Edward Colborne Baber

Edward Colborne Baber (30 April, 1843 - 16 June, 1890) was an English orientalist and traveller. Born at Dulwich, he studied at Rossall Junior School, Christ's Hospital and Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he graduated in 1867. Having learned Chinese, he started working at the British embassy in Beijing the same year, where he quickly advanced through the ranks. During his tenure he made three journeys to the interiour of China; one to the Burmese border in 1876, one to the Sichuan highlands the next year, and the last, in 1878, northwards through the mountains from Chongqing. His travels and discoveries were described in books, and in 1883 he received the Royal Geographical Society's patron's medal.

From 1885 to 1886, Baber acted as consul-general in Korea. Then he was appointed political resident at Bhamo on the upper Irrawaddy, where he died, unmarried, in 1890.

References

*Thomas Seccombe, "Baber, Edward Colborne (1843–1890)", rev. Janette Ryan, "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2006 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/964] accessed 2 Feb 2007