Skip to item: of 1,291
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

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 [‎410r] (839/1291)

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.

Apply page layout

KERMAN

28 - 6 - 1 * 13 .
'vc'^^
It’s atort commona you are all going to get tnia wee*
lor tne aoraeatio criaea are tnioiteriing (if I nugr oe allowed
139 p&raae. Gtulaic Ruaain „as teo-totally oi ^appeareu,
ciiougn 1^ months ’ wagea are cate to ilui of oourae if ne
aoes turn up again, we snail pay nita off cuia anow nim tne door
Tfie nice active little waafc-np ooy nas M.evaloped a oona-fide
sore leg ana rauat rest for several dayaj Mr Steward's ooy
wno we iieara a few days* ago-was t Linking of orying off tLe
journey to TspaLan Las also disappears- so we are reduced to
Haji Ali ana tno new MuLamia&a. T^is latter is an ex-xaaaon 1
He is doing wonderfully well and learning very quickly, cut of
course is still awkwara ana aoos not understand salt-oellara
nor otner refinement a. However, Le is playing up ana working
Lard ana we are pulling along beautifully, V.'e z.A:u. we snail
Lowever, nolo, our naua aid not issue invitations to dinners
just at tLe moment. Oi course at tne big niiorm-At-Home
an Tuesaay ana also at tne Tennis At-Home an 'reanesaay we snail
be able to call in tne aid ox ins tnree xarrasLes to nand tea
ana so fortn arid I nave no no act tnat we Si:.all manage very well.
TLe cook is playing up too ana nan started on tLe caka-oaking
witn a good will ana great success so i&r. lx Le goes ill
we are goi^ig to snut tLe Consulate aiiu go to uea l
Our news Ox tne Bulucnis is still nil; tLey Lave gone
beyond tLe read, of da teiegrapn line, procaoly oack to tneir
own country. Not, nowever, cefore tLey naa done a lot of
damage ana planaore- several caravans. TLese latter contained
a lot of our tLings out we don’t know yot exactly wnat; we
tLink our seven cases of stores and all our tooacco aid
probaoly Our longed-for electric calls sua looks etc. are
among tLe spoils. Anything tLey could not aerry off or use
tney ournt or broke up, arid tne Salar Nuarat — *Lo, oy tie way
denies na/iug ^aa to "ouy nimself oil" — says ns saw tne road
strewn witn "little oreaas" (i.^. European oisciuts). Brutes !
We nave neara xrom Mr. WrigLt tnat ne is waitirjg on tLe
far aide of Den Bakri Pass naving Leara tnat a large party
waa lurking xor nixa (wnetLer of Balucnis or some otuer lot we
don't know), rook telegrapneu tc tLe Cov, of Bam to ao wnat ne
could (wLicn ox course is nothing at all) but we nopa soon to

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

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

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 [‎410r] (839/1291), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur D922/1, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100179946970.0x0000c7> [accessed 27 June 2026]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100179946970.0x0000c7">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 [&lrm;410r] (839/1291)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100179946970.0x0000c7">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000323.0x0002bc/Mss Eur D922_1_0839.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000323.0x0002bc/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image