Thomas Chay Beale Explained

Thomas Chay Beale (13 December 1805 – 3 November 1857) was a Scottish merchant and diplomat operating in the East Asia during the 19th century. He was a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor and of the Portuguese Order of Christ.[1]

Biography

Chay Beale was a nephew of opium trader and merchant Daniel Beale and his brother Thomas Beale.[2] [3] As early as 1826, he was a partner in the trading firm of Magniac & Co. in Canton, China. In the 1830s he left Magniacs and operated on his own until 1845 when he established the Shanghai based agency house of Dent, Beale & Co. with Lancelot Dent. By 1851, Beale was Portuguese Consul and Dutch Vice Counsel in the city.[4]

He is buried in the Shantung Road Cemetery in Shanghai and there is a memorial to him in the church of St. Mary the Virgin in Brettenham, Suffolk.

Notes and References

  1. Deaths. 27 May 2018. The Gentleman's Magazine. R. Newton. February 1858. 225. en.
  2. Book: Le Pichon. Alain. China Trade and Empire: Jardine, Matheson & Co. and the Origins of British Rule in Hong Kong, 1827-1843. 2006. OUP/British Academy. 9780197263372. 93. 27 May 2018. en.
  3. Web site: Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau. May 31, 2011.
  4. Cranmer-Byng J.L. and Ride, Lindsay T., Journal of Occurrences at Canton 1839 [sic] in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch; Vol. 4 (1964) p. 37