Deputy Minister for Customs,Canton China.

[gereon]

Hope someone can help with how I can access information about a family member who held the above position at the time of his death,29th Nov 1918.His name was Campbell Alexander mcAllum,born 1867,Castle Ward Newcastle on Tyne.His address at the time of his death was "Summer Hill" Ilkley,Yorkshire.Campbell was born Christian A McAllum,I have no idea why he changed it to Campbell.Any help greatly appreciated.Gereon.

[JAP]

Hello gereon,

I suppose you've seen the entry on the UK National Archives?

"Foreign Office: Supreme Court, Shanghai, China: Probate Records FO 917/2015
McAllum, Campbell Alexander . McAllum, Campbell Alexander Administration and Probate of Estates and Wills Foreign Office: Supreme Court, Shanghai, China: Probate Records The National Archives, Kew
Date: 1918.
                                                                              Source: The Catalogue of The National Archives"

JAP

[gereon]

Hello there JAP .No I hadnt checked the National Archives,is that the actual entry?I did obtain from them last year a copy of a letter from John Wesley to my Rev.Duncan McAllum,(my 4th Great grandfather)it was quite a costly exercise with our exchange rate.From my census lookup request on the West Yorkshire Board,it seems there is no record of Campbell.I have found though I dont know if it refers to Campbell,an entry on a passenger list of McAllums, from the U.K; McAllum, M,no age or forename,1897,Departure port,London,Destination Country,China,Destination Port,Shanghai.Also on the BMD section of Ancestry,Mac Allum,Christian A,age 51,Wharfedale,9,A,327.Fourth quarter 1918.It seems that Campbell A .McAllums death was registered with his original forename.till not much to go on,any suggestions?Cheers.Gereon.

[JAP]

Hello gereon!  You do have some interesting people to chase up!  Yes, that's a direct quote - I've just gone back and put quotation marks around it (should have done so originally).  To find it, I just went to the 'search' section of
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
entered
campbell mcallum
in the search box and that's one of the two entries (the other irrelevant) which appeared.  I should also have entered (and have now) the reference given i.e. the Nat Arch catalogue.

It's interesting that his death was registered under his birth name (though the death notice which you've quoted elsewhere has him as Campbell).  Who was the informant?  I am wondering whether it was a family member who had grown up with him and knew him only by his birth name.  Or perhaps who didn't approve of his change of name    Unlike Lyle, who (if I recall correctly) was thought to have been registered as Eliza - but her death registered as Lyle.

Why would he have changed his name?  One thought I had was as follows - Christian was almost without exception a female given name (particularly in Scotland) in earlier days.  And, in the 1800s, many females christened Christian morphed into Christina during their lifetimes.  Perhaps he just wanted a first name which couldn't be confusing.

I see you've asked for a 1901 census lookup elsewhere.  I guess if he's the chap on the passenger list, he might well have been in China in 1901.  Have you found him on earlier censuses?

Regards,

JAP

[gereon]

Hi JAP ,thank you for your interesting reply.I have checked out National Archives and it seems that the original document relating to the probate of Campbell  A. McAllum is free to view at their office,in view of that I will order a copy for a small cost ,I hope!I wonder also ,why he changed his name from Christian?Could the fact he was going to China,influenced him?The McAllums were a Sept of the Campbells,and Christians third great grandfather was a tutor and Baille for the Duke of Argyll,(a Campbell whose name escapes me) about the 1750s.The only Census details I have are,1871,RG10/5137,folio 7,page 7,Northumberland,South Gosforth Gosforth Grove.This has, Christian A,son,4,b.North Gosforth.I am curious if there is a connection to Christians cousin Hugh Kirk McAllum who was a director of Charlton /McAllum Shipping which was registered 1st June 1892,perhaps their ships went to China.I need to look into all these things,but will definately get the probate document ordered over the weekend.Thanks for taking an interest in my McAllums.Gereon.

[JAP]

Hi again Gereon,

That's an interesting thought i.e. that he might have changed his name because of going to China - I don't know what the politico-religious situation was at the time but perhaps the name Christian could have been seen as making something of an "in your face" statement.

Here's a brief but interesting Wikipedia article on the Imperial Maritime Customs Service (1854-1949):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Maritime_Customs_Service
Inter alia it says that it was largely "staffed at senior levels by foreigners".

It gives a link to the following project which might perhaps have more information on Christian/Campbell:
http://www.bris.ac.uk/history/customs/
They even say "We'd like to hear from you if you have family ties to the Chinese Customs Service."

Regards,

JAP

[gereon]

Hi JAP,I have sent an enquiry to Bristol University and asked for an estimate for the probate documents,also as there were some family members who were Freemasons,I have contacted Grand Lodge in London to see if he was a member,it seems there were quite a few lodges in China and they may have been places where colonials and officials socialised..Will post any developements.Cheers.Gereon.

[ShaunJ]

Just checked the original image of that 1897 passenger list (The Rome bound for Shanghai and Sydney, dep London 4 November 1897). It is clearly Mr McAllum not M McAllum. All of the adult passengers are listed as either Miss, Mrs or Mr, with very few initials given.

[ShaunJ]

Here's a picture of the SS Rome http://www.clydesite.co.uk/clydebuilt/viewship.asp?id=15273