From the National Archives of Scotland
Document of the month (August)
This is
unconventional. Instead of paper or parchment as you
would expect, an item of clothing has been selected
from the National Archives' 'Objects' series
(reference RH19/81). As you will see, even shirts can
carry potentially vital information.
In 1860, the Earl of Elgin was sent by the British
Government with 15,000 men and 200 ships to enforce the
treaty of Tientsin (1858) between Britain and China. This
treaty had been agreed as an end to the so-called Opium
Wars between the two countries.
However, the Chinese Emperor refused to ratify the
treaty and Elgin's mission was designed to confirm this
ratification by force. The advance party, including Elgin's
attaché Henry B. Loch, was captured and held hostage by the
Chinese.
They suffered considerably in prison. Handcuffed and
beaten with their faces rubbed into the ground, they were
kept shackled, under constant threat of execution (some of
the party, including a London
Times journalist, Bowlby, did not survive).
However, during his captivity, Loch was allowed to receive
various packages from the British forces encamped near
Peking.
Among the items he received was a shirt upon which
Hindustani lettering had been stitched. This Indian message
gave details of a proposed British attack on the area where
Loch was held. Clearly, Loch, who could read Hindustani
(one assumes that his Chinese captors could not), was to
use the information contained in the patterns on the shirt
to plan his escape. In fact, a negotiated release was
achieved before any escape plan was required. Almost 50
years later, Loch's widow received a letter from the man
who had sat up one night 'missing his dinner' stitching the
symbols on the shirt. The Hindustani lettering is still
visible on the shirtfront near a side seam.
Both the shirt and the letter are now held in the
National Archives of Scotland as part of the Loch
Muniments. This material represents the personal papers of
James Loch (1780 - 1855) and Henry Brougham Loch
(1827-1900) who were father and son.
Their involvement with the expanding British Empire on
several continents produced a wide-ranging collection of
manuscript material that gives an insight into the
operation of British Foreign policy in the 19
th century. After his dramatic imprisonment in
China, Henry went on to become Governor of the Australian
colony of Victoria and then the Cape. Lady Loch kindly
gifted the collection to the National Archives of Scotland
in 1995.
Previous Documents of the Month
May
Treaty of Perpetual Peace
June
Register of Sasines
July
Architectural sketch of seaside shelter
National Archives of Scotland is the agency of the Scottish Executive which
preserves the records of the Scottish nation.
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