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Title Letters from James Murray Forbes to Rose Smith Forbes
Reference Ms. N-49, box 40
Library Massachusetts Historical Society
Collection Forbes Family Papers
Collection Series James Murray Forbes Papers, 1813-1930
Date 1870
Author / Creator Forbes, James Murray
Description Written to Forbes's mother while he was in Hong Kong and Alexandria, Egypt.
Document Type Manuscript, Correspondence
Theme(s) Trade and Commerce
Keywords voyage, sea, vessel, ship, seafaring, adventure, merchant, steam, trade, business
Countries Egypt; China; France
Places Paris
Ports Hong Kong, China; Alexandria, Egypt
Additional Information

James Murray Forbes was born in 1845, the son of Rose and Robert Bennet Forbes (1804-1889). He had a brother, Robert Bennet Forbes (1837-1891) and a sister Edith (1843-1925) who married Charles Elliott Perkins in 1864. In 1871, James married Alice Francis Bowditch (1848-1929), and the couple had three children: Allan (1874-1955), Mary Bowditch (1878-1961), and Dorothy Murray (1881-1944).

James Murray Forbes travelled abroad to China to work for Russell and Company in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Canton. After his marriage in 1871 he served as Russell and Company's agent in Boston for a time, and then worked as an officer for several railroad and investment companies. He maintained a house at 107 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, one at Milton, and one at Dark Harbor, Maine.

Please note that some of the metadata for this document has been drawn from the Massachusetts Historical Society catalogue.

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