A collection of 90  letters written by Dr William Harland MD (1787-1866)his fiance Anne Peirson and his son Aurelius Harland MD of Hong Kong

Dr William Harland MD
 

  Together with the letters of their eldest son, Aurelius Harland (1822-1857) of Hong Kong
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These letters are a unique primary source of information related to the industrial revolution in Britain and also the early days of British rule in Hong Kong.  The Harland family lived in Scarborough England, during its heyday as a Spa town.  The North East of England, was the Silicon Valley of the Victorian era. The Scarborough Philosphical Society was a hive of intellectual activity.  Its members included William Smith the geologist who discovered the link between fossil remains and the age of the earth, Dr William Harland  was a pioneer in the development of the steam engines, having built and patented a steam powered road car in 1828. This car had a multitube boiler and a model was tested in Scarborough where it ascended a steep hill at great speed.

  He was a friend of George Stephenson inventor of the steam railway, having met him in the Killingworth mine in 1818, which he describes in one of the letters.  As a result of this friendship, his son Edward Harland, the founder of Harland and Wolff, the shipbuilders, became an apprentice at the Stephenson company. Edward was responsible for the revolutionary change in design of steam ships,  from the bulbous prow, to the the long narrow steamers, which culminated in the Titanic, built by Harland & Wolff after this death.  At the same time, Sir George Caley pioneered  aeronautical research and developed the physics of flight and successfully flew a man carrying glider in 1853.

His work was acknowledged  by the Wright brothers in designing their pioneering aeroplane. He also tested streamlined canon shells and was responsible for the spoked bicycle wheel.  His cousin Arthur Caley, Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge devised the mathematics of vectors. Captain Cook was born in Whitby, north of Scarborough and Harrison was making his chronometers in Leeds.

    W.Aurelius Harland, emigrated to Hong Kong in 1847 as he made an imprudent marriage to a servant girl. He worked as a surgeon at the Seaman's Hospital.  His letters describe his medical work - he was the first to practice Chloroform anaesthesia there in 1848.  A friend of Karl Gutzlaff, he learned Chinese and may have written  a significant portion of the Bowu xinbian one of the first books describing western technology in Chinese which was  published in 1855 by Benjamin Hobson. He may be regarded as one of the pioneers in introducing Western science and technology to China. In addition, he wrote papers in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society on Chinese anatomy and physiology and reviewed the Chinese textbook on jurisprudence - "The washing away of wrongs" , which he believed was 300 years ahead of European practice. He was also a keen botanist and with his friend Henry Hance, collected and classified many Chinese plants. He became  Colonial Surgeon but died at the early age of 36 and is buried in the Colonial cemetery in Happy Valley.
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    The letters have been transcribed and will be published separately, together with a commentary written by Dr Erasmus Harland, the present owner. .
    The commentary also includes an account of the career of Edward Harland, (1831-1895) founder of Harland & Wolff, the shipbuilders written by himself.  This documents the revolution in the design of steam ships, which culminated the SS Titanic built by his company after his death.

 
The autobiography of Sir Edward Harland as published in Samuel Smiles Men of Invention. The letters are now in the possession of the Wellcome Institute for history of medicine in London 

One of Anne's letters from Scarborough to William Harland in Edinburgh

Aurelius's letter to Mary, his sister 22 April 1850

For further details contact Erasmus Harland
  Erasmus Harland
Sothebys of London