Collection ID: 0002 | Metadata type: TEI | TEI XML | Data

Title

Robert Suggate journal and commonplace book, 1874-1878.

Authors

• Suggate, Robert, 1806-1878.

Call number

Ms. Coll. 831
(Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania)

Publisher

University of Pennsylvania

Language

Primary language: English.

Origin

Date

From 1874 to 1878

Place

England
China

Summary

This leather-bound, paginated memoir and commonplace book, which the author calls "My rough log very roughly kept," was written by Robert Suggate between 1874 and 1878. It is reconstructed from his memory and from a deteriorated journal that he kept on his voyage to China from 1830 to 1831. The volume includes copied poems; articles tipped in or fully pasted in; descriptive passages of islands and cities from Suggate's trip to Asia and of towns in England; and a detailed table of contents. Suggate describes his childhood, his fascination with the sea and fishing, and how his father brought him to Yarmouth, England where Suggate embarked on his first voyage on a small ship delivering flour to London. In 1830 Suggate boards an East India Company merchant ship named the William Lowther sailing for China to acquire a cargo of tea. Suggate records his experiences with the crew and describes the ocean, including such inhabitants as flying fish and jellyfish. He records an induction ritual, called the Neptune ceremony, for first-time sailors crossing the equatorial line. Suggate gives detailed descriptions of his encounters with the Chinese and discusses his excursion into the city of Canton, which was banned to foreigners. He also observes clothing and cultural symbols, in addition to witnessing a trade dispute between England and China as well as opium smuggling. Descriptive passages of islands and of cities and towns from his voyage follow the memoir, including a list of shells Suggate purchased on the trip. Continuing with his memoir, he explains that he gave up the life of a sailor in 1834 because he could not advance above ordinary seaman due to lack of navigational knowledge. Later in the volume are descriptions of towns and villages in England and recollections of events with his son Reginald. On pages 130-137 is the genealogical history of the Suggate family in another hand, possibly written by Reginald's stepson Herbert Frank Milne. In addition to the journal there is some correspondence from siblings of Robert Suggate, correspondence to and from Herbert Frank Milne, and memorabilia relating to the Suggate family.

Subjects topical

• English diaries--19th century--Specimens
• English diaries--Male authors
• Sailors--England--Diaires--19th century

Subjects geographic

• Guangzhou (China)--Description and travel--19th century
• England--Description and travel--19th century

Genres

• Diaries
• Commonplace books
• Geneologies
• Poems

Licenses

• Text

  These images and the content of University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Coll. 831: Robert Suggate journal and commonplace book, 1874-1878. are free of known copyright restrictions and in the public domain. See the Creative Commons Public Domain Mark page for usage details, http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/.

  URL

  http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

• Text

  Metadata is ©2014 University of Pennsylvania Libraries and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License version 4.0 (CC-BY-4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. For a description of the terms of use see the Creative Commons Deed https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

  URL

  https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode

Table of contents

• 2 — Poem
• 3 — My Rough Log
• 5 — Poem - the Outward Bound
• 7 — Poem - The Nautilus and the Ammonite
• 9 — Newspaper clipping - A Forgotten Hero
• 12 — Table of Contents
• 1 — Fifty Years Since or My Rough Log
• 10 — April 7, 1830
• 11 — Poem - Farewell to England
• 12 — April 27, 1830
• 13 — May 10-18, 1830
• 18 — May 25-26, 1830
• 18 — Neptune Ceremony - Crossing the Line
• 28 — Newspaper clipping
• 29 — June 6, 1830
• 30 — July 5, 1830
• 31 — July 20-August 6, 1830
• 32 — August 11, 1830
• 33 — August 15, 1830
• 34 — Canton
• 39 — December 6, 1830
• 40 — January 12-March 3, 1831
• fol. Note 1, 1r — Newspaper clipping
• 41 — March 15, 1831
• 42 — St. Helena
• 44 — Poem
• 46 — April 31-May 29, 1831
• 48 — Newspaper clipping
• 49 — [Notes explaining terms in the previous log]
• 55 — Song of the Seagull
• 67 — The Shells I bought at Anjer-point Anchorage on the Island of Java
• fol. Note 2, 1r — Newspaper clipping
• 80 — From Newcastle by Land
• 84 — Poem - A New Nightmare
• 101 [=100 — Excursion to Tunbridge Wells
• 104 [=103 — Poem - The Pelican Island
• 116 — Poem - Dear Mother's Work-Basket
• 119 — Continuation of the Rough Log
• 121 — London to Yarmouth, 1832
• 130 — A Short account of Suggate's family
• Loose note 4, Side 1 — Newspaper clipping