Two people were mentioned that will add some herbs to my narrative; Henry William Dent, barrister and Consul in Shanghai who advised Smythe to go to Japan until the passage of the Cholera season and Rev. Dr. John Morton Beaumont of China who had a grand piano at Foochow-Foo (as it was then spelled) and who played it very well by all accounts. I also learned that they met Agostino Robbio in Hong Kong which I did not know.
Lucy Escott came up for auction on Ebay but alas I cannot afford her at the moment so another bit of our visual history leaves our shores.
Maybe you'll find this interesting: Smythe was in New Zealand in 1883 and met (in J.F. Archibald's company) with Livingston Hopkins who was on his way from America to Australia to join The Bulletin (see "Lone Hand" May 1, 1914 pp 397,435).
ReplyDeleteI shall look that up!
ReplyDeleteHello! Thank you for sharing very interesting stories, you are a passionate writer!
ReplyDeleteI am researching Signor Robbio and want to know about his Japan tour. I wonder if you could help me to read "interview with Smythe"?