866): note on Dutch conquest of Bali, n.d. PP/HO/D/D101; Fragments of narrative of travel in Cambodia, translated from the French of H. Moubot, c.1859 PP/HO/D/D217-8; other activities to do with protection of colonised populations, etc PP/HO/D

Daniel Hanbury (1825-1875), pharmacologist, London: out-letter book, including correspondence with J E DeVry in Java and Alfred Russel Wallace in Ternate, Halmahera, 1858-60 MS.5304

Major-General Charles George Gordon (1833-1885): letters (largely to fellow officers in the Royal Engineers) and papers, with related letters by his brother, Colonel S E Gordon and Captain C Orde Browne, documenting many aspects of career, including service in China, 1856-84, n.d. MS.6894-901

Admiral Sir James Hope (1808-1881): proclamation, in Chinese characters, issued as commander-in-chief of 1859-60 joint United Kingdom and French expedition to China, with wrapper, n.d. (c.1859-60) MS.7574/14

John Temperley Gray (1835-1892), P. & O. Company ship's surgeon: notebook on natural history, local customs, climate etc., made on various ships between England and the Far East, 1862-88 MS.5875

I Ching: notes on the I Ching and its use for divination and fortune-telling, by an anonymous English writer, c.1865 MS.2285

Herbert Richard Bracey (c.1849-1901): diaries and letters relating to voyages to India and China as P. & O. Company ship's surgeon, 1872-4 MS.5288-92

Sir Patrick Manson (1844-1922): Case-notes and temperature charts compiled whilst at Amoy and Hong Kong, 1878-84 MS.6129; Case-book of private practice in Hong Kong, 1885 MS.3417; Miscellaneous papers and correspondence, 1856-1917 MS.6130-2; see also Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913): 6 letters: one on naming birds from the Malay archipelago (no.54); one concerning the effects upon his health of the Sarawak climate (no.56); no.59 to Philip Lutley Sclater (1829-1913) refers to expeditions to New Guinea, 1863-1910 MS.7830/54-59; 3 letters by Wallace, 1868-1909 MS.7798

Royal Society Of Tropical Medicine And Hygiene: Letters, memorabilia, etc, of Sir Patrick Manson (1844-1922) while in Amoy and Hong Kong, 1871-89 WTI/RST/F; articles by Sir Philip Manson-Bahr (1881-1966) on Fiji WTI/RST/H

Medical Women's Federation (f. 1916): 'Medical Women Overseas': early women doctors in Singapore, Japan; files re unequal pay for women doctors in Colonial Medical Service, Hong Kong 1950s-60s; material from international congresses in Manila, Tokyo, Seoul and Medical Women's International Association generally SA/MWF

Sir James Cantlie (1851-1926): Personal and medical papers while in Hong Kong, lectures and manuscripts, photographs; draft letters including some by the Chinese statesmen Li Hung Chang (1823-1901) and Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925), 1877-1912, n.d; journal account of visit to Japan; a few bills for travelling expenses in the Far East, 1874-94, n.d. MS.1461-84, 6931-40

Thomas Grimshaw: recipe book (medical and general recipes), with note inside flyleaf indicating that it was begun at Penang, 1887-c.1897 MS.7144

Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese: examination papers, including one by the Chinese statesman Sun Yat Sen (1866-1925), 1887-8 MS.2934-5

John Christopher Thomson (1863-1943): reports on cases in the Alice Memorial Hospital, Hong Kong, 1891 MS.4780

William Lauzun Brown (d.1919): material for unpublished and unfinished work, 'The Employment of Animal Substances for the cure of disease', including material on Chinese and Indian medicine, n.d. MS.8226-33

Wellcome Foundation Archives: Material relating to marketing, promotion, etc of products in China, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, etc 1900s-90s WF

Wellcome Archives: The records of the Historical Medical Museum include material on medicine in the Far East (database can be searched under country name), 1903-85, WA/HMM; Sir Henry Wellcome's personal papers include material on the China Publications Fund for the publication of translations of medical texts in China, 1907-21, WA/HSW; One file of Bureau of Scientific Research relating to C M Wenyon's participation in League of Nations Special Sub-committee for Technical Collaboration with China, 1926-38, WA/BSR/LA/Wen/2; Paira Mall (1874-1957), collector for Sir Henry Wellcome: diary relating to travels in India and S.E. Asia, 1903-4 WA/HMM/CM/Pai/A.4-5

