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Charles William Bradley Papers

 Collection
Call Number: GEN MSS 325

Scope and Contents

Notes and correspondence kept by Charles William Bradley, circa 1841-1860. Notes chiefly pertain to Bradley's study of the forenames and surnames in various nations. The remaining notes and correspondence pertain to his time in China (primarily Singapore) while an American consul--these notes relate to Chinese history, language, and climate.

Dates

  • circa 1841-1860

Creator

Language of Materials

Materials in English, German, French, and Chinese.

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Charles William Bradley Papers is the physical property of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the appropriate curator.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Source unknown.

Extent

2.50 Linear Feet (6 boxes)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/beinecke.cwbradley

Abstract

Notes and correspondence kept by Charles William Bradley, circa 1841-1860. Notes chiefly pertain to Bradley's study of the forenames and surnames in various nations. The remaining notes and correspondence pertain to his time in China (primarily Singapore) while an American consul--these notes relate to Chinese history, language, and climate.

Biographical / Historical

Charles William Bradley (1809-1865) (Yale MA 1846), American diplomat and Sinologist. He was a rector of Episcopal parishes in North Haven, East Haddam, Sharon, and Derby, Connecticut, for ten years prior to serving as Secretary of State for Connecticut from 1846 to 1847.

Bradley later served in China as an American consul at Amoy (also known as Xiamen) (1849-1854), Singapore (1854-1857), and Ningbo (1857-1860). In 1859 he was the senior member of the Commission on American Claims against the Chinese Government. Bradley resigned from his service with the United States Government in 1860 and became an assistant in the Imperial Chinese Customs in Hankou until 1863.

Processing Information

Collections are processed to a variety of levels, depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived research value, the availability of staff, competing priorities, and whether or not further accruals are expected. The library attempts to provide a basic level of preservation and access for all collections, and does more extensive processing of higher priority collections as time and resources permit.

These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards. For more information, please refer to the Beinecke Manuscript Unit Processing Manual.

Finding aid reflects arrangement of collection established prior to April 2022, when finding aid was created and additional materials (Box 6) were added.

Former call numbers: MS Vault Bradley, Z36 038, Z36 039.

Title
Guide to the Charles William Bradley Papers
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Lerner
Date
April 2022
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.

Part of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Repository

Contact:
P. O. Box 208330
New Haven CT 06520-8330 US
(203) 432-2977

Location

121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT 06511

Opening Hours

Access Information

The Beinecke Library is open to all Yale University students and faculty, and visiting researchers whose work requires use of its special collections. You will need to bring appropriate photo ID the first time you register. Beinecke is a non-circulating, closed stack library. Paging is done by library staff during business hours. You can request collection material online at least two business days in advance of your visit, using the request links in Archives at Yale. For more information, please see Planning Your Research Visit and consult the Reading Room Policies prior to visiting the library.