John Bishop King: diary 1855-1866

Diary kept by J.B. King, 1855-1866.

Initially detailed; when King arrives in Penang it becomes terser and records primarily the patients seen, with only hints on his private life.

636pp., most pages numbered by King, a few at the start not numbered by him and now given the numbers i-v; also one inserted sheet, given page numbers ia-b; material on pp.532-631 is upside-down, begun at the other end of the book.

Inside endpapers: cutting of advertisement from Smith, Elder & Co. concerning technicalities of returning to England from the East.

pp.i-ii: miscellaneous notes, including calculations of exchange rates, list of the children of G.W. King (apparently J.B. King's brother) and the music to the song "The Irish Emigrant".

pp.iii-iv: blank.

pp.v and 1 abstracts of letters to J.B. King.

p.2 blank.

pp.3-4 miscellaneous notes, including quotations pasted in (possibly preserved as examples of various people's handwriting).

p.5 notes of positions on sea voyage.

p.6 blank.

pp.7-531 diary, covering voyage from London to Calcutta in 1855 (pp.7-25); period in India, including travelling from Calcutta to Allahabad and back (pp.26-55); journey to Penang in 1856 (p.55-58); life in Penang (pp.58-66); another journey to India, taking in Calcutta, Dinapore, Patna and Barrackpore (pp.66-90); and life in Penang again (pp.90-531). Inset are diagrams of knots and signal flags (pp.11-13), lists letters of introduction (pp.26-27) and of people in Penang (pp.59, 92 and 336-337), notes on managing a horse (p.69), a list of birthdays and notable dates (pp.258-260), photographs of various people, chiefly the King family (including G.W. King and C.M. King, possibly J.B. King's brother and sister) (pp.261-265, 277, 279, 287 and 299), recipes (pp.266-269) and climate statistics for Penang, 1857-1864 (pp.270-276 and 281-285). Initially inset between pp.482-483 was a design for a headstone for his father, placed at the date of his father's death (now held as MS. 7632/1).

Pp.278, 280, 286 and 288-289 blank. pp.532-625 various accounts, laundry lists, lists of books read, and abstracts and lists of letters sent and received.

pp.626-629 blank.

pp.630-631 miscellaneous notes including a list of G.W. King's children, with the dates of their christenings and names of their godparents.