- Richard Henry Brunton
Richard Henry Brunton (
26 December 1841 -24 April 1901 )FRGS fromScotland was the so-called "Father of Japaneselighthouse s". Brunton was born inMuchalls ,Kincardineshire ,Scotland . [ [http://www.fownc.org/newsletters/no42.shtml Centenary memorial service for Richard Henry Brunton] ] He was employed by the Japanese Government as ano-yatoi gaikokujin to build lighthouses in Japan.Early life
Brunton was born in the Coastguard House (now 11 Marine Terrace) at
Muchalls ,Fetteresso in The Mearns. After training as arailway engineer he joined the Stevenson brothers (David andThomas Stevenson ) who were engaged by theBritish government to buildlighthouse s.Career
Life in Japan
Under pressure from British ambassador Sir
Harry Parkes to fulfil its obligations to make the waters and harbors of Japan safe for shipping, the Japanese government hired theEdinburgh -based firm of D. and T. Stevenson to chart coastal waters and to build lighthouses where appropriate. The project had already begun under French foreign advisorLéonce Verny , but was not proceeding fast enough for the British. Brunton was sent from Edinburgh in August 1868 to head the project after being recommended to the Japanese government by the Stevensons, and over seven and a half years designed and supervised the building of 26 Japanese lighthouses in the Western style, along with twolightvessel s. (There had been Japanese lighthouses before then, but they were short and squat buildings, such as the old Shirasu lighthouse now in the grounds ofKokura castle inKitakyushu .) Brunton was accompanied by his wife and two assistants.Brunton also established a system of
lighthouse keeper s, modeled on theNorthern Lighthouse Board in Scotland.He was consulted on other engineering projects, and significantly contributed to the waterworks and harbour design in
Yokohama , where he is remembered by a commemorative statue. He also helped found Japan's first school of civil engineering.Return to Britain
After disgreeing with Japanese officials he left Japan in March, 1876, later receiving a prize for his paper "Japan Lights".
On his return he first set up in
Glasgow for Young'sParaffin Oil, before moving to SouthLondon in 1881 making architectural plasterwork, where he remained until his death. He is buried inWest Norwood Cemetery , where his marble memorial there was restored byYokohama Chamber of Commerce in 1991.List of Brunton's Japanese Lighthouses
The names of the 26 lighthouses (Brunton's "children") constructed by Brunton, in order of north to south, and the names of their present locations after mergers of towns etc.
# Nosappumisaki,
Nemuro, Hokkaidō , illuminated15 August 1872
#Shiriyazaki ,Higashidori, Aomori , illuminated20 October 1876
# Kinkazan.Ishinomaki, Miyagi , illuminated1 November 1876
#Inubohsaki ,Choshi, Chiba , illuminated15 November 1874
#Haneda ,Ota, Tokyo , illuminated15 March 1875 , now extinguished
#Tsurugigasaki ,Miura, Kanagawa , illuminated1 March 1871
#Mikomotoshima ,Shimoda, Shizuoka , illuminated1 January 1870
#Irozaki ,Minamiizu, Shizuoka , illuminated5 October 1871
#Omaezaki .Omaezaki, Shizuoka , illuminated1 May 1874
#Sugashima ,Toba, Mie , illuminated1 July 1873
#Anorisaki ,Ago, Mie , illuminated1 April 1873
#Tenpōzan ,Minato-ku, Osaka , illuminated1 October 1872 , extinguished
#Wadamisaki ,Suma-ku, Kobe , illuminated1 October 1872 , extinguished
# Esaki,Awaji, Hyogo , illuminated27 April 1871
#Kashinozaki ,Kushimoto, Wakayama , illuminated8 July 1870
#Shionomisaki ,Kushimoto, Wakayama , illuminated15 September 1873
#Tomogashima ,Wakayama, Wakayama , illuminated1 August 1872
#Mutsurejima ,Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi , illuminated1 January 1872
#Tsunoshima ,Shimonoseki, Yamaguchi , illuminated1 March 1876
#Tsurishima ,Matsuyama, Ehime , illuminated15 June 1873
#Nabeshima ,Sakaide, Kagawa , illuminated15 December 1872 (now at Shikoku-mura)
#Hesaki ,Kitakyushu ,Fukuoka prefecture , illuminated1 March 1872
#Shirasu ,Kitakyushu ,Fukuoka prefecture , illuminated1 September 1873
#Eboshijima .Shima, Fukuoka , illuminated1 August 1875
#Iojimazaki ,Nagasaki, Nagasaki , illuminated14 September 1871
# Satamizaki,Minamiosumi, Kagoshima , illuminated30 November 1871 Memoir
Brunton wrote a memoir of his time in Japan, titled "Pioneer Engineering in Japan: A Record of Work in helping to Re-Lay the Foundations of Japanese Empire (1868-1876)". However, it was not published until the 1990s, when it was printed by separate publishers under two different names: "Building Japan 1868-1876" and "Schoolmaster to an Empire: Richard Henry Brunton in Meiji Japan, 1868-1876". (See below.)
The former, containing the text (with some modified spellings) as edited by
William Elliot Griffis at the turn of the twentieth century, contains plates with photos and illustrations. The latter however, purports to be based on a manuscript predating the heavy editing of Griffis, while retaining updated versions of Griffis's footnotes.*"Building Japan 1868-1876" by Richard Henry Brunton with an introduction by
Hugh Cortazzi , Japan Library Limited, 1991, ISBN 1-873410-05-0*"Schoolmaster to an Empire" by R. Henry Brunton, edited by Edward R. Beauchamp, Greenwood Press, 1991, ISBN 0-313-27795-8
ee also
*
Anglo-Japanese relations
*Thomas Blake Glover
*Alexander Cameron Sim Reference line notes
External links
* [http://weblog.brunton.org.uk/archives/2004/11/richard_henry_b.html Richard Henry Brunton] from a blog by a namesake
* [http://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/04kanku/shokai/todai/suga.html Site for Sugashima Light (Japanese) with photos]
* [http://www.pref.shizuoka.jp/j-no1/mikomotojima.htm Site for Mikomotoshima Light (Japanese) with photos]
* [http://www.yado.co.jp/kankou/yamaguti/shimonoseki/mutsurejima/index.htm Site for Mutsurejima Light (Japanese), with photos]
* [http://www.yado.co.jp/tiiki/kitakyu/hesakitoudai/index.htm Site for Hesaki light (Japanese) with photos]
* [http://www.kaiho.mlit.go.jp/07kanku/karatsu/00top/topics/eboshi/eboshi130.html Site for Eboshijima Light (Japanese), with photos]
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