Tsuru Glover
| Thomas Blake Glover | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
6 June 1838 Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland |
| Died | 16 December 1911 (aged 73) Tokyo, Japan |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Spouse(s) | Yamamura Tsuru |
Thomas Blake Glover (6 June 1838 – 16 December 1911) was a Scottish merchant in Bakumatsu and Meiji period Japan.
Thomas Blake Glover was born at 15 Commerce Street, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire in north east Scotland on 6 June 1838, the fifth of eight children to Thomas Berry Glover and Mary Findlay. His father was a coastguard officer. Six years later, the family moved to Bridge of Don, near Aberdeen, his father having been promoted to Chief Coastguard Officer. Upon leaving school, Glover entered into employment with the trading company Jardine Matheson. There is speculation that he may have been a Freemason. However, there is no evidence to support this claim, and the gate with the Freemason's insignia, which Gardiner and others cite as proof of some connection, was relocated to Glover Garden in the 1960s from the site of the former Masonic Lodge in Matsugae-machi. Also, none of the buildings in present-day Glover Garden have any historical link whatever with Freemasons.
What trading houses like Jardine Matheson were looking for were boys of high ambition who showed strength of character useful in negotiation and who were willing to spend years away from their families. In Thomas Blake’s case, the scouts may have been masons: one of the buildings in the Glover Garden complex is a masonic lodge, and there is a close system of business contacts running through his career. Jardine Matheson invited Thomas to interview sometime in early 1857 at the age of 18, and not long after he was posted to China.
The reason for Jardine Matheson’s appointing Thomas Blake Glover are not documented, even in their own records, and may have involved exotic handshakes. We don’t know.
In 1859, Glover crossed from Shanghai to Nagasaki and worked initially buying Japanese green tea. Two years later, he founded his own firm, Glover and Co. (Guraba-Shokai).
His business was based in Nagasaki, and it was here that he had his home constructed, the building that remains today as the oldest Western-style building in Japan.
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