Robert Kennaway Douglas

Sir Robert Kennaway Douglas was a British oriental scholar.

Early life

He was born at Larkbeare House, Talaton, Devon on 23 August 1838, the fourth son of the Rev. Philip William Douglas. His father was appointed to the Chapel of ease at Escot, Ottery St. Mary, Devon, by Sir John Kennaway, Bart. His paternal grandfather was Dr. Philip Douglas, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
Douglas attended Blandford Grammar School.

Career

Douglas was in China with the consular service, from 1858 to 1865. He then became Professor of Chinese at King's College, London.
He was vice president of the Royal Asiatic Society, and the first Keeper of the British Museum's new Department of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts when it was created in 1892. He was knighted in 1903 and died a decade later, on 20 May 1913.
During the 1890s Douglas collaborated on short stories with Elizabeth Thomasina Meade. He wrote articles for the Dictionary of National Biography and for the Ninth Edition, Tenth Edition and Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, the latter including a long article on "China" and articles on Chinese cities and an article on Genghis Khan.

Personal life

In August 1867 at St. Leonards, Douglas was married to Rachel Charlotte Kirkby Fenton, a daughter of Kirkby Fenton of Caldecott Hall, Warwickshire. Among their children were:

Archibald Philip Douglas, the Deputy Director of General Ordnance in India; he married Helen Dunsterville, a daughter of Col. Knightley Dunsterville, in 1895.
Robert Noel Douglas, a cricketer; he married Caroline Marie Auguste David, a daughter of Paul David of Uppingham, in 1904.
James Douglas, a cricketer and headmaster of Hillside School, Godalming.
Sholto Douglas, a cricketer who was killed in action during World War I.
Stuart Monro Douglas, a 2nd Lieutenant with the 8th Battalion Royal Fusiliers and Headmaster of Lutterworth Grammar School; he married Hope Toulmin Smith, daughter of Toulmin Smith of The Woodlands, Dulwich Common, in 1909.
Philip William Douglas, who was educated at Dulwich College Preparatory School and the Britannia.

Douglas died on 20 May 1913 and was buried at Acton Turville.

Works

Douglas wrote books on China, including:Catalogue of Japanese Printed Books and Manuscripts in the Library of the British Museum, London: British Museum, 1898Catalogue of the Printed Maps, Plans, and Charts in the British Museum, London: 1885China, New York, P. F. Collier and Son, 1913 ', London: W. H. Allen, 1889; London: Crosby Lockwood and Son, 1904 Chinese Stories. With Illustrations, London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1893; reprinted in revised edition: Singapore: Graham Brash, 1990

', London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1879 Europe and the Far East, 1506-1912 , Cambridge: University Press, 1913; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1913
The Language and Literature of China, Royal Institution lecturesThe Life of Jehghiz Khan Translated from the Chinese. With an Introduction, London: Trübner & Co., 1877, London: Bliss, Sand & Foster, 1895 Society in China : Illustrated from Photographs, London: Ward, Lock, & Co., 1901Supplementary Catalogue of Chinese Books and Manuscripts in the British Museum, London: Longmans & Co., 1903