传记草图

玛丽亚（女名） Revere Balestier was born on 14 July 1785, a daughter of Paul Revere and his second 妻子瑞秋·沃克. She married Joseph Balestier, likely born around 1788 in France or the 1814年5月8日，美国. Their son Revere was born on 15 May 1819. Joseph Balestier, a merchant and plantation owner until his business failed in 1830, procured a position as the American Consul at Rhio (now known as the Riau Islands, Indonesia) "and such other places as are nearer thereto than to the Residence of any other Consul or Vice Consul of the United States." At this time Singapore, a valuable location for trade, was under the jurisdiction of the British 东印度公司. American trade in the area was nearly nonexistent due to the HMS不服 incident of 1825, in which a British ship mistakenly seized an American trading vessel en route to Singapore, but Balestier recognized Singapore as a valuable trading port and requested a post there rather than the quieter port at Rhio. 的Balestiers arrived at their new post in Singapore on 24 May 1834. After some negotiation, Joseph Balestier was able to reopen Singapore to American trading ships. He was officially appointed as Consul of 1837年的新加坡.

Joseph Balestier's work as Consul primarily involved the fostering of American trade, as well as overseeing the welfare of American seamen and shipwrecked citizens and handling legal matters relating to American affairs with surrounding peoples. 他还参与了地方政治 and continued work on the side as a merchant and planter, selling a variety of goods from ships 用糖代替法国葡萄酒. These satellite ventures were meant in part to assist the Balestier family in maintaining a comfortable home as well as upholding the manifold and often expensive duties of an American Consul, which the American government's annual stipend could not fully 封面. The family was shocked by the death of Revere Balestier, whose health was always fragile, 1844年3月2日，年仅24岁. The Balestier family remained in Singapore until shortly 1847年8月22日玛丽亚去世后. Joseph Balestier continued his diplomatic work as a Presidential Envoy from 1849 to 1851, followed by a brief return to his work as Consul in 1852年退休前，他一直在新加坡工作. He remarried that year but died only six years later on 12 1858年11月.