[KS] William Richard Carles

[Brother Anthony]

W. R. Carles’s book "Life in Corea", published in 1888, is one of the very first books about the country based entirely on personal experience. It records how Carles made 2 visits to Korea from China, where he was working in the British Consular Service. The first was a private visit made in later 1883, then he was appointed Vice-Consul in Korea in April 1884 and served there until some time in 1885. He and William George Aston were the first European diplomats to reside in Korea for any length of time. Later in 1884, Carles was charged with making an exploration of the economic potential of the northern regions, which were still unexplored by any western power. This journey lasted from September 29 until November 7, 1884. 

But who was Carles? No detailed account of his life seems ever to have been published. I have composed a short outline biography based on records and materials available through the Internet. It can be read in my home page  http://hompi.sogang.ac.kr/anthony/Carles/WilliamRichardCarles.html   and that page includes links to a PDF file of the corrected scan of his "Life in Corea" as well as a PDF file of the text of his paper presented to the Royal Geographical Society in London early in 1886 and published in their journal that year. I would welcome any additional information about Carles that list members might be able to supply.

I hope this will interest the list members. The Royal Geographical Society paper and the Biography will be published in the forthcoming issue of Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch, due to be printed in the coming days.

Brother Anthony
President, RASKB etc