Sir Ambrose Thomas Stanton (1875-1938): material on beri-beri, compiled whilst in Malaysia. 1905-19 MS.4693-8

J E L Bashford (fl.1907-1918), R.N.: diary whilst serving on the China station, including visits to Hong Kong, Japan and elsewhere in the Far East, 1908 MS.5737

Percy Netterville Gerrard (d.1915): account of rupture of spleen, Kuala Lumpur, 1908 MS.1728/4

Donald Mars Morphett Ross (1865-1921), Medical Officer on board the coolie-ship Hong Bee: diary, including voyages between Penang and the China Coast, 1913 MS.4260; Correspondence and papers, 1910-6 MS.6117

W Leonard Braddon (1861-1936): 2 letters to Sir C J Martin of the Lister Institute, and accompanying pamphlet and reprints, concerning his research in Malaya, on beriberi, 1910-1927 MS.8589

Cases of malaria, reported by an unidentified medical man, Kuala Lumpur, 1911 MS.1729/8

Johann Pieter Kleiweg De Zwaan (b.1875): Die Heilkunde der Niasser: extract, translated into English, on smallpox and infant mortality on the island of Nias, off Sumatra, 1913 MS.8191

Sir Edward Sharpey-Schafer (1850-1955): Correspondence with physiologists in China, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines, 1914-33; visit to the Far East, 1913 PP/ESS

Sir Leonard Rogers (1868-1962): Correspondence, etc re leprosy in Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji, China and Japan, 1918-29 PP/ROG

Helena Rosa Wright (1887-1982): Went to China with her husband as a medical missionary during the 1920s; a few miscellaneous items of personalia and photographs PP/HRW; see also materials collected by her biographer, Barbara Evans, PP/PRE/J

Eugenics Society (f. 1907): Memoranda on sterilisation laws worldwide, 1920s-30s, including Philippines, file re the Hong Kong Eugenics League 1930s SA/EUG
PLEASE NOTE: this collection is being digitised and parts of it will be unavailable during the process. Check the schedule for further information.

Collection of Chinese cookery recipes, 1920 MS.1848

Professor John Chassar Moir (1900-1977): Obstetrician and gynaecologist: correspondence re cases in Tientsin, China, of cervical fibromyoma in pregnancy, 1958, and personal correspondence with a medical missionary in Beijing, Shensi and Tientsin, 1924-7 PP/JCM

Barclay Barrowman (1896-1978): accounts of travels in the Dutch East Indies (Bali, Java, the Moluccas), 1925; material on malaria control and housing of labourers, Malaya, 1934-1947; items on Selangor, where he was Personal Physician to the Sultan, 1930s GC/144

Eileen Palmer: Edith How-Martyn's birth control tour to Japan, 1936, and correspondence with Japanese birth controllers, 1930s, and a little material on birth control in China PP/EPR

British Social Hygiene Council (Formerly National Council for Combatting Venereal Diseases) (f.1914): See in particular 'Far East' minutes of the Joint Standing Committee of the BSHC and the Board of Study for the Preparation of Missionaries re social hygiene questions in the Far East, 1934-5 SA/BSH

Richard Ernest Cornish Copithorne (fl.1933-1996), ship's surgeon: diaries of voyages on cargo vessels between England and the Far East, visiting Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Japan, 1934-5 MS.7679-80

Katherine Harman, wife of Nathaniel Bishop Harman (1869-1945): diary kept during the British Medical Association Round the World Tour, on which she travelled with her husband, including, by ship to Macassar, Bali, Java (visiting Surabaya, Borobudur and Batavia (Djakarta) and Singapore and by train to Kuala Lumpur and Penang; records official ceremonies and visits, excursions, natural history (particularly birds) and general matters of interest 1935; with inserted card sent from Malaya in Dec 1937 MS.7394

Cicely Delphine Williams (1894-1992) Served in the Colonial Medical Service, Singapore 1938-48; records of internment in Changi jail, 1941-5; visited Manila, 1971 PP/CDW

