Ex-Pats: A Challenging Life

From 1910 until the devastating earthquake of 1923, the Bruce family maintained two households, one in Yokohama, Japan.and one in South London, England where the children took their schooling. Rose Mary spent extended periods both in London and in Yokohama. Sydney largely lived in Yokohama, but he did get holiday breaks of several months each in London with the family. The demands of work and the cost of returning to England made such trips infrequent.

British expats typically worked for British Companies. Sydney worked as an accountant for the export firm Sale & Frazar Co. for the entirety of his time in Japan. He was well paid. The Bruces had four servants, lived in a large house, held  a membership in the country club and the Freemasons, and generally enjoyed a lifestyle which only the very wealthy could afford back in Britain. It must have been addictive.

There was, however, a price to pay. British ex-pats were insistent that their children be educated back home, for only a good English education ‘counted’ — opened doors and allowed for career advancement.

For ex-pats, that meant that families must be split up for extended periods, leaving pseudo-parenting in the hands of kindly boarding school teachers (if they were lucky) and servants. The end result, frequently, was that children grew up with very limited abilities to parent. Such was the case in my family and in countless other higher income families in the Victorian era.

Life In Japan 1

Life In Japan 2

Voyages

Peace Exhibition

Earthquake!

Earthquake Art

Letters & Documents 1

Letters & Documents 2

Letters & Documents 3

Letters & Documents 4

Postcards

Origins Far East