Diary of a British officer and his wife in India during the First World War

The officer records entries for each day of the year. His wife, Dolly, continues to write diary entries whilst her husband is on active service in Mespotamia. The diary offers an insight into both writers' thoughts and concerns regarding their lifestyle and domestic arrangements; relations with other British families and with their native servants and merchants; hopes of promotion; food and drink; clothes and household goods; sports and recreations; and extensive travel, including a description of a train journey to Arakkonam on 13 April. The diary provides a detailed picture of the life of a British couple living in India during the First World War: it is a picture of life largely untouched by the rigours and tragedies of war-torn Europe.

Little is known about either of the two writers of the diary or their background. Internal evidence indicates that the officer was born on 1 March 1884 and the couple we married on 28 April 1915. The officer's wife's birthday is recorded on 3 November and her mother's birthday is recorded on 3 September. The diary also mentions other family members and on 27 August Dolly writes that 'Col. Loudon [is] my hubbles aunt's husband'.

The officer appears to have belonged to an Anglo-Indian family and he mentions his father in Bangalore. It is possible that the writer of the diary is a Major Sutton although this is by no means certain. At the end of the diary is included a copy of a letter from Colonel Hutton Dawson to Sir Elliot Colvin, strongly recommending 'Sutton is in every way the man to succeed me when my time is up'. Sir Elliot Colvin was Chief Commissioner of Ajmer-Merwara, an isolated British province in Rajputana. He retired in 1918.

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

Purchased August 1998.

Please see full catalogue for more information.

Papers arranged and described by Mark Eccleston, February 2010

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