This dataset was created from a Register of the Outdoor Staff who served in the Customs Service at Shanghai. The outdoor staff, largely drawn from the Merchant Navy, was the branch of the Customs that dealt with the physical business of examining ships and their cargoes. This register includes a richer set of information about 250 individuals who served in Shanghai in the late 1870s and up to about 1887. The original register is held in the Second Historical Archives of China, Nanjing, file number.
This dataset was prepared for the 2003-2007 Arts & Humanities Research Council funded project, ‘The History of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service’ by Dr Catherine Ladds.