Reference
  • 2005/068
Archive collection
  • British Empire & Commonwealth
Level of description
  • Collection
Date
  • 1910-1940
Description
  • Catalogued material in this collection includes photographs of the Forshaw family in Shanghai and Hong Kong between 1910-1940. Much of the material is domestic but it also includes images of Shanghai under siege in August 1937 and the evacuation of westerners to Hong Kong. Later photographic and film material is as yet uncatalogued. Also catalogued are the films taken by Michael Forshaw and his wife during their time in Thailand, Sudan and Malaysia. This catalogue was produced with support from the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art.
Extent and medium
  • 5 boxes
Creator
Biographical history
  • George Frederick Cavendish Forshaw was born in Lancashire in 1882. An architect by profession, he went to Shanghai in 1908. Few details have been recorded of his career, but he worked at some point for the Consular Service, and later as a merchant. By the 1930s he was working in an engineering role for the Asiatic Petroleum Company, situated on the Bund in Shanghai. George was widowed in 1910 when his eldest daughter Dorothy was a baby. He married Margaret in 1916 and they went on to have four more children - Joan, Pat, Michael and Barbara. They lived in Rue Ratard in the International Settlement and had a beach house in Beidaihe. After being temporarily evacuated to Hong Kong during the Battle of Shanghai they returned to their home, but left for good in 1940. He died in Dorset in 1948. George's son Michael was born in Lancashire in 1921 during a period of home leave from Shanghai. He returned to the UK aged 15, presumably to further his education, and later worked for Shell in the Far East until returning to the UK in 1975. He died in 2011.
Access status
  • Open
Access conditions
  • None