1858 - 1872
A rare letter from the Kinwun Mingyi to Clement Williams
people Kinwun Mingyi Clement Williams
Clement Williams is a very interesting figure in 19th century Burmese history. He first arrived in Burma in 1858 as an Assistant Surgeon in the British Army and went on to become the (British) Political Agent in Mandalay. He spoke Burmese fluently and impressed King Mindon, who came to regrd him as a friend. Within a year, however, he was replaced by his bitter rival Colonel Sladen.
Over the 1870s he lived in Rangoon as a businessman and an agent for British companies seeking commercial contracts in Mandalay. He also acted as an agent for King Mindon, buying capital goods in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for the King's efforts to establish modern industries in Mandalay.
The letter pictured here is part of a correspondence through which Williams bought and transported from Bristol an entire iron smelting plant. These projects are a reminder of the Mindon government's energetic drive to modernize what remained of the Burmese kingdom. Williams also assisted the Burmese embassy to the UK led by the Kinwun Mingyi in 1872. He died in Italy in 1879 after catching typhoid on a journey back to England.
Photo credit: David Strachey collection, Royal Ontario Museum
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