On 6th June 1838 Thomas Glover was born in Fraserburgh.
For the first six years of his life Glover lived at number 15 Commerce Street in Fraserburgh. His father was the chief coastguard in Fraserburgh, he was English and his mother was A Scot from Fordyce, Banffshire. His father was formerly an Officer in the Royal Navy. Thomas Blake Glover had 6 brothers and a sister. The house no longer remains because it was destroyed after a bombing by the German Luftwaffe Air Force during World War 2.
In 1851 the family moved to a Victorian Home in Bridge of Don in Aberdeen. Upon leaving school Thomas Blake Glover started work for a trading company and was soon travelling the World, becoming a successful trader in weapons and ships. His travels took him to Japan with one of his brothers when they both worked for the tea merchant Jardine, Matheson & Co. during the late 1850s and early 1860s.
During his time in Japan Thomas Glover achieved a great deal. He helped the Samurai to overthrow their military leader, the Shogun. This action helped to restore The Emperor to his throne. This earned Glover the nicknames The Broch Samurai and The Scottish Samurai.
Thomas Glover was also a key part in the industrialisation of Japan. After commissioning three warships to be built at Aberdeen shipyards (including the Jho Sho Maru which was their first iron-clad warship) for the Japanese Navy he formed his own shipbuilding company. This developed into the company Mitsubishi after his bankruptcy in 1870. He remained in the company as a Consultant. He also introduced the first trains to Japan and the first mechanised coal mine. He owned the Takashima Coal Mine and helped found the Kirin Beer Company.
Along with other foreign residents they built and funded the Trinity Episcopal Cathedral at the Minami Yamate hillside in 1862.
While living in Nagasaki in 1863 he built a house on the Minami Yamate hillside which overlooks Nagasaki Harbour. This still remains as the oldest Western style building in Japan. Over 2 million people visit it each year. It is known as Glover House and boasts a stunning garden. It is Japan’s top tourist attraction.
Plans were announced in 2015 for the Aberdeen family home of the Glovers to be turned into a £2m research hub, if this happens it could turn Aberdeen into a mecca for curious Japanese visitors, but sadly I can find no new info on this. However Fraserburgh unveiled a statue of Glover, as a young boy launching a model ship, in June 2022.
