Clifford J Pereira
University of British Columbia, Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia, Voluntary Associate, Research Department (Africa)
A Kenyan-Asian of Goan heritage, formally based in London, UK and now based in Hong Kong (SAR), who worked in several places around the world and in several industries before embarking on the current career in the heritage industry. Consultative and research work has included the following agencies:
Heritage organisations:
Barker Langham Associates. London. UK.
Bexley Heritage Trust. London. UK.
British Museum. London. UK
Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. Chatham. UK.
Heritage Lottery Fund. London. UK.
Hong Kong University Museum and Gallery Hong Kong SAR. China.
London Museum. London. UK.
Msheireb Properties. Doha, Qatar.
Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC. Vancouver, Canada.
National Museums of Kenya (Ft. Jesus). Mombasa. Kenya.
National Museums of Kenya. Lamu. Kenya.
National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ). Doha. Qatar.
Old Hastings Mill Museum. Vancouver. Canada.
The National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) London. UK.
Educational bodies:
Dalian Maritime University, Dalian. China.
Queen Mary's College. University of London. UK.
Royal Holloway, University of London. UK
The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). London. UK.
The University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong SAR, China.
University of Nottingham. UK
University of the Third Age (Bromley Chapter), London.
UKLocal government bodies:
Bexley Council (Local History) London. UK
Tower Hamlets Council (Local History) London. UK
Wandsworth Council (Local History) London. UK.
Address: Hong Kong
Heritage organisations:
Barker Langham Associates. London. UK.
Bexley Heritage Trust. London. UK.
British Museum. London. UK
Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust. Chatham. UK.
Heritage Lottery Fund. London. UK.
Hong Kong University Museum and Gallery Hong Kong SAR. China.
London Museum. London. UK.
Msheireb Properties. Doha, Qatar.
Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC. Vancouver, Canada.
National Museums of Kenya (Ft. Jesus). Mombasa. Kenya.
National Museums of Kenya. Lamu. Kenya.
National Museum of Qatar (NMoQ). Doha. Qatar.
Old Hastings Mill Museum. Vancouver. Canada.
The National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) London. UK.
Educational bodies:
Dalian Maritime University, Dalian. China.
Queen Mary's College. University of London. UK.
Royal Holloway, University of London. UK
The Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). London. UK.
The University of Hong Kong. Hong Kong SAR, China.
University of Nottingham. UK
University of the Third Age (Bromley Chapter), London.
UKLocal government bodies:
Bexley Council (Local History) London. UK
Tower Hamlets Council (Local History) London. UK
Wandsworth Council (Local History) London. UK.
Address: Hong Kong
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Books by Clifford J Pereira
This paper covers the adoption of a new multidisciplinary historiography originating in the petroleum industry. This methodology has been used to analysis of a segment of a Chinese Mao Kun naval chart that was originally produced around 1422-23 before the sixth Zheng He voyage.
The results have provided increased accuracy and understanding of the Zheng He voyages and the Chinese world view, while also increasing the historical knowledge of Eastern Africa in the period just prior the first European incursions. Astonishingly on a site-by-site basis the results actually uphold archaeological finds and traditional chronicles and legends. The plan to extend this methodology to cover the Arabian Sea and Straits of Hormuz portion of the Mao Kun Chart is underway, and already yielded some preliminary outcomes. The adoption of this historiography with some adaptations may be used with other historical sources and in other regions of the Indo-Pacific region facing similar challenges with problematic data. One likely candidate for this historiography is the Selden Map.
This paper is focused on the Luso-Asians, a disparate group of people from former Portuguese colonies in Asia who served under foreign flags and on foreign ships often before Portugal actually entered the war in March 1916.
This research is new, having been compiled in the last three years from multidisciplinary sources around the Pacific and in the United Kingdom. It provides an insight into the continuation and adaptation of maritime cultures to cope with changing imperial fortunes and labour demands and focuses on the emerging evidence from the Great War.
