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Royal Geographical Society

FAWCETT, Lt Col Percy Harrison (1867-1925)


IDENTITY STATEMENT

Reference code(s): GB 0402 PHF

Held at: Royal Geographical Society

Title: FAWCETT, Lt Col Percy Harrison (1867-1925)

Date(s): 1906-1988

Level of description: Collection level

Extent: 4 boxes and 25 files

Name of creator(s): Fawcett | Percy Harrison | 1867-[1925] | explorer | Lieutenant Colonel

CONTEXT

Administrative/Biographical history:

Born, 1867; educated at Newton School, Newton Abbott; Westminster School, 1881-1882; commission in the Royal Artillery, 1886; first posting to Trincomalee, in Ceylon, 1886; took a course of gunnery instruction at Shoeburyness, Essex, and was posted to Falmouth, Cornwall, 1890s; undercover officer sent to Morocco; undertook the War Office training on boundary survey and obtained a diploma; Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, 1901-1930 (presumed deceased); Hong Kong, then to Ceylon, 1902; posted to Spike Island, co. Cork, 1903; chief Bolivian commissioner, leading a survey party from the falls of the Rio Madeira to the source of the Rio Acre, then down the Abuna, Bolivian boundary commission, 1906-1907; exploration of the unknown upper reaches of the Rio Heath, Bolivia-Peru boundary, 1908-; third boundary survey, Bolivia-Peru boundary, 1911; resigned from the Army; rejoined the Army in First World War, 158th brigade of the Royal Field Artillery, 1916-1919; expedition to Corumbá, on the border with Bolivia, 1920-1921; several journeys between the Rio São Francisco and the Atlantic coast before he re-equipped and set off alone into the interior; organised a final expedition to Brazil in 1925, the party vanished without trace.

CONTENT

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of and relating to Percy Fawcett including 'The exploration of the Rio Aquiry', 1906-1907; letters to Reginald Pound, 1923 and to the editor of World Wide Magazine, 1923; report to the Royal Anthropological Institute, London, 15 Nov 1951, on some human remains brought from Brazil by Senor Chateaubriand and thought to be those of P. H. Fawcett; astronomical observations, Bolivia-Peru boundary and Bolivia-Brazil boundary, 1908-1910; 'The new frontier between Bolivia and Peru', 1910 and papers relating to the search for Col Fawcett.

ACCESS AND USE

Language/scripts of material: English

System of arrangement:

Original order.

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:

Detailed box list and card index.

ARCHIVAL INFORMATION

Accruals:

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Various sources.

ALLIED MATERIALS

Related material:

RGS Archives Correspondence Blocks: All correspondence from Fawcett and his wife, and letters concerning the search for Fawcett are filed in one collection: from Corr. Block, 1881-1910: 15 letters 1906-10 and 15 letters from Nina Fawcett; from Corr. Block 1911-20: 64 letters and two memoranda and 18 letters from Nina Fawcett. Corr. Block 1921-30: 24 letters 1921-25 and 3 memoranda; from Scott Keltie correspondence 72 letters 1917-25.

DESCRIPTION NOTES

Archivist's note: Prepared by 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: 7th June, 2001. Nov 2008.


INDEX ENTRIES
Subjects
Geographical data | Geography
Geographical exploration | Geography
Astronomy

Personal names
Fawcett | Percy Harrison | 1867-[1925] | explorer | Lieutenant Colonel

Corporate names
Royal Anthropological Institute

Places
Bolivia | South America
Brazil | South America
Peru | South America