'The informal imperialist' on Britain and the opening up of Burma (Lunchtime talk by Ron Graham)

Link to the program recording here.

The story of a British army surgeon, political agent, photographer and businessman takes us into a fascinating period of Burmese colonial history. In 'The Informal Imperialist,' author Ron Graham examines the forces that drove mid-19th-century Burma into a new era.

Clement Williams was an army surgeon who became the first British agent in Mandalay in the 19th century, and subsequently a businessman there, gaining unparalleled access to the Court of King Mindon and the government. That access allowed him to take the earliest known photographs of Mandalay and historically unique portraits of court members.

Graham uses official diaries, legal disputes, commercial contracts, his travel book and Williams’s rare photographs to paint a vivid portrait of the ancient kingdom on the cusp of industrial, technological and political change.

In this lunchtime talk, Graham will discuss what Williams’s remarkable life reveals about Myanmar between the Second Anglo-Burmese War and the British conquest under its last great king.

The author will be joined by Thweep "AKE" Rittinaphorn, independent scholar and author of “Unseen Burma,” a compendium of rare photographs and postcards from Burma.

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Speakers include:

Ron Graham is an award-winning author and journalist based in Toronto. Over several decades, he has written extensively about politics, history, religion, business and the arts. He has served as a trustee of the Royal Ontario Museum, curated an exhibition of Japanese ceramics, and been a student of Burmese Vipassana meditation since 1973.

Thweep "AKE" Rittinaphorn is a writer, independent scholar and avid collector.  He is widely known as an expert on Burmese culture as well as textiles and is a regular speaker for The Siam Society (Under the Royal Patronage), Thai Textiles Society and international conferences on these topics.

Moderator: Gwen Robinson, past president FCCT.