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Horatio Nelson Lay
Birth: 1832
Death: 5-4-1898
Biography
Horatio Nelson Lay was a British diplomat responsible for organizing the Maritime Customs Bureau in 1855. During the Taiping Rebellion, Lay was responsible for procuring eight British gunboats for the Chinese. The Chinese did not want Lay to act as an intermediary in their use of the boats and relieved him of his role as head of the Customs Bureau. Lay's false assumption that he (as a proxy of the British government) would have some control over the gunboats caused controversy when it was challenged by the Chinese government. The gunboats were refused by the Chinese and they proceeded to construct their own ships. The controversy was discussed in a letter written by George Frederick Seward to his uncle, then acting Secretary of War, William H. Seward, dated March 25, 1864.
Citations
Horatio Nelson Lay was a British diplomat responsible for organizing the Maritime Customs Bureau in 1855. During the Taiping Rebellion, Lay was responsible for procuring eight British gunboats for the Chinese. The Chinese did not want Lay to act as an intermediary in their use of the boats and relieved him of his role as head of the Customs Bureau. Lay's false assumption that he (as a proxy of the British government) would have some control over the gunboats caused controversy when it was challenged by the Chinese government. The gunboats were refused by the Chinese and they proceeded to construct their own ships. The controversy was discussed in a letter written by George Frederick Seward to his uncle, then acting Secretary of War, William H. Seward, dated March 25, 1864.