This is a collection consisting of the service lists of the Chinese Maritime Customs Service and the reports generated by a related institution, the Whangpoo (also Whangpu) Conservancy Board. The Whangpoo  Conservancy Board was established in December 1905 as part of the treaty requirements prescribed in the Protocol of Peking signed in 1901 after the Boxer War, with the main functions of carrying out the “straightening of the channel of the Whangpu River and the improvement of the bars above and below Wusung together with the maintenance of such improvements.” The Board was placed under the joint management of the Shanghai Customs Taotai (a Chinese official) and the Commissioner of Shanghai Customs (a Westerner). The Board compiled and published several series of reports regarding the harbor and port of Shanghai, including a five-section “Shanghai Harbour Investigation Report” and a series of reports entitled “The Port of Shanghai” from 1920-1943.

From 1875 to 1948 the Maritime Customs Service of China published annually a Service List, which listed all indoor and outdoor employees. These employees were listed mostly in order of seniority within rank (e.g. Commissioner, Examiner) and by the station. From 1892 a new table recording honors was also published in two parts for foreign and Chinese staff respectively. Each Service List included a table of “Withdrawals from Service,” running from mid-year to mid-year. This included the following basic details: name, Chinese name, nationality, position on the first appointment, date of the first appointment, position on withdrawal, port stationed when withdrawing, date of final withdrawal, mode of withdrawal (resigned, retired, dismissed, etc.), and notes. 

All foreign employees were listed and by the later 1920s all Chinese staff of equivalent grades. The data included in these service lists provide the career outlines of all included employees.