Surgeon-Captain John Allison Page (1908-1989): Records and reports as POW in Hong Kong and Japan during Second World War GC/131

Marie Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (1880-1950): Files of correspondence on contraception in Hong Kong, Japan, Asia generally, and visits to Mothers' Clinic by members of Chinese Embassy, London, 1940s-50s PP/MCS

Marthe Vogt (1993-2003): Correspondence with pharmacologist colleagues in China, Japan, Singapore and Korea, arrangements for study in UK, etc, cultural exchanges, 1940s-80s PP/MLV

Strangeways Research Laboratory: Correspondence with scientists from China, Japan and Malaysia who came to work at the Laboratory, 1940s-70 SA/SRL

Max Neuburger (1868-1955): biographical and historical essays including "Chinese Medicine", "Japanese Medicine", 1941 MS.8171

Dr James W Anderson: Papers relating to Bowen Road Military Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong, 1942-5 MS.7877

Capt George Blair, RAMC: correspondence with family while in Japanese POW Camp in Formosa, 1942-5, and typescript of thesis on "Malnutrition among Prisoners of War in the Far East", based on the experience PP/GBL

Richard Philps (b.1914): 'Prisoner Doctor', account of experiences as RAF Medical Officer during Japanese occupation of Indonesia, 1942-5 GC/51

Health Visitors' Association: Collection includes papers of G K Burne (1912-89), Supervisor and Training Officer of Health Nurses, Harcourt Health Centre, Hong Kong, 1947-62 SA/HVA

Carlos Paton Blacker (1895-1975): Writings and correspondence re birth control and population questions in Japan (in particular), 1950s-60s PP/CPB

Family Planning Association (f. 1930): Files re birth control in Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, 1950s-60s SA/FPA

Sir Robert Macintosh (1897-1989): Anaesthetist: travel diaries of trips to Indonesia, China, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, 1950s-60s, texts of lectures given and lectures on his experiences there PP/RRM

Air Marshal Sir Harold Whittingham (1887-1983): Notebooks with notes of inspections, as Director of Medical Services, BOAC, of airport medical and health facilities in Singapore, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Tokyo, 1955 PP/HEW

Queen’s Nursing Institute: District Nursing Overseas files include Hong Kong, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, 1956-76 SA/QNI/U.3

Professor John Barr Cavanagh (b. 1921): Documents on 'Minamata Disease', 1958-77 GC/7

Alice Mary Stewart (1906-2002): Some material relating to British Council visit to Singapore, 1958-9, later research on the long terms effects of A-Bomb in Japan, correspondence with colleagues, visits for conferences, 1970s-90s PP/AMS

Professor Percy Cyril Claude Garnham (1901-1995): Protozoologist: correspondence with colleague in Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Thailand, 1960s-70s PP/PCG

International Confederation of Midwives: correspondence with Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan (member countries), 1960s-80s and Fiji, Malaya, Thailand (non-member countries), 1970s-80s; ICM/WHO/UNICEF pre-Congress Workshop Women's Health and the Midwife - a Global Perspective, Kobe workshop, 1990, and congress proceedings; ICM/WHO/UNICEF pre-Congress Workshop Midwifery Practice - Measuring, Developing and Mobilising Quality Care, Cambodia, Indonesia; Project reports, Singapore, 1990-2, Borneo, 1992-5; Report of the East and West Asia Working Parties, 1975 SA/ICM