Africans have been trading with Asia for thousands of years, yet their history and presence in Eastern Asia has been barely investigated. Perceptions abound of the “African diaspora” being purely the result of slavery, mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa and of relatively recent origin in Eastern Asia. This perspective has, with few exceptions evaded investigation at macro and micro levels.
This is a fresh look at this cultural connection from evidence from sources in Africa, through South Asia to Eastern Asia, in a manner it is following the Maritime Silk Route from West to East – the route of exotic African fauna and flora, as well as people - Africans. The role of African crewmen is an important part of this narrative and one that brings a new dimension to ethnographic studies of maritime cultural landscapes and seascapes.
This book, which has taken more than four years to complete since 2008, mainly discusses the first stage of the development of shipping in modern China during the late Qing period. During this period aspects of the shipping industry were vast; including not only shipping markets, warehousing, cargo terminals, docks and insurance, but also the uniquely Chinese “Caoyun” taxation system, as well as customs and port operations. Due to the specialized and particular nature of shipping, the majority of current studies center on the periods in the Song and Ming Dynasties in China, especially the expeditions of Zheng He to the “Western Ocean”, while the research on modern shipping is extremely rare.
Shipping has played a major role in the economic history of modern China. Most foreign trading in China was achieved through shipping, with land transportation constituting a very small percentage. For domestic trading there are a great number of waterways in China, as a result the water transportation of cargo has also been prevalent. However, since the end of the First Opium War, following the ratification of a series of unequal treaties, China had an increasing number of coastal and river ports open to foreign countries, whose shipping companies quickly took control of and monopolized the ocean and major domestic routes of China. At the same time, the influx of foreign shipping companies also accelerated the modernization of Chinese shipping, with steamships gradually replacing sailboats (the latter of which had been used in China for thousands of years), the China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company become the first enterprise of modern China, followed by the birth of China’s first insurance company, as well as the earliest Liner Conference in the world, which having originated in China, continued to be effective for more than one hundred years, and was only replaced by the Freight Alliance at the end of the 20th century.
Defined by the characteristics of the different periods, this book discusses the development of Chinese shipping during the late Qing period in four stages, each of which involves many perspectives, such as shipping policies (treaties), the domestic and foreign shipping development situation, the evolution of foreign shipping companies in Chinese shipping markets, the China Merchants’ Company, the “Caoyun” system, as well as the development of China’s traditional wooden ship industry.
Foreign shipping companies, especially British shipping companies, enjoyed an absolute monopoly during the late Qing period. To research material in this area, with the help of a national award, I spent a year studying in Great Britain, during which time I reviewed a great number of related resources, including the Jardine Matheson Holdings archives at Cambridge University, the Swire Pacific Limited archives at London University, materials from the Library of Navigation History of the University of Hull, Cardiff University, as well as documents from a range of British shipping companies that operated in China, including the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Ocean Steam Navigation company, and Shire Steam Navigation Company. During the editing process, I also received assistance from many professionals and scholars: Instructor Wang Da Peng, of the Navigation College, Dalian Maritime University, contributed to the first three chapters of this book; Dr. Jennifer Craig, Doctor of Maritime History, Oxford University, translated documents related to the French Companies; while Professor Clifford Joseph Pereira, of the Geography Department of Royal Holloway, University of London, provided valuable instructions on some of the hard-to-identify, hand-written English archives. On the documents regarding the shipping subsidy policy of modern Japan, the translation work by Instructor Ren Lei, an expert in the Japanese language, was very helpful, while Professor Sun Pei Ting advised on my use of certain German shipping documents. Here I want to express my sincere appreciation to all the scholars and experts above.
This book is suitable to serve as a textbook for Maritime Studies majors and related majors of colleges and universities. Certainly, given the limitations of my own personal capabilities, there may be errors and omissions present, which are wholly my own. I sincerely welcome all criticism and corrections from my readers.
