‘File 16/17 i Agency Gardens’

Content

Correspondence and other papers relating to purchases for and the maintenance of the Bahrain Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. gardens. The file’s correspondents include: the 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. (Major Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett; Captain Charles Geoffrey Prior; Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch); representatives of the Manama Municipality (writing in Arabic); horticultural suppliers, including Pestonjee P Pocha & Sons of Poona, Bliss & Company of Karachi, and Imperial Chemical Industries (India) Limited; Nora Loch (née Dalyell), wife of the 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. Percy Gordon Loch.

Papers relating to purchases made for a range of supplies (including flower and vegetable seeds, bulbs, plants, garden implements, manure, artificial fertilizer, labour) include advertisements, order forms, bills, receipts, and price lists, and correspondence confirming arrangements for the delivery of items to Bahrain. Papers relating to the maintenance of the garden include correspondence relating to the recruitment of a gardener from India, water and electricity supply, and damage to a garden water tank.

Other items in the file include:

• a price list of flower and vegetable seeds supplied by Sutton & Sons and imported by Bliss & Company of Karachi, received at the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in September 1930 (ff 58-59);
• an illustrated brochure of Christmas gifts for gardens, produced by Pestonjee P Pocha & Sons, received at the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. in November 1930 (ff 73-80);
• a brochure advertising new year offers for roses, cannas, chrysanthemums, fruit trees and other plants, produced by Pestonjee P Pocha & sons (ff 115-120);
• a price list of Arthur Yates & Company’s Australian flower and vegetable seeds for 1935/1936, supplied by Bliss & Company (f 172);
• correspondence dated 1936/1937 between Nora Loch and the curator at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, Roland Edgar Cooper, concerning seeds and plants for the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Garden (ff 226-229, f 232);
• a list of cuttings and seeds planted in the Political Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. garden. The list is divided into sources (the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, local sources, the House of the Binns in Scotland, and Egypt), and arranged alphabetically by each plant’s Latin name, with date (presumably the planting date) and notes on its location (ff 183-225);
• garden diary entries for the period 16 October 1935 to 6 January 1936 (ff 238-239) and flower lists for the period 13 October 1936 to 21 March 1937 (ff 242-245). These lists are interspersed amongst correspondence sent by Nora Loch, and are likely to have been compiled by her.

Extent and format

1 file (314 folios)

Arrangement

The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 302-315) mirror the chronological arrangement.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 316; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 4-301, and ff 302-311; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

Written in

English, Arabic and Latin in Latin and Arabic script

Type

Archival file

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/15/2/1514

Former external reference(s)

English Office: File 16/17 I

History of this record

Date(s)

13 Oct 1927-8 Nov 1942 (CE, Gregorian)

Subjects

VegetablesSeedsHorticultureGardeningGardensCultivated flowers

Places

Manama

People & organisations

Manamah MunicipalityPestonjee P Pocha & Sons, horticultural suppliersBliss and Co, chemistsDame Eleanor Isabel Dalyell

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Cite this record in your research

‘File 16/17 i Agency Gardens’, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/2/1514, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000282.0x0000f9> [accessed 24 April 2024]

Link to this record

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