James Summers (5 July 1828 – 26 October 1891) was a British scholar of English literature, hired by the Meiji government of the Empire of Japan to establish an English language curriculum at the Kaisei Gakuin (the forerunner of Tokyo Imperial University in 1873). Early life Summers was born in Lichfield, Staffordshire. His father was a plasterer of limited means, and seems to have left his family some time before James became 10 years old. Summers moved from Bird Street to the Close with his mother and went to the Lichfield Diocesan Training School for about one year from September 1844 to November 1845. He moved again to Stoke-on-Trent with his mother and started his teaching career at a National School there. His mother died in 1846. Hong Kong and Chinese In 1848, Summers was hired by Reverend Vincent John Stanton to be a tutor at St. Paul's College in Hong Kong, where he taught General subject including History and religious studies. He used Nicholls's Help To Reading The Bible (1846) in his religious class when teaching young Hong Kong children. Stanton's Anglo-Chinese School opened in September 1848 upon the arrival of Summers at the property where the Bishop’s House now stands,close to Wyndham Street. Summers lived with Stanton's family until they left for England because of health issues on 24 April 1850. Summers eventually became the first and last schoolmaster of that school. He found himself at the centre of a tense diplomatic stand-off in 1849 when, on a brief excursion to Macao, he was arrested for failing to doff his hat in respect for a Catholic Corpus Christi festival procession. Captain Henry Keppel of 's request for Summer's release was refused and the incensed captain then led a rescue party to make an assault on the gaol where Summers was being held. The raid was successful but Portuguese soldier Roque Barrache died in the skirmish, three others were injured and the daughter of gaoler Carvalho fell 20 feet to the ground, suffering severe injuries. The Queen of Portugal was appalled at Britain's affront to her de facto sovereignty over Macao and tempers cooled only after an apology proffered and reparations made by the British. When the school was transferred to the Bishop of Victoria, George Smith, and reopened as St. Paul's College on 8 April 1850, Summers became its third tutor. The other two were Rev. E. T.