Abstract: The file contains letters received by Major Samuel Hennell, British Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Bushire, from Arthur Malet, Chief Secretary to the Government of Bombay in the Political Department, Bombay Castle written between July and December 1848.Arthur Malet’s letters contain information, guidance and instructions from the Governor in Council of Bombay to the Resident. The majority of his letters are preceded or followed by enclosures. The enclosures are copies of other relevant letters exchanged between several British Government officials, mainly: Captain Atkins Hamerton, Her Majesty’s Consul and the Honourable Company’s (East India Company’s) Agent in the dominions of the Imam of Muscat, Zanzibar; the Honourable the Court of Directors (of the East India Company), London; Mr George Cornewall Lewis, Secretary to the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India (also known as the Board of Control), London; Mr Edward John Stanley, Foreign Office, London on behalf of Lord Palmerston (Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston) the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; Mr Charles Edward Trevelyan, Treasury Chambers, London on behalf of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury, London.The correspondence mainly discusses the suppression of the maritime slave trade between East Africa and the Persian Gulf and its implications for British foreign policy, relations and interests in the region. There are two main areas of discussion in the correspondence.Slave trafficking: Captain William Lowe’s seizure near Bushire of 11 Muskat [Muscat] ships on route to Bussora [Basra] with slaves on board, the importation into Lingah [Bandar-e-Lengeh] of 15 slaves from Zanzibar, the failure of the Imam of Muscat to enforce the anti-slavery provisions of his treaty with Great Britain in 1845.Anti-slavery measures: legal opinions about enacting legislation in the British Parliament, to give British Vice Admiralty courts in India and elsewhere, the power to hear cases involving slave ships captured by the British naval force in the Persian Gulf, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of 2 October 1845 with the Imam of Muscat and the Treaties concluded by Major Hennell in April and May 1847, with the several Arab Chiefs of the Trucial Coast Sheikhdoms.Physical description: Foliation: the contents are numbered 2 to 21, from the front to the back of the file. The numbering is written in pencil on the recto, in the top right corner and encircled. The front cover of the file is numbered 1. The inside of the back cover is numbered 22. This is the main numbering system and should be used for referencing this volume.Pagination: the contents are also irregularly numbered 152-158, 150-151, 159-164, 217, 222-223, 225-226, 260, 281-286 and 290, from the front to the back of the file. The numbering is written in ink, usually on both the recto and verso; in the top right and left corner respectively. All blank pages and the majority of pages containing brief details such as the name of the sender or the date the letter was sent, are unnumbered.Condition: imperfect folios 4, 6, and 9.
Abstract: Correspondence and papers relating to collections made in Bahrain (and Qatar) for the United Nations (UN) Appeal for Children. The papers include multiple copies (approximately sixty-eight) of a circular letter from the Political Agent (Cornelius James Pelly), that includes a quote from a speech made by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Ernest Bevin) on 20 February 1948, and information about the Lord Mayor of London’s appeal for funds for the UN Appeal for Children. Copies of these letters were sent to members of the expatriate (British, European, American) community in Bahrain, with the aim of raising subscriptions for the fund. The file includes numerous demi-official and personal letters from Bahrain’s British and United States commercial concerns (for example, the Bahrain Petroleum Company, Gray, Mackenzie & Company, Cable and Wireless Limited), as well as from individuals, with details of monies (expressed in Indian rupees) pledged. Copies of Bevin’s full speech, given at Mansion House, London on 20 February 1948, are included in the file (folios 4, 12-14).Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 213; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: The memorandum briefly outlines the historical basis of Britain's interest in Persia, and the development of relations between the two countries; this includes the development and abandonment of the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Persian agreements. It also contains a brief assessment of Persia's finances, Persia's debt to Britain, and provides an explanation of Persia's strategic importance to Britain. A list of principles, upon which future British policy towards Persia should be based, can be found on folios 2v-3.The author is George Nathaniel Curzon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. The purpose of the memorandum is to explain the interest of the Persian Government in appointing an American financial adviser, and to explain why the British Government supports this proposal.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 3; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This file is composed of papers produced by the War Cabinet's Eastern Committee, which was chaired by George Curzon for most of its existence. The file contains a complete set of printed minutes, beginning with the committee's first meeting on 28 March 1918, and concluding with its final meeting on 7 January 1919 (ff 6-214 and ff 227-272).The file begins with two copies of a memorandum by Curzon, dated 13 March 1918, proposing the formation of the Eastern Committee. This is followed by a memorandum by Arthur James Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, approving Curzon's proposal, and a copy of a procedure for the newly created committee, outlining arrangements for committee meetings and the dissemination of information to committee members.Also included is a set of resolutions, passed by the committee in December 1918, in order to guide British representatives at the Paris Peace conference (ff 216-225). The resolutions cover the following: the Caucasus and Armenia; Syria; Palestine; Hejaz and Arabia; Mesopotamia, Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. They are preceded by a handwritten note written by Curzon 'some years later', which remarks on how they are a 'rather remarkable forecast of the bulk of the results since obtained.'Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 272; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: Correspondence produced in response to a memorandum written by the Iranian Government minister Hagir (also written Hajir [ʿAbd-Al-Ḥosayn Hažir]) outlining difficulties arising from and proposing solutions in relation to Britain and the Soviet Union’s occupation of Persia [Iran] in the wake of the Anglo-Soviet invasion of the country in August 1941. The memorandum chiefly concerns the material demands being made upon Iran during the occupation, and requests that the Iranian Government be given more input into arrangements made between its British and Soviet counterparts, with, or in regard to the establishment of a ‘Persian Corridor’ for the transport of war materials from Iran’s ports on the Gulf to the Soviet Union. A copy (in English) of the memorandum and its enclosures is included in the file (ff 40-82). A copy of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Robert Anthony Eden’s response to Hagir’s memorandum is also included in the file (ff 14-25). Other correspondents in the file include: the British Minister in Tehran, Reader William Bullard; and the Foreign Office.The file includes a divider, which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 84; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.