Sir Raynor Arthur Collection

A collection of photographs and slides, by various photographers, relating to the career of Sir Raynor Arthur. Apart from one photograph of Cyprus, the photograph collection relates to Arthur's last three posts (Bermuda, the Falkland Islands and the Bahamas), and, as well as more general scenes, includes images of several special events and distinguished visitors. Most of the Bermuda and Bahamas material consists of professional photographs; those of the Falkland Islands and Falkland Islands Dependencies are on the whole much less formal. Many of the photographs are identified on the back, some in Sir Raynor Arthur's writing. Lady Arthur supplied further information herself and enlisted the assistance of others. Information has also been obtained from press cuttings and articles received with the collection which can be found in the RCS Library (RCMS 256).
The slides have not yet been individually catalogued. On brief inspection they appear to include general views of riding, wildlife and ice scape scenes of the Falkland Islands and its dependencies, and the Antarctic, although some appear to be of more recent date than those covered by the photograph collection.

Oswald Raynor Arthur was born on 16 December 1905 and entered the Nigerian Political Service in 1928. He was transferred from Nigeria to Cyprus as an administrative officer in 1937; he was appointed Commissioner in 1947 and Chief Commissioner in 1948. From 1951-54 he was Colonial Secretary in Bermuda, from 1954-57 Governor and Commander in Chief of the Falkland Islands and from 1957 until his retirement in 1960 Governor and Commander in Chief of the Bahamas. In 1935 he married Mary Elizabeth Spring Rice. He lived in Sussex after retirement and died on 4 December 1973.

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).

Presented by Lady Arthur in 1981.

Includes index.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

This collection level description was entered by KS using information from the original typescript catalogue.

Arthur, Sir, Oswald Raynor, 1905-1973, Knight, colonial administrator