All Collections

Bowra, Edward Collection

The two albums in the Edward Bowra Collection were owned either by Edward Charles MacIntosh Bowra (1841-1874), sinologist and botanist, or by his son C.A.V. Bowra (1869-1947). Bowra, father and son, served in the Imperial/Chinese Maritime Customs. This significant collection was donated to the Royal Society for Asian Affairs (RSAA), London by Brigadier E.V. Bowra OBE. In 2016 the Society sold the albums at public auction; the album referenced by HPC as Bo02 is now owned by Terry Bennett. Many of the photographs were taken in Ningbo and vicinity, and in Beijing, in the late 1860s and 1870s. These include work by Major J. C. Watson, Charles Frederick Moore and John Thompson. We are grateful to the RSAA for permission to digitise these and make them available here. 199 images. HPC refs: Bo01 and Bo02.