Han Qing
April 18th, 2012
This Chapter is an example of how one national heritage institution engaged in the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, tracking its development and outcomes with specific reference to community engagement and legacy. the disctinctive example at the Royal Geographical Society - focusing on slavery in the Indian Ocean and the contribution of emancipated slaves to British exploration in Africa - stands apart from many other initiatives undertaken in 2007 for its aims, its innovative methodology and its longevity and long reach of its outcomes.
Nineteenth Century European References to the African Diaspora in the Arabian Peninsula. By Clifford Pereira
The Geographical proximity of the Arabian Peninsula to Africa has resulted in movements of populations in both directions across the Red Sea for much of recorded history. An Abyssinian Dynasty rulled Yemen until around AD570, around the time of the birth of the prophet. This paper examines evidence for people of African descent in the Arabian Peninsula within the nineteenth century manuscript and journal collections of the Royal Geographical Society (London), most of which are written by European travellers. The references priamrilly cover the routes of origin, dispersion and settelement of Africans, and their occupations, customs and traditions. The subject of African ethnicity within the world of Islam, and the process whereby Africans become Arabs is discussed. This paper draws on geographical sources to provide historical evidence for the study of present day communities of African origin in the Arabian Peninsula, the wider Middle East and areas of the Indian sub-continent that came under the influence of Islam.
Papers by Clifford J Pereira
29th September 2015. 7:00pm Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Halifax. NS. Canada.
This paper covers the adoption of a new multidisciplinary historiography originating in the petroleum industry. This methodology has been used to analysis of a segment of a Chinese Mao Kun naval chart that was originally produced around 1422-23 before the sixth Zheng He voyage.
The results have provided increased accuracy and understanding of the Zheng He voyages and the Chinese world view, while also increasing the historical knowledge of Eastern Africa in the period just prior the first European incursions. Astonishingly on a site-by-site basis the results actually uphold archaeological finds and traditional chronicles and legends. The plan to extend this methodology to cover the Arabian Sea and Straits of Hormuz portion of the Mao Kun Chart is underway, and already yielded some preliminary outcomes. The adoption of this historiography with some adaptations may be used with other historical sources and in other regions of the Indo-Pacific region facing similar challenges with problematic data. One likely candidate for this historiography is the Selden Map.
This paper is focused on the Luso-Asians, a disparate group of people from former Portuguese colonies in Asia who served under foreign flags and on foreign ships often before Portugal actually entered the war in March 1916.
This research is new, having been compiled in the last three years from multidisciplinary sources around the Pacific and in the United Kingdom. It provides an insight into the continuation and adaptation of maritime cultures to cope with changing imperial fortunes and labour demands and focuses on the emerging evidence from the Great War.
Africans have been trading with Asia for thousands of years, yet their history and presence in Eastern Asia has been barely investigated. Perceptions abound of the “African diaspora” being purely the result of slavery, mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa and of relatively recent origin in Eastern Asia. This perspective has, with few exceptions evaded investigation at macro and micro levels.
This is a fresh look at this cultural connection from evidence from sources in Africa, through South Asia to Eastern Asia, in a manner it is following the Maritime Silk Route from West to East – the route of exotic African fauna and flora, as well as people - Africans. The role of African crewmen is an important part of this narrative and one that brings a new dimension to ethnographic studies of maritime cultural landscapes and seascapes.
This book, which has taken more than four years to complete since 2008, mainly discusses the first stage of the development of shipping in modern China during the late Qing period. During this period aspects of the shipping industry were vast; including not only shipping markets, warehousing, cargo terminals, docks and insurance, but also the uniquely Chinese “Caoyun” taxation system, as well as customs and port operations. Due to the specialized and particular nature of shipping, the majority of current studies center on the periods in the Song and Ming Dynasties in China, especially the expeditions of Zheng He to the “Western Ocean”, while the research on modern shipping is extremely rare.
