Papers of Sir William Luce

This collection consists of materials relating to the time that Luce spent serving in Aden and the Gulf region. Included: correspondence, offprints and printed works, including pamphlets and journals; notebooks and diaries; material relating to visits to the Gulf region; texts of speeches delivered, 1951-1973. Also included are diaries of Lady Luce, 1944-1966

Sir William Henry Tucker Luce (1907-1977) GBE, KCMG, was the Governor and Commander of Chief in Aden from 1956-1960, taking up the position of the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf during 1961-1966. As this post came to an end, he maintained links with the region, and was appointed by the British Government as their advisor on Persian Gulf affairs, being put in charge of the programme of the withdrawal of British forces from the Gulf by the end of 1971. In his capacity as UK Special Envoy he was involved in mediating between Iran and the Gulf states in their disputes with regard to the Gulf Islands of Abu Musa, the Tunbs and Sirri, boundary disputes between Saudi Arabia and various Gulf states, the formation of the United Arab Emirates and the independence of Bahrain the Qatar. After the withdrawal, he continued to make visits to the area. He also attended many conferences and seminars in the period 1966-1973, giving numerous speeches.

The collection is arranged as follows: Papers relating to Aden (A); Papers relating to the Gulf (G); Desk diaries; Diaries of Lady Luce; Pamphlets and journals.

The collection is currently housed at AWDU. Please contact the Archivist for further information. Access to some items may be restricted: please contact the Archivist for further information.

Listed by Charlotte Berry, Archivist, 17 April 2004 and encoded into EAD 1 June 2004.

A rough handlist available.

Copying of some items may be prohibited. Please contact the Archivist for further details.

Held on deposit at the University Library since 1992.

Papers from this collection relating to the Sudan were transferred to the University of Durham Library in January 1996. A few papers relating to Luce are also held at the National Archives (department codes: FO and NB).

Not known.