Sir John Fitzgerald BrenanKCMG (29 July 1883 to 11 January 1953),was a British diplomat in China who served as British Consul General in Shanghai in the 1930s.
Brenan was from a family of diplomats with English and Irish heritage. He was born in 1883 in Newchwang (now Yingkou),China. His father,Edward Vincent Brenan,worked for many years in Chinese Maritime Customs Service. His uncle Byron Brenan was also the British Consul General in Shanghai from 1899 to 1901. His brothers were also diplomats.
Between 1926 and 1929,he served as British Consul General in Canton (now Guangzhou). He was involved in seeking to resolve the Canton–Hong Kong strike and worked actively to improve the bilateral relations between China and Britain and China and Hong Kong. He arranged for the Governor of Hong Kong,Sir Cecil Clementi's official visit to Canton in 1928.
Between 1930 and 1937,he served as British Consul General in Shanghai. He took a position of goodwill towards China and helped mediate during the 1932 January 28 incident conflict between China and Japan. He made a knight in the same year. The British position in Shanghai was repeatedly attacked by the Japanese in the mid-thirties and not long after left the post in Shanghai,in July 1937 Japan instigated the Marco Polo Bridge Incident,marking the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War.
After returning to Britain,Brenan served as a Chinese affairs adviser to the Foreign Office. With regard to the future of Hong Kong,he proposed during World War II that Britain give up sovereignty,but his view was strongly opposed by Colonial Office,and the Foreign Office did not take his view seriously. Brenan officially retired in 1943,ending his 40-year diplomatic career. He died of illness in Royal Tunbridge Wells in 1953,at the age of 69.
English reference materials
"Deaths",North China Herald,11 October 1889,p.1.
The North China Herald,17 July 1901.
Descent and Alliances of Croslegh:or Crossle,or Crossley,of Scaitcliffe;and Coddington of Oldbridge;and Evans,of Eyton Hall. The De La More Press,1904.
"Obituary:BRENAN,SIR JOHN FITZGERALD,K.C.M.G.",The Foreign Office List and Diplomatic and Consular Year Book. Great Britain:Foreign Office;Harrison and sons,1954.
Lowe,Peter,Great Britain and the Origins of the Pacific War:A Study of British Policy in East Asia,1937-1941. Oxford:Clarendon Press,1977. ISBN978-0-19822-427-3
Gillies, Donald, Radical Diplomat: The Life of Sir Archibald Clark Kerr, Lord Inverchapel, 1882-1951. London: I. B. Tauris, 1999. ISBN978-1-86064-296-8
"Brenan, Byron", Who was Who. London: A. & C. Black, retrieved on 26 August 2018. (Electronic version. Subscription via the Wikipedia Library)
"Brenan, (Edward Fitz-) Gerald", Who was Who. London: A. & C. Black, retrieved on 26 August 2018. (Electronic version. Subscription via the Wikipedia Library)
"Brenan, Sir John (Fitzgerald)", Who was Who. London: A. & C. Black, retrieved on 26 August 2018. (Electronic version. Subscription via the Wikipedia Library)
"Brenan, Terence Vincent", Who was Who. London: A. & C. Black, retrieved on 26 August 2018. (Electronic version. Subscription via the Wikipedia Library)
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Byron Brenan CMG,, was a British diplomat who served in China from 1866. His last position before retirement was as British Consul General in Shanghai from 1899 to 1901.
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