Kita Lecture
Lews Castle College, Stornoway
29th August 2006
As most of you will be aware, James Matheson of the Jardine Matheson Corporation, purchased Lewis in 1844 with the fortune he made from the opium trade, and went on to build Lews Castle.
His company, which he founded with William Jardine in 1832, was the first trading company to establish operations in Japan after the country began to open up to the outside world. Their first office opened in Nagasaki as early as 1858, and Thomas Blake Glover then joined the company a year later.
Many Japanese people often credit Glover as the founding father of modern Japan and he also contributed to the smuggling out of young samurai so they could visit and study in Scotland and the rest of the UK. The most famous of these illegal people smuggling exercises was the so-called Choshu Five in 1863.
I recently discovered that before and after this smuggling, there had been correspondence between Thomas Blake Glover and the Jardine Matheson Corporation back in the UK, to inform them of the latest political situation. Then, after Glover received a formal request from the Choshu Five to be smuggled out of Japan, he approached the Corporation with a request for assistance. They provided a ship that spirited the young rebels over the sea to Shanghai, and from there to London. Glover and the Jardine Matheson Corporation involved themselves in this operation, even though it was an activity punishable by death at the time. The Jardine Matheson connection continued even after the Choshu Five had arrived in London, as Hugh Mackay Matheson, nephew of the founder and General Manager of the London branch, took the young Japanese men under his wing, and helped them to adapt to their new country.
One of the 5 members of the group later became the first Japanese Prime Minister and another became the first Foreign Minister, later to become Prime Minister.
I am happy to announce that a new film on the Choshu Five has been made with the assistance of the British Embassy in Tokyo and Yamaguchi Prefecture. The film was previewed in May in the residence of the British Embassy and will be shown in film theatres next spring.
I have learned much from the study of the historical bilateral relationship enjoyed between our two countries and I hope it has inspired you to seek out further information on this important link.