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13 Mar 58 Peter Hong Kong Father 1, Hyde Park Place ______________________________________________________________________________________________

Hong Kong

13th March 1858

My dear Father

You will perhaps be surprized, after the last letter I wrote, to hear that I am at this moment occupying an important position in the great firm of Jardine Mathesons, the Merchant Princes of China.

900 dollars a year (£225); 50 dollars a month mess money (£150 p/ annum) besides houseroom. Nothing was to me more unexpected & I was taken quite as much by surprise as you will be in the receipt of this. £375 besides houseroom to begin with.

You said if I would get the bread, you would give me the butter & you promised when I left England that you would give me an allowance of £50 in addition to what I might get myself. I think you ought to give me the same as you give John & Julius because altho’ 200 odd a year sounds very large, things are very expensive here. Even if I did not require it, it would be only fair to give me the same & give me an opportunity of saving it.

I have before described Jardine’s place – apart from all Hong Kong with half a dozen sentries & about 30 guns & all that sort of thing. A place where you cannot go outside the gates without a revolver. A thing which I was obliged at once to get, but have not yet paid for (N.B. £12).

Everybody here has his house & his boat & so on & I have got to belong to the Club – a very expensive place & with a heavy entrance fee. I have nothing but a bare room given me. I have to furnish it myself; beds, chairs, drawers, table, wash hand stand & so on. All of which are being made & for which I shall have to draw my salary in advance. I suppose including clothes, that I require & all, I can make cover it. As this will be my outfit I think you ought to give me that. I shall have to draw one quarter’s salary which will put me out of pocket for 6 Mos., whereas I must get a horse or something for the summer when it is too hot to walk. If you will, as I am sure you will, make me a present of the outfit & tell me by the first mail when I can draw it, I shall at any rate in three months from this, know what I am about.

Also, as to the allowance. Please consult with my Mother & let me know as soon as possible when I can draw it, for until I hear from you, I shall not incur such expenses [otherwise than those] as are positively necessary.

Hong Kong is a fearfully expensive place & people living out of the world as we do must have some way of passing time. If therefore you will give me a little of the butter, it to take off the dryness of the bread, I shall be very much obliged. We work hard here, sometimes all night & often all Sunday, but you will see one of our people by this mail (viz. Goddard) whose place I have taken. He has been here 15 years & likes it so much they could not persuade him to go home. He will tell you all about it & me. He is a very quiet fellow & is a very fair specimen of the effect of China upon Europeans. His brother goes home with him. Indeed had it not been for his brother, I don’t think he would ever have cleared out.

Goodbye – love to every one, also Mary, if in existence.

Your affect. Son

Peter G Laurie

I think you should see Mr Percival. He will be coming home in a mail or so & may always be heard of at Matheson’s

It is not clear why, in this letter to his Father, he repeats many of the same details about his employment, without mentioning that he had already given his Mother the good news the previous week