![An Account of a Journey in Kashmir by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer and Letters from Emily Overend Lorimer to her Parents sent from Bahrain and Kerman [‎630v] (1282/1291)](https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000323.0x0002bc/Mss Eur D922_1_1282.jp2/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg "An Account of a Journey in Kashmir by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer and Letters from Emily Overend Lorimer to her Parents sent from Bahrain and Kerman [‎630v] (1282/1291)")
An Account of a Journey in Kashmir by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer and Letters from Emily Overend Lorimer to her Parents sent from Bahrain and Kerman [630v] (1282/1291)
The record is made up of 2 files (630 folios). It was created in 1898-1914. It was written in English and Persian. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Sar 1 Asiyab
nr. KERMAN
15 - 10
14 .
(ilo
Another empty week. However we hope that next week may
hrlng us a treble supply. It seems that the mall service Is In
Gulf Is being carried on by the three smallest of the B.I. boats
all the rest being requisitioned by Govt, so one must take the
privation of letters as a part of one's contribution to the war.
w e are still out here, but Intend to go In for good on Sat.
We shall then have Just completed 4 weeks, and If there Is any hope
of getting off from here, It Is high time to begin to think of
packing storing and other arrangements. I have typewritten
several copies of lists of the goods we would willingly sell, but
there Is little hope that anyone will be In a position to buy.
Everything that we do not Immediately need we shall pack carefully
and leave here In store; It would be much more convenient to store
It at B.A. If the climate were good; but carpets etc. would stand a
fair chance of getting rotte^ or eaten.
Meantime the more Immediate packing problem Is that of getting
back to town In a couple of days. Our holiday has simply flown.
It has been very pleasant; but as L. has been working about £ or
^nours a day, it has not been exactly a vacation. However, In
reward he has about 400 closely written M.S. pp. of Bakhtlarl, a
Trade Report Just completed, wh. If not yet the scientifically
accurate production one would like It to be, Is at least a great
Improvement on Its predecessors. The Index Is finished and
therewith Part I really off our minds, for the second proofs cannot
give a lot of trouble. In addition I have made a copy of the'fc
3000 lihes of Bkh. poetry and we are posting them to G.A.O., so
that even if all the rest gets lost there will be something saved
from the wreck.
I am ploughing along through Gladstone; he becomes more endur
able in vol. two when at the age of 50 he has at last got on to one
side of the hedge. Curiously, the whole question of his finance
and his budgets is absorbingly Interesting. At least he had a
high conception of the duties of a Chancellor of the Ex. I v r onder
, what his greatly economical mind with its stem eye for a possibly
reducible sinecure would think, or is thinking, of his present
successor. No man should be turned loose to play ducks and
drakes with the nation's resources eho has not at least passed a seY
ere examination in subjects of finance, and knows the difference
between one source of revenue and another and above all - %urk e 1 s
beloved maxim "parsAmonla vectlgal est". Cwtio holds^
i am reading with much keener pleasure Rusklns stones of Venice,
lhat a man he Is to write, he is as lucid as Euclid and as splendid
ly Impulsive USIT Macaulay' and alive. But the patient labour that
must have gone Into collecting and arranging his material Is
almost overwhelming. The Stones promises to be a mosyepcouraging
Introduction to architecture about wh. I know absolutely nothing.
For a further variety, for one cannot read too long at one subject
About this item
- Content
This file consists of two separate physical files as follows:
1) An account of a journey in Kashmir in 1898-99 written by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer of the Indian Army. His account is entitled 'Three Months of Privilege Leave'. It contains his observations on the languages, peoples, transport, flora and fauna, trade and climate of the region. There are occasional edits and corrections to the original text marked in red pen. The Persian language material in the file is a proverb written on folio 194.
In addition to this travel diary, the following is enclosed: an essay by Lorimer entitled 'Modern Education' dated 9 February 1895 (folios 1-24); two copies of a pamphlet that was published 'for private circulation' in memory of David's brother, John Gordon Lorimer, following his death on 8 February 1914 (folios 255-262); and another essay by Lorimer entitled 'Our Indian N.W. Frontier - a study in a bye-gone Civilisation. A forgotten Chapter of Frontier History' (folios 221-253).
2) Copies of letters that were sent from Emily Overend Lorimer to her parents, Thomas George Overend and Hannah Kingsbury. The letters describe the lives of Emily and her husband, David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer (referred to as 'Lock' in the letters), while living in Bahrain from October 1911 until November 1912 (folios 263-310) and in Kerman from January 1913 until November 1914 (folios 313-634). David served as 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. in Bahrain 1911-12 and as HM Consul, Kerman and Persian Baluchistan, 1913-14.
The letters discuss a range of topics including Lorimer's observations of local customs, food, climate, scenery and festivals; the couple's domestic life and arrangements (especially their servants, who are often discussed in racialised, insulting language); and her interactions with other non-local residents. Also discussed are Lorimer's reading habits, her and her husband's health, family news and, occasionally, world events and political developments.
On folios 322-324, the file contains a description of a walk around Kerman in March 1914 that is accompanied by a sequence of six small black and white photographs of various points in the journey (folios 315-321).
In addition to these letters, the file also contains a number obituaries and letters of condolence written upon the death of David's brother, John Gordon Lorimer, on 8 February 1914 (folios 299-302, 415-416 and 543-544).
On folio 417, the file contains an obituary of David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer published in an unknown newspaper following his death on 26 February 1962.
- Extent and format
- 2 files (630 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: this file consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence commences at the front cover of volume one (ff 1-262) and terminates at the inside back cover of volume two (ff 263-634); 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 Persian in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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An Account of a Journey in Kashmir by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer and Letters from Emily Overend Lorimer to her Parents sent from Bahrain and Kerman [630v] (1282/1291), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur D922/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100179946967.0x00008d> [accessed 21 July 2026]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur D922/1
- Title
- An Account of a Journey in Kashmir by David Lockhart Robertson Lorimer and Letters from Emily Overend Lorimer to her Parents sent from Bahrain and Kerman
- Pages
- 263r:298v, 303r:306v, 309r:391v, 393r:411v, 418r:542v, 545r:634v
- Author
- Lorimer, Emily Martha
- Copyright
- ©Munro Family
- Usage terms
- Creative Commons Attribution Licence