James Hardie-Douglas

Click here to 
Print this page

Biography finder

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

 

 

Index of first names

James Hardie-Douglas   Jerzy Hardie-Douglas  

 


This page is a stub.  You can help improve it.


James Hardie-Douglas was the Polish ambassador in China in 1910.


Hardie-Douglas family derive from Scottish settlers who came to polish Gdansk in XVIIth century.

James Hardie-Douglas, the Polish Ambassador in China(1) in 1910, had a brother, Edward, a sister Sophia and two further siblings.

It appears the Zophia (Sophia) married Mr Januszewska. This is probably Jeszy Januszewska (or Januszewski) who was co-author of testimony 301-6045; during the occupation a member of the Resistance Movement, collaborated with the Jewish Military Union (ZZW), in charge of the 'Passport Section', where Waclaw Kosek was active, which was confirmed by Janusewski in his testimony; at the moment of writing a member of the Society of Fighters for Freedom and Democracy (Zwiazek Bojownikow o Wolnosc i Demokracje, ZBoWiD), lived at Grochowska Street No. 240, flat 99 in Warsaw.  I have found no children from this marriage.

James married Anastazja Kochalewicz and they had 3 children, Joanna, Irena and Jakub who all married and had children.

James's grandson, Jerzy Hardie-Douglas is Mayor of Szczecinka.

Additional information:

James Douglas, McPherson(?) (born September 7, 1878 in Ukraine , died December 4, 1956) - Polish consular official and socialist activist.


A Pole of Scottish origin, whose ancestor was brought in in the mid-nineteenth century to start a sugar factory in Ukraine. He attended the 5th Junior High School in Kiev. In 1904 he stayed in Japan, performing the duties of a correspondent for the Lviv newspaper "Word Polskie" and carrying out, together with Józef Piłsudski and Tytus Filipowicz, the tasks of the PPS (Polish Socialist Party). He made the war campaign of World War I in the 1st Artillery Regiment of the Polish Legions (1914–1918).

In the interwar period, he worked in the Polish foreign service, incl. as the consul of the Republic of Poland in Harbin (1931–1933).

Orders and decorations
Independence Cross (August 2, 1931)
Cross of Valor (twice)
Golden Cross of Merit (June 28, 1939)

Notes:
1.  As far as I can tell, there was no Polish embassy in China in 1910. Probably the Consul in Harbin, China 1931-1933 - or is this his son?
2. The city of Harbin in north-eastern China was co-founded around 120 years ago by Polish engineers who built the Chinese Eastern Railway. However, traces of this several thousand strong community have been disappearing quickly in recent years, which is why scientists want to document them.

Polish workers came to Manchuria at the turn of the 20th century. Tsarist Russia was buildig the Chinese Eastern Railway, which is a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Alongside the Chinese and Russians, there were many engineers, technicians and workers from Poland. They were refugees, specialists, as well as people looking for a better place to live, including the intelligentsia.

The Polish community concentrated in the city of Harbin - the area for development was selected and plans for the city drawn by Eng. Adam Szydlowski - it was in his opinion the perfect place to reload goods due to the favourable location near the Sungari River. Earlier there was a village with the same name. According to one of the translations, Harbin in Manchurian means "a place of drying nets", which indicates that it was a fishing village. Currently, the city is one of the largest urban centres of Manchuria, a region in north-eastern China.

I can find no evidence that there was a Polish embassy in China in 1910, but a building of the Association "Gospoda Polska" at Glucha Street in Harbin was built with the contributions of the Polish community as a company with shares in the years 1912-1914. It housed a theatre stage, a primary school, clubs and associations, and in the years 1920-1936 it housed the consulate of the Second Republic of Poland on the top floor. The picture from 1932 shows members of the Polish Youth Association.




 

Sources

 

Sources for this article include:

•  Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland.



Any contributions will be gratefully accepted





 

Back to top

 



The content of this website is a collection of materials gathered from a variety of sources, some of it unedited.

The webmaster does not intend to claim authorship, but gives credit to the originators for their work.

As work progresses, some of the content may be re-written and presented in a unique format, to which we would then be able to claim ownership.

Discussion and contributions from those more knowledgeable is welcome.

Contact Us

Last modified: Monday, 25 March 2024