‘Letters inward; `diaries of Captain Hamerton’s proceedings at Sharjah’’

Content

The file contains correspondence and other papers received by the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. during 1840. The principal correspondents are Commodore George Barnes Brucks, Commanding the Naval Squadron in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Commander Anthony H Nott of the Honourable Company’s Brigantine Tigris , and Captain Atkins Hamerton, Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Muscat from May 1840.

Key subjects covered by the correspondence are:

• Captain Hamerton’s reconnaissance to Bryeemee [Al Buraymī] in January 1840. This includes diary entries for the period 27 November 1839 to 6 January 1840, covering Hamerton’s preparations for his trip at Sharjah (folios 1-10), and a report on Hamerton’s trip to Sharjah, Al Buraymī and Saha [Sohar?], containing descriptions of Al Buraymī, its fort, defences, population, resources, communications (folios 28-39);
• Discussions between British officials and naval officers relating to the mooring of vessels in the Bushire roads, the recruitment of pilots at Karrack [Jazīreh-ye Khārk] and rates of pay for pilots;
• Affairs and incidents at Bahrain (spelt Bahrein throughout) and the Arab coast, reported by Brucks;
• Correspondence from Hamerton, now in his post as Consul and Political Agent A mid-ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Agency. at Muscat, on proposals for cooperation between the British fleet in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , and the Imam of Muscat’s [Sa‘id bin Sulṭān] fleet, including a description of the Sa‘id bin Sulṭān’s fleet (folios 48-51);
• Correspondence relating to the slave trade in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , including ‘reports of guard’, forwarded by Commander Nott of the Tigris , containing details of the slave found on vessels flying under the Muscat or Arab flag, with details of the numbers of slaves found, gender and age, their origins, price, the duty paid on them, and profits made from the slave trade at Muscat, Bushire and Bussorah [Basra] (folios 80, 86-90, 100-06).

Extent and format

1 file (114 folios)

Arrangement

The first part of the file (ff 1-10) comprises chronologically arranged diary entries, with the date written in the left-hand margin of each page. The second part of the file (ff 11-109) comprises letters, also arranged in chronological order, from the earliest first to the latest at the end.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: There is a foliation sequence, which is circled in pencil, in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. of each folio. It begins on the first folio after the front cover, on number 1, and ends on the last folio before the back cover, on number 109. Foliation anomalies: f 3 is followed by f 3A; f 8 is followed by f 8A; f 44 is followed by f 44A; f 82 is followed by f 82A.

Pagination: There is an incomplete pagination sequence, which is written in ink, in the top right corners of the rectos and in the top left corners of the versos.

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Letter book

Access & Reference

Original held at

British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity.

Access conditions

Unrestricted

Archive reference

IOR/R/15/1/89

Former external reference(s)

Vol 123

History of this record

Date(s)

13 Aug 1839-19 Dec 1840 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

Slave tradeGeographical explorationMarine navigation

Places

BahreinKarrack (island)Bryeemee

People & organisations

Tigris, shipCommander of the brigantine TigrisPolitical Agent and Consul, ZanzibarSenior Naval Officer in the Persian Gulf

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Cite this record in your research

‘Letters inward; `diaries of Captain Hamerton’s proceedings at Sharjah’’, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/89, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000193.0x00003e> [accessed 19 April 2024]

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