Falkland Islands album

This material is held atRoyal Commonwealth Society Library

  • Reference
    • GB 115 RCS/RCMS 273
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1845-1982
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • English .
  • Physical Description
    • 1 archive box(es) 1 box art work/paper/photograph

Scope and Content

An album of blank paper measuring 245 x 300 mm. The first thirty pages contain a miscellaneous collection of inserted photographs, original drawings and watercolours, mostly of maritime and naval interest and of family holidays, ranging in date from 1845 to 1900. There are eight original pictures of the Falkland Islands area, some of which are initialled G.M.H. or R.C.H. The last item is a photograph of troops embarking for the South African War in 1900.

Administrative / Biographical History

The album may have been the property of the Hamond family of Twyford Hall, Norfolk. The initials G.M.H. or R.C.H. may stand for Georgena Maria and Richenda Catherine Hamond, daughters of Captain Philip Hamond, who sailed to the Falkland Islands in 1848. Hamond was accompanied by his friend Captain Bartholomew James Sulivan, a Royal Navy officer who had carried out survey work around the islands and South America between 1838-39 and 1842-46. Sulivan farmed on the Falklands during three years of leave from 1848 to 1851.

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

Purchased from Spots, 1912.

Note

Includes index.

Other Finding Aids

MSS 795 V

Donald H. Simpson, ed., 'The manuscript catalogue of the library of the Royal Commonwealth Society' (London, 1975), p. 150; MSS Addenda, vol. III.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

the album's binding is broken; its contents are in good to fair condition.

Bibliography

'A Falklands Islands mystery' in 'Royal Commonwealth Society library notes', no. 97, January 1965, pp. 1-3, and no. 98, p. 8, lists the original pictures in the album and discusses the problem of identifying the artists. There are further references to the album in 'Library notes', nos 248 and 249, April-June 1982. A watercolour of Port Stanley, 1844 or 1845, at the front of the album was reproduced by the C.O.I. for a set of pictures distributed to British Embassies and Consulates in May 1982.

Additional Information

This item level description was created by MJC using information from the original typescript catalogue.

Hamond family