SHAKESPEAR, Capt William Henry Irvine (1878-1915)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0402 WHI
Held at	: Royal Geographical Society   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.rgs.org/OurWork/Collections/Collections.htm ›
Full 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 & 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

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

The copies of letters and papers were given by Mr Winstone, May 1974.

Allied Materials

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.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Prepared by an Archives volunteer using existing finding aids. Revised by Sarah Drewery.
Sources: Oxford DNB.

Rules or conventions:
ISAD(G) ed. 2, name authority NRA.

Date(s) of descriptions:
5 April 2001; Jul 2008.