Maurice Ingram, diplomat: Personal correspondence and papers

His correspondence and papers consist of 32 letters mainly written to his mother, and copies of his and his mother's wills; some family photographs and newscuttings. He bequeathed a number of paintings and Chinese artefacts to the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. There are a few childhood letters, followed by letters written to his mother from the legations to which he was posted, from Oslo, Berlin, Peking and Rome. They illustrate the socially exclusive and privileged world of the diplomat in the inter-war years which saw the high-water mark of British foreign and imperial diplomacy. There is a darker tone in the letters written to his mother from the outbreak of war in September 1939. His father had died when he was a child, and his mother was now suffering from poor eyesight and a fading memory, and had been moved to the country, in the company of a nurse. However she was not prepared to accept these new arrange-ments quietly, demanding repeatedly to return to London. As a result his letters to her became increasingly fraught. In fact, after his death in May 1941 she returned to London, where she died in January 1943.

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).

Purchased, 1999.

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.