Francis Blackwell Forbes

Francis Blackwell Forbes (福士, Fúshì) was an American merchant of Russell & Co., the leading American trading house in China, and a member of both of Shanghai’s municipal councils. He arrived in 1857 with the American diplomatic mission to China and rose from the Forbes family’s partners to a director of the firm. For a time he also acted as Sweden’s consul in Shanghai.

He was elected to the Shanghai Municipal Council in 1864 and also to the French Municipal Council in 1868–72 and again in 1877. In 1869 he and Alexander Michie travelled up the Yangtze and reported to the British Foreign Office, arguing that Britain should press China to open the river above Hankou. He led the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1873–74 and spent his spare time on botany.