Stanley George Browne (1907-1986): Clinical slides of leprosy sufferers in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Malaysia, 1961-77, n.d. (ref. K.2/7); correspondence on visits by Browne to China, 1972-85, including papers presented at the First International Leprosy Symposium in China, and the inauguration of the China Leprosy Association and China Leprosy Center, 1985; prospectus for the International Christian University, Tokyo, Japan, 1980-82; address to the China Christian Medical Association, Taiwan, Aug 1969, 'Leprosy in China' booklet published by the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation 1981, papers (correspondence, reprints, articles, reports, etc.) relating to visit to China in 1981 and 1985 which concern both leprosy and Christianity in China; some references relating to Mali Browne’s parents who were missionaries in China; handbook of the International Conference of Christian Medical Students, Indonesia, 1985; visits to Indonesia and Singapore in the 1970s and 1980s, slides of Seminar in Sitanala, Indonesia; prospectus for the International Christian University Tokyo, 1980-2, with order of service listing Browne as preacher, 1981, visits to Japan late 1970s,1981, correspondence re Leprosy Study Centre visit to the Sasakawa Memorial Health Foundation in Apr 1979; visits to Korea 1970s,1980s, correspondence relating to International Symposium on Leprosy and Joint Chemotherapy Trial Meeting in Seoul, May-Jun 1978, organised by the Korean Leprosy Research Institute; visits to Thailand 1970s, reports on leprosy situation in Thailand, following visit to Khonkaen and Bangkok, c 1976; visits to Taiwan 1970s WTI/SGB

Philip D’Arcy Hart (1900-2006): Correspondence and notes re: visit to China in March 1962 as Secretary of the Medical Research Council (MRC) Committee for Research on Tuberculosis in the Tropics; re conference on tuberculosis organised by the United States-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Programme, Japan May 1966, 1962-85 PP/PDH

Sir Christopher Andrewes (1896–1989), virologist: travel journal of trip to Japan, 1963 GC/168

Robina Addis (1900-1986): Material re visit to Philippines 1964-5 PP/ADD

Sir Ronald Bodley Scott (1906-1982): travel diaries include accounts of visits to Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines and S E Asia, 1966, and to Brunei, 1974, 1979 PP/RBS

Sir Ludwig Guttman (1899-1980): photograph albums of 13th Stoke Mandeville Games for the Paralysed, Tokyo, 1964, and Paralympic Games in Japan, 1975 PP/GUT

Philip Rainsford Evans (1910-1990): Leader of the British Medical Team at the Children's Hospital, Saigon, Vietnam, 1965-71; reports, correspondence and photographs PP/PRE

Dame Honor Bridget Fell (1900-1986): Visit to Japan 1968; correspondence with Chinese and Japanese colleages PP/HBF
Henry McIlwaine (1912-1992): trip to Japan including conference, visits to laboratories, research institutes, etc PP/MCI/F.25-7

Prof Hans Grüneberg (1907-1982): file of correspondence with colleagues and institutions in Malaysia, 1970-8, mainly to do with his role as external examiner in Genetics for the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Malaya PP/GRU/50/1

Medical Pilgrims (f.1928): Correspondence about visit to China, 1970s, and notebook and 'Scribes' Report' on 1980 visit SA/PIL

World Federation of Occupational Therapists: files relating to local associations in Brunei, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, 1970s-90s SA/WFO

Sidney G.Hamilton: 'Memories of a visit to the People's Republic of China 1972'’, memoir of visit by group of doctors, 1972 MS.7972

Sir George Godber (b.1908): reports on visit to People’s Republic of China, 1973 GC/201/A.3/2/6-7

Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain and Ireland: International Federation of MS Societies: file for Japan, 1975 SA/MSS

Mary Catterall: materials relating to professional visits to Japan, 1980s PP/CAT

Biochemical Society: Anglo-Chinese Colloque in Oxford, 1982 SA/BIO/E.9

Robert Henry Stewart Thompson (1912–1998): travel journal of trip to Borneo and Indonesia, 1983 PP/RHT/A.3/10

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The Asian Collections in the Wellcome Library include significant holdings of relevance. The Chinese collection is rich in traditional medical texts, acupuncture charts and divinatory literature along with important non-medical material such as tribute albums depicting and describing ethnic groups within the Chinese Empire; from Japan, both traditional medical texts as well as early western medical texts are preserved. The Tibetan collection contains many manuscripts and xylographs. There are also holdings in Korean, Manchu, and a few in languages of ethnic minorities within China. The Hervey Malay collection comprises the record made during the second half of the 19th century for an official in the British Straits Civil Service of various plants, ethnobiological information and customs relating to the area. The collection of Batak and Javanese manuscripts written on bamboo, bones, palm leaves and tree bark is the largest in the UK. There are Thai manuscripts relating to Buddhism as well as texts concerning medicine, astrology, and divination. Further information may be found by contacting AsianCollections@wellcome.ac.uk.