An incomplete, printed report, 86 pages, with manuscript marginal annotations and a 2-page typed introduction by the R.C.S. Librarian. The report comprises papers respecting the declaration of a British Protectorate over the Gilbert Islands by Captain Davis, of H.M.S. 'Royalist', and general reports on the Gilbert, Ellice and Marshall Islands. The original cover, which is made out of a linen-backed chart of Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania, is bound in at the start. Loose with the volume is a typescript copy of some of the sections of the report.
Report on Gilbert and Ellice Islands
This material is held atRoyal Commonwealth Society Library
- Reference
- GB 115 RCS/RCMS 310
- Dates of Creation
- 1892
- Name of Creator
- Language of Material
- English .
- Physical Description
- 1 volume(s) 1 volume paper
Scope and Content
Administrative / Biographical History
Admiral Edward Henry Meggs Davis (1846-1929) served in Japan at the bombardment of Kagosima, 1863, and at the capture of the Forts Simonoseki, 1864. He was a member of the Naval Brigade during the Kaffir War, 1877-1878, and took part in the Zulu War of 1879. Davis was involved in the establishment of British dominion over the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, hoisting the flag on thirteen islands of the Gilbert Group during 1892. He was appointed a member of the Legislative Council of Jamaica in 1900, and subsequently became Assessor to the House of Lords in Admiralty Appeals. He died on 6 October 1929.
Access Information
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Acquisition Information
Presented by Mrs C.R. Swayne, 1922.
Note
Includes index.
Other Finding Aids
MSS 96
Donald H. Simpson, ed., 'The manuscript catalogue of the library of the Royal Commonwealth Society' (London, 1975), p. 178.
A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.
Alternative Form Available
The contents of the volume are similar, but not identical to Foreign Office Confidential Print 6269 in P.R.O. ADM 1/7113: Z.172/1892.
Additional Information
This collection level description was created by RAS. The biographical history was compiled with reference to the entry on Admiral Davis in 'Who was who', vol. III, 1929-1940 (London, 1967), p. 339.
Davis, Edward Henry Meggs, 1846-1929, Admiral