THESIGER, Wilfred (1910-2003)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0402 WTH
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	: THESIGER, Wilfred (1910-2003)
Date(s)	: 1946-1994
Level of description	: Collection level
Extent	: 1 box, 10 files
Name of creator(s)	: Thesiger | Sir | Wilfred Patrick | 1910-2003 | Knight | diplomat and author

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born, 1910; educated, Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford; Honarary Attache of Duke of Gloucester's Mission to Abyssinia, for Haile Selassie's coronation, 1930; Explored Danakil country of Abyssinia and the Aussa Sultanate, 1933-1934; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), 1934; awarded Back Grant from the RGS, 1935; Sudan Political Service, Darfur and the Upper Nile, 1935-1940; Served in Ethiopia, Syria and Western Desert with Sudan Defence Force and Special Air Service; worked in Arabia with the Desert Locusts Research Organisation, 1945; explored Southern Arabia, twice crossing the Empty Quarter, 1945-1949; RGS Founder's Medal, 1948; returned to England in the 1990s; died, 2003.
Publications: Arabian Sands (1959)
The Marsh Arabs (1964)

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, 1946-1994, including lists of fossils, rocks and minerals collected in Arabia, 1947; copies of letters from Thesiger to various correspondents; route notebook from Kachu to Jalalabad, Nuristan, 28 Jul-4 Sep 1956; meteorological observations Rub al Khali, Arabia, 1947; tabulated traverse by draftsman for the 1949 expedition from Muwaiqih; loose notes and notebooks, 1947-1948; seating plan for Thesiger's 80th birthday dinner at the Royal Geographical Society, 6 Jun 1990; transcript of an interview with Thesiger for a Channel 4 television documentary, Heart of a Nomad, Aug 1994; appendices to an article by Thesiger, 'A New Journey in Southern Arabia' published in The Geographical Journal, Vol. 108, No. 4/6 (Oct-Dec, 1946), pp 129-145 and envelope containing notes of payments for camels and servants, South Arabia.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

As outlined in Scope and Content.

Conditions governing access:

Accessible 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 Archivist's discretion, and subject to completion of 'application for copies' form. No reproduction or publication without permission of the RGS-IBG Archivist.

Finding aids:

Hand list available in the Foyle Reading Room.

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Unknown. Channel 4 transcript received, 1994.

Allied Materials

Related material:

RGS Archives - Correspondence Blocks 1931-1940 and 1941-1950. Newspaper files 26(d); cuttings of 1934-1935 Geographers in WW", Box 2; letters from Thesiger to F J R Rodd, (ref: RODD, F J R 14/1 and 14/3).

Thesiger's 25,000 negatives are in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford.

Publication note:

Description Notes

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

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

Date(s) of descriptions:
15^th February, 2001. May 2008.