Richard Ponsonby-Fane

Richard Arthur Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane (8 January 1878 – 10 December 1937) was a British public servant, colonial administrator, academic, author, specialist of Shinto and Japanologist.

Early years
Richard Arthur Brabazon Ponsonby was born at Gravesend on the south bank of the Thames in Kent. As a youth, he lived in London and at his grandfather's country home, Brympton d'Evercy in Somerset."A Biographical sketch of Dr. R. Ponsonby-Fane," Studies in Shinto and Shrines, p. 517.

He added "Fane" to his name in 1916.Britton, Dorothy. (1997). "Richard Ponsonby-Fane, A Modern William Adams" in Britain and Japan: Biographical Portraits. p. 193.

Ponsonby was educated at Harrow School.Ponsonby-Fane, pp. 517-518.

Career
In 1896, Ponsonby became the private secretary to the Governor of the British Cape Colony.Ponsonby-Fane, p. 518. Over the next twenty years, he was private secretary to the Governor of Natal (1896),Britton, p. 194. to the Governor of Trinidad and Tobago (1898), to the Governor of Ceylon (1900), and to the Governor of Hong Kong (1903). He was re-posted to assist the Governor of Natal in 1907 and the Governor of Fiji in 1910.

In 1915-1919, he was re-posted as private secretary to the Governor of Hong Kong.Britton, p. 195.

Ponsonby-Fane began lecturing at the University of Hong Kong in 1916. He continued to be a university lecturer until 1926.Ponsonby-Fane, pp. 518-519.

In 1921, when the Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito visited Hong Kong, Ponsonby-Fane was his interpreter.Ponsonby-Fane, p. 520.

When Emperor Shōwa became Emperor of Japan, Ponsonby was the only non-Japanese guest who was invited to witness the ceremonies from a special place in front of the palace's Kenreimon gate.

In 1930, when Prince Takamatsu and his wife travelled to Europe, Ponsonby-Fane sailed on the same ship; and he was invited to attend all the welcoming receptions for them in England.

After 1919, Ponsonby-Fane became a permanent resident of Japan.Ponsonby-Fane, p. 519. In later life, he was always photographed with a long woolen scarf. It was hand-knit by Dowager Empress Teimei, the widow of Emperor Taishō.Britton, p. 203.

Ponsonby-Fane died in Kyoto, Japan in December 1937.Ponsonby-Fane, p. 522.

Selected works
In an overview of writings by and about Richard Ponsonby-Fane, OCLC/WorldCat lists roughly 74 works in 136 publications in 2 languages and 1,443 library holdings.WorldCat Identities: Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon 1878-1937 ; retrieved 29 October 2012.
This list is not finished; you can help Wikipedia by adding to it.
 The Imperial Family of Japan, 1915
 The Viciissitudes of Shinto, 1931
 The Nomenclature of the N. Y. K. Fleet, 1931
 Kamo Mioya Shrine, 1934
 Kyoto: the Old Capital of Japan, 794-1869, 1956
 The Imperial House of Japan, 1959
 Sovereiegn and Subject, 1962
 Studies in Shinto and Shrines, 1962
 The Vicissitudes of Shinto, 1963
 Visiting Famous Shrines in Japan, 1964

Honours
 Order of the Rising Sun
 Order of the Sacred Treasure, 1921
 University of Hong Kong, Honorary Doctor of Laws, 1926

Notes

Other websites
 Ponsonby-Fane, Richard Arthur Brabazon, 1878-1937 at Virtual International Authority File 

Category:1878 births
Category:1937 deaths
Category:English historians
Category:Gravesend
Category:British Japanologists
Category:People educated at Harrow School
Category:Writers from Kent