IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0402 WHI
Held at: Royal Geographical Society
Title: SHAKESPEAR, Capt William Henry Irvine (1878-1915)
Date(s): 1908-1915
Level of description: Collection level
Extent: Observation files
Name of creator(s): Shakespear | William Henry Irvine | 1878-1915 | diplomat and explorer | Captain
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born, 1878; educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, 1889-1893 and King William's College in the Isle of Man, 1893-1896, and passed out of Sandhurst early in 1898; service in the Indian Army, mostly in Rawlpindi and Bombay, 1898-1904; transferred to the political department of the Government of India; Consul at Bandar-e-'Abbas and assistant to the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf, Sir Percy Cox, 1904; political agent in Kuwait, 1909-[1915]; series of explorations in the interior of Arabia, 1909-1914; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1914-1915; died, 1915.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Papers of Capt William Shakespear, 1908-1915, including field notebooks on 'Kuwait tours' giving route and bearings, 1909-1913; observations in Kuwait, 1911; tour to Nejd and a single page with depths of desert wells, Kuwait hinterland, Mar-Apr, 1913; notes on route and bearings, Feb-May 1914; computations of aneroid observations, 1914; observations of the sun's meridian, 1911, 1913 and 1914; copies of letters and papers including the last letter from Shakespear to his brother, 14 Jan 1915.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
Original order.
Conditions governing access:
Accessed via the Foyle Reading Room. Free of charge for Fellows, Members and those with valid academic identification. All other users pay a charge and must bring identification in order to register on arrival.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Photocopying at the discretion of the Archivist, and subject to completion of 'application for copies' form. No reproduction or publication without the permission of the RGS-IBG Archivist.
Finding aids:
Card index available in the Foyle Reading Room.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Accruals:
Archival history:
Immediate source of acquisition:
The copies of letters and papers were given by Mr Winstone, May 1974.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Originals of the letters and papers owned by Maj Gen James Lunt (1974).
Related material:
RGS Correspondence Block 1911-20, Shakespear, W letters from father of W H I Shakespear about diaries and papers. Correspondence Block 1921-1930, Shakespear H T and Shakespear W letters from brother and father of Capt William Shakespear.
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Archivist's note: Prepared by an Archives volunteer using existing finding aids. Revised by Sarah Drewery.
Sources: Oxford DNB.
Date(s) of descriptions: 5 April 2001; Jul 2008.