Graham Jefcoate – Hutch: E. W. Hutchinson’s Adventures in Siam 1904-1949

In 1940, the Royal Asiatic Society published Adventurers in Siam in the Seventeenth Century by Edward Walter Hutchinson (1881-1972), familiarly known as “Hutch”. If Hutch’s own experiences in Siam/Thailand (and especially in Chiang Mai and the north) in the years 1904 to 1949 were not quite as “adventurous” as those of the subjects of his book, then they were rich, varied and certainly not without incident.

In 1972, the RAS received the donation of two photograph albums Hutchinson had compiled in Chiang Mai during the 1930s and 40s. The albums have recently been restored. In this illustrated talk, Graham Jefcoate (Chiang Mai/London) will place the albums and their contents in the context of Hutch’s extraordinary life, work and research.

Graham Jefcoate is the editor of Enchanted Land: Foreign Writings about Chiang Mai in the Early 20^th Century (River Books 2023) and In Bangkok: Siam’s Capital Through Foreign Eyes, 1895-1935 (River Books 2024). He is currently working on a book provisionally entitled Tales of the Teak Forest about the image of north Siam in the early 20^th century.