IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0102 MS 380570
Held at: School of Oriental and African Studies
Title: Tocher, Rev Forbes Scott
Date(s): 1927-1973
Level of description: Collection (fonds)
Extent: 1 file
Name of creator(s): Tocher | Forbes Scott | 1885-1973 | missionary
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born, 1885; educated at Fordyce Academy; MA, Aberdeen University, 1906; BD, Edinburgh University, 1909; ordained in the Church of Scotland; missionary for the Church of Scotland Mission at Ichang, China, 1909-1915; served in the Royal Field Artillery, firstly as a gunner and later as commissioned officer, 1916-1919; awarded the Military Cross; returned to serve at Ichang, 1920; awarded the CBE as a result of assistance given to Captain Lalor of the Butterfield and Swire ship Siangtan, managing to negotiate Lalor's release after he was captured by pirates (1927), 1928; the events were widely reported; honorary Doctor of Divinity, Aberdeen University, 1934; held by the Japanese at Shanghai, 1940; involved in relief work among destitute Britons in Shanghai, 1941-1942; interned in Lunghwa Civilian Assembly Centre, near Shanghai, 1943-1945; returned to work at Ichang, 1945-1948; minister of the parish of Botriphnie, Banffshire, 1948-1955; died, 1973.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers, 1927-1973, concerning the Rev Forbes Tocher, comprising manuscript letter from George Wilson to Mrs Tocher concerning the Lalor case, 1927; typescript letter from Butterfield and Swire, Shanghai, to Forbes Tocher thanking him for his help in releasing Captain Lalor, 1928; undated press cutting announcing the award to Tocher of the CBE, following his release of Captain Lalor, and giving an account of the events [1928]; photocopy of undated notes by Tocher concerning his work securing the release of Captain Lalor in 1927; press cuttings from Scottish newspapers on celebrations to commemorate Tocher's 55 years as a minister, giving accounts of his life and career, 1964; typescript copy of funeral oration to Tocher, 1973.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Conditions governing access:
Unrestricted.
Conditions governing reproduction:
No publication without written permission. Apply to archivist in the first instance.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Database.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
Presented by the Rev Forbes Tocher's daughter, via John Swire and Sons, in 1992.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
The School of Oriental and African Studies holds the records of John Swire and Sons Ltd (Ref: JSS), including information on related companies, among them Butterfield and Swire.
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project. Source: Who Was Who.
Rules or conventions: Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Date(s) of descriptions: Jul 2002