English invasion of Gangwha Island in 1890s (2024)

By Robert Neff

When Mark Napier Trollope visited Gangwha Island in the spring of 1894, he described the island's chief city as “a miniature of Seoul, with its embattled walls climbing up and down the hills which surround it, its pavilioned gateways with their iron-plated gates, the old city bell hanging in its kiosk in the centre of the city, and rung night and morning for the shutting and opening of the city gates, and the official residences of the Governor, &c., representing the palace at the capital (sic).”

Gangwha Island was, he declared, one of the most prominent sites in Korea. He went on to add:

“There is hardly any story of ancient political intrigue or modern foreign invasion, into which the name of this island has not largely entered. In ancient days, a convenient place of exile for distinguished political offenders or possible pretenders to the throne,” it was also subjected to foreign invasion ― the French in 1866 and the Americans in 1871.

However, he neglected to mention another invasion ― that of the English in 1894 and which he was a participant. The English did not come as military conquerors but as educators ― spiritual and martial.

One of the first of these English invaders was a missionary named Warner who arrived in early 1894 and set up his mission near Gangwha City. His first couple of weeks were not easy ― especially considering he was living in a Korean inn. “The flies were a terrible plague, and the neighbouring piggeries were barely endurable during the exceedingly hot weather; food also was hard to obtain, and I had no bed.”

However, after a couple of weeks, he managed to rent a three-room house ― complete with a covered verandah, kitchen, outhouse and a small garden of flowers ― near the river for six months. When compared to the cost of housing in Seoul and Chemulpo, he appears to have gotten a good deal ― about five dollars a month.

Warner soon learned that the Korean government planned on opening a Royal Naval College ―“within a stone's throw” of his residence ― as well as a naval academy to teach sailors. The instructors were to be Englishmen and great effort was being made to have the schools and their residences ready for their arrival.

The instructors were not the only new arrivals.

“The other day the Governor of the island arrived from Seoul. He is a nobleman of very high rank, and a relative of the Queen. The little river steamer brought him, and, contrary to custom, anchored alongside of the village. All the retainers of the Governor were drawn up on the bank, together with two hundred troops in uniform, and with fixed bayonets; the officials who came to greet him were in full dress, i.e., in black silk gowns with scarlet sleeves, and looked like so many Doctors of Divinity. The Governor was met by his private barge, and rowed to the shore; on his landing there was an attempt to let off some fireworks, but only one cracker went off; the rest fizzed away dismally and made no report; but it is only fair to say that this was the only fiasco in the reception, for the rest of the function was really well carried out.”

Once safely ashore, the governor traveled in his open chair ― seated upon a leopard skin ― proceeded by eight trumpeters clad in yellow and blue uniforms. The governor visited the Royal Naval College and declared himself to be pleased. Warner, however, feared the soon-to-arrive English instructors would not be as easily satisfied as the governor.

In his letters, Warner was very forthcoming with his opinions.

“I don't know when the instructors are coming, but I know that it will be a dismal surprise to them to see the houses which have been prepared for them, which are not very comfortable…”

He also had some pretty negative views of the students:

“The students are now arriving daily in batches of about half a dozen. There are to be fifty in all, and the Government is enlisting sailors already…. Many of the students in the new Naval College, however, come to see me, and claim my services as a right, to teach them something of the rudiments of English. This, however, I am not very enthusiastic about, as I have found that a knowledge of English often proves detrimental to the trustworthiness of a Corean.”

“This,” he acknowledged, “may be prejudice, but I have not seen many favourable specimens of English-speaking Coreans.” Apparently, however, his negativity softened and soon he welcomed the students to visit him in the evenings to talk and play chess.

Some of the early encounters with the English and the islanders were rather amusing. When the little river steamer was not able to disembark at its normal place, a group of visiting English missionaries had to be carried across the mud-banks on the backs of Korean porters. As soon as the porters deposited their passengers on firm ground they immediately made very loud “demands for 'beer-money,' as they said [the missionaries] were all exceptionally heavy men, and had well-nigh broken their backs …”

At the end of May 1894, the two English naval instructors arrived and, despite Warner's prediction of displeasure, were quite satisfied with their housing (although only one of the instructors actually spent much time on the island) and their students.

In mid-June, Mrs. Curtis, the wife of one the instructors, arrived on the island and was quite pleased with her surroundings. Island life agreed with her and she became much stronger than she had been prior to her arrival. She also quickly became popular with the Korean women and frequently entertained them.

Food was plentiful. Eggs and chickens were readily available on the island as was beef. In fact, the island was famous for its oxen and one of the missionaries (possibly Warner) claimed they were “much larger and better built than” their English counterparts and he speculated that it was “due to the fact that the calves are allowed to have all the milk from the cow, for cows are not used for milking in Corea, and butter and milk are as yet unknown commodities in Corea.”

Despite the abundance of beef, Mrs. Curtis rarely purchased it as it was “not enjoyable on account of the rude way of killing” the animals.

Not only was Mrs. Curtis sociable, she also acted as the island's physician and treated anyone who asked. Of course, she could only treat minor wounds and illnesses but her efforts were very much appreciated.

Before the end of 1894, the instructors were all gone ― the Sino-Japanese War had made it impossible for the schools to continue but the missionaries remained.

Years later, the English Mission opened a dispensary on the island to attend to the health issues of the islanders. Arthur F. Laws, a missionary medical student, could only treat the minor wounds and administer anesthetics for amputated fingers, fractures and abscesses. Patients requiring surgery were urged to go to Seoul for treatment but, noted Laws, they seldom took his advice and preferred to stay on the island ― surrounded by their loved ones ― and die.

Despite his limited ability to treat them, the islanders seemed pleased with Laws. Over a period of several months, he received “23 fowls, 830 eggs, 3 large fish, 200 persimmons, 2 pairs of Corean socks, and one pair of straw shoes” as gifts.

In a letter to his superiors, Laws wrote: “If I may venture on what seems out of my province, may I say that the opening of medical work has broken down a considerable amount of the insular prejudice that [Gangwha] folk have against foreigners, i.e., our Mission, for we are the only foreigners here.”

Unlike the French and American, the English invasion succeeded.

Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books including, Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.