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File 2830/1914 Pt 1 'Persian Gulf: Sponge Fisheries. Sponge Exploration Syndicate.' [‎20r] (44/488)

The record is made up of 1 volume (240 folios). It was created in 18 May 1905-11 Dec 1916. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the 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. .

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recogmsB the right of the former to confer such a privilege outside
of the territorial waters and over the high seas situate between three
ana ten miles from the coast. llliee
The Under Secretary of State
for India.
I am, &c.,
Eric Barrington.
Annex 1.
IVfessrs. Paddison, Trevor, and De Ba Chapelle to Eoreign Office.
1 34< and 36, Gresham Street, London, E.C.,
Lord, 3 r j ]yj; a y 1907 .
. . W e are acting as solicitors to the Sponge Exploration Syndicate,
Limited, who have had granted to them on the 19th November 1905
from the Sultan of Muscat a concession for fishing for sponges in the
sea of the Sultan’s kingdoms from Eas-el-Had to Kasab, for°a period
of 15 years.
On the 24th October 1905 our clients wrote to your Lordship upon
the subject and requested your Lordship to instruct His Majesty’s
Consul at Muscat to afford the Company’s representative all the
assistance and protection that their interests required; we do not
ourselves know whether the British Consul at Muscat received
instructions upon the matter, but as before mentioned, on the 19th
November 1905 a concession was granted to the Sponge Exploration
Syndicate, Limited, by the Sultan.
Our clients now propose to actively work the concession, but they
are informed that there is some commercial treaty between His
Majesty’s Government and the Sultan of Muscat, and on their behalf
we shall be much obliged if your Lordship would be good enough to
inform us that the concession, copy of which is enclosed, in no way
infringes nor interferes with the rights of other persons protected by
that treaty, and that His Majesty’s Government recognises the
concession as being perfectly in order.
We remain, &c.,
Paddison, Trevor, and De la Chapelle.
The Secretary of State,
Eoreign Office.
Annex 2.
(Translation.)
The Sponge Exploration Syndicate, Limited.
Concession from the Sultan of Muscat.
Erom Eys El Bin Turki.
To all who may see this.
This is to notify to you that Wb have leased to the Sponge
Exploration Syndicate, Limited, of 39, Duke Street, St. Mary Axe,
London, the sea of our Kingdoms, only from Las-el-Had to Kasab m
length, and from Bas-el-Had to a distance of ten miles m breadth, on
the following conditions :—
Clause 1 .—Only sponge shall be fished, and if anything besides was
discovered, it should be delivered to us.
Clause 2. We should appoint an overseer, on our behalf,
superintend over the employes in the boats; and he should not
hindered or prevented.
to
he

About this item

Content

The volume concerns the attempts of a British company called the Sponge Exploration Syndicate to obtain concessions for the fishing and exploitation of sponges in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. . However, the papers indicate that it was felt by British officials that the real object of the company was to exploit the Gulf's pearl banks, which entailed the risk of infringing Britain's treaty obligations with the Arab states.

The principal correspondents are the Foreign Office; Major Percy Zachariah Cox, acting as Consul-General for Fars, Khuzistan etc., and Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. ; officials of the 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. and the Government of India; the Viceroy of India (the Earl of Minto); and the Sponge Exploration Syndicate Limited.

The papers include: letters of application for concession rights from the company; the granting of a concession to the company by the Government of Persia; the granting of a concession to the company by the Sultan of Muscat; a report by the British Museum, on the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. as a possible area for successful sponge fisheries (folios 175-176); the involvement of the company with the rulers of the Trucial Coast A name used by Britain from the nineteenth century to 1971 to refer to the present-day United Arab Emirates. ; and the rights of British-protected Arabs. The volume also contains an Admiralty chart of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. on folio 50.

The French language content of the volume consists of an agreement on folios 129-131.

The date range gives the covering dates of the main items of correspondence. This is mainly dated 1905-09, with one item dated 1916. The correspondence also includes enclosures dated 1892 (folios 214-215).

Each part includes a divider which gives the subject and part numbers, year the subject file was opened, subject heading, and list of correspondence references contained in that part by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence (folio 1).

Extent and format
1 volume (240 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 2830 ( Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. : Sponge and Pearl Fisheries) consists of two volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/456-457. The volumes are divided into two parts with each part comprising one volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 242; 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.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 2830/1914 Pt 1 'Persian Gulf: Sponge Fisheries. Sponge Exploration Syndicate.' [‎20r] (44/488), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/456, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100038235550.0x00002d> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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