Shipping has played a major role in the economic history of modern China. Most foreign trading in China was achieved through shipping, with land transportation constituting a very small percentage. For domestic trading there are a great number of waterways in China, as a result the water transportation of cargo has also been prevalent. However, since the end of the First Opium War, following the ratification of a series of unequal treaties, China had an increasing number of coastal and river ports open to foreign countries, whose shipping companies quickly took control of and monopolized the ocean and major domestic routes of China. At the same time, the influx of foreign shipping companies also accelerated the modernization of Chinese shipping, with steamships gradually replacing sailboats (the latter of which had been used in China for thousands of years), the China Merchants’ Steam Navigation Company become the first enterprise of modern China, followed by the birth of China’s first insurance company, as well as the earliest Liner Conference in the world, which having originated in China, continued to be effective for more than one hundred years, and was only replaced by the Freight Alliance at the end of the 20th century.
Defined by the characteristics of the different periods, this book discusses the development of Chinese shipping during the late Qing period in four stages, each of which involves many perspectives, such as shipping policies (treaties), the domestic and foreign shipping development situation, the evolution of foreign shipping companies in Chinese shipping markets, the China Merchants’ Company, the “Caoyun” system, as well as the development of China’s traditional wooden ship industry.
Foreign shipping companies, especially British shipping companies, enjoyed an absolute monopoly during the late Qing period. To research material in this area, with the help of a national award, I spent a year studying in Great Britain, during which time I reviewed a great number of related resources, including the Jardine Matheson Holdings archives at Cambridge University, the Swire Pacific Limited archives at London University, materials from the Library of Navigation History of the University of Hull, Cardiff University, as well as documents from a range of British shipping companies that operated in China, including the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, Ocean Steam Navigation company, and Shire Steam Navigation Company. During the editing process, I also received assistance from many professionals and scholars: Instructor Wang Da Peng, of the Navigation College, Dalian Maritime University, contributed to the first three chapters of this book; Dr. Jennifer Craig, Doctor of Maritime History, Oxford University, translated documents related to the French Companies; while Professor Clifford Joseph Pereira, of the Geography Department of Royal Holloway, University of London, provided valuable instructions on some of the hard-to-identify, hand-written English archives. On the documents regarding the shipping subsidy policy of modern Japan, the translation work by Instructor Ren Lei, an expert in the Japanese language, was very helpful, while Professor Sun Pei Ting advised on my use of certain German shipping documents. Here I want to express my sincere appreciation to all the scholars and experts above.
This book is suitable to serve as a textbook for Maritime Studies majors and related majors of colleges and universities. Certainly, given the limitations of my own personal capabilities, there may be errors and omissions present, which are wholly my own. I sincerely welcome all criticism and corrections from my readers.
Han Qing
April 18th, 2012
This Chapter is an example of how one national heritage institution engaged in the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, tracking its development and outcomes with specific reference to community engagement and legacy. the disctinctive example at the Royal Geographical Society - focusing on slavery in the Indian Ocean and the contribution of emancipated slaves to British exploration in Africa - stands apart from many other initiatives undertaken in 2007 for its aims, its innovative methodology and its longevity and long reach of its outcomes.
Nineteenth Century European References to the African Diaspora in the Arabian Peninsula. By Clifford Pereira
The Geographical proximity of the Arabian Peninsula to Africa has resulted in movements of populations in both directions across the Red Sea for much of recorded history. An Abyssinian Dynasty rulled Yemen until around AD570, around the time of the birth of the prophet. This paper examines evidence for people of African descent in the Arabian Peninsula within the nineteenth century manuscript and journal collections of the Royal Geographical Society (London), most of which are written by European travellers. The references priamrilly cover the routes of origin, dispersion and settelement of Africans, and their occupations, customs and traditions. The subject of African ethnicity within the world of Islam, and the process whereby Africans become Arabs is discussed. This paper draws on geographical sources to provide historical evidence for the study of present day communities of African origin in the Arabian Peninsula, the wider Middle East and areas of the Indian sub-continent that came under the influence of Islam.
29th September 2015. 7:00pm Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Halifax. NS. Canada.
This is the study of four decades of community action to claim a space in the local heritage sector in the face of institutional racism and the Far Right who had a base for activities in Southeast London within the Greater London Borough of Bexley.
This study follows the steep rise of racism in throughout the 1970’s culminating in racial attacks, murders and riots in the 1980’s that spurned a community backlash in the 1990’s. During this period cultural ownership was systematically hijacked by the Far Right, thereby alienating ethnic minorities and the public perception of the historical landscape.
This study is based on first-hand oral history accounts and local archives and chronicles how community activity conspired with, equality structures and public education (or outreach) by heritage structures (i.e. archives, museums, and local history centre) to turn around public perceptions of local and national history in the first decade of the 21st century to producing a heritage sector that today embraces diverse local history and the concept of world history, providing community ownership of the cultural landscape.
This study follows the steep rise of racism in throughout the 1970’s culminating in racial attacks, murders and riots in the 1980’s that spurned a community backlash in the 1990’s. During this period cultural ownership was systematically hijacked by the Far Right, thereby alienating ethnic minorities and the public perception of the historical landscape.
This study is based on first-hand oral history accounts and local archives and chronicles how community activity conspired with, equality structures and public education (or outreach) by heritage structures (i.e. archives, museums, and local history centre) to turn around public perceptions of local and national history in the first decade of the 21st century to producing a heritage sector that today embraces diverse local history and the concept of world history, providing community ownership of the cultural landscape.
This chapter also examines the adoption of developing technology in the process of transculturation and therefore the development of new “spaces” of transnational community identity among the worldwide Goan diaspora.
There were four sources of the textiles used in slave trading within parts of Africa under Portuguese influence; Africa itself, Europe, Asia and the Americas. The sources and types of textile varied over time and place and represented globalisation in the Portuguese Empire.
Past studies have tended to look primarily at the trade of European commodities within the trans-Atlantic slave trade. This has ignored the issue of African and Asian technology transfer to the new world (e.g. Brazil) and therefore over-simplified the notion that Africans were transported simply as labour with no regard to their indigenous culture or technology. The legacy of this interpretation is in the widely held perspective in the Americas and Europe that Africa had no technology of value prior to the arrival of Europeans. This notion is detrimental to all parties, and in particular to the African diaspora. The research seeks to identify the role of Africans and Asians within the process of European colonisation and empire.
Finally the study seeks to explore the legacy of the textile trade and its links to slavery by looking at costume in the Lusitanian-influenced world (primarily Brazil, Cape Verde, India, Malaysia, Mozambique and Sri Lanka). "
Hosted by English Heritage. The National trust and University of the West of England.
Stately homes are often viewed as quintessentially British. In recent years the definition of Britishness has itself been debated, analysed, deconstructed and reconstructed with a broader definition that reflects the class, racial, religious and gender diversity of twenty-first century Britain. The Heritage Sector from archives to museums and galleries has striven to be at the helm of this trend and has reaped a harvest of new audiences including people who may never have considered stepping into Jacobean, Victorian and Georgian buildings bulging with artworks.
Sadly the “British Country House” has been slow to recognise the hidden historical links to both the East Indian and the West Indian or Slave Trades. The paper draws on the London Borough of Bexley as a case study which only fully realised the potential of exploring and publicising the overseas connections of its great estates in 2007. At the same time the paper explores the wider heritage picture in 2007-2008 with reference to properties in parts of England that successfully achieve “complete representation” of their history, and others that fail to do so and the implications of this."
Date: 24th September 2015
Time: 2:30pm
Venue: Hall Place, Bourne Road, Bexley, Kent. DA5 1PQ
Fee: £8:00 (Concession £6:00)
Please phone 01322 621 238 to book.
Despite the parallels with the Atlantic slave trade and the establishment of Freetown, Sierra Leone and the state of Liberia, there are also some distinct differences both in the processes that created the community and in the contribution made by Bombay Africans to the social and political dvelopment of Africa.