| Admin/Biog History | Thomas Nelson Waterfield (1799-1862), the great grandfather of Humphrey Waterfield (1929-1970), was a British civil servant; he worked within the India Board of Control as Secretary of the Political and Intelligence Department, the appointment within the civil service was obtained for Waterfield by Thomas Peregrine Courtenay, a British politican. Through his position in the India Board of Control, Thomas Nelson Waterfield was able to send his two brothers, his sons and other relatives into the India army or civil adminstration. |
| Description | This series contains correspondence received by Thomas Nelson Waterfield in his capacity as an employee of the India Board of Control, exclusively from Francis Folijambe Courtenay, Private Secretary to the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, dating from 1848-1857. Where exceptions apply, they have been highlighted in the catalogue.
The correspondence includes discussion and reports on political and social situations in both India and Britain and therefore provides a record of life in British India under the rule of the East India Company for a short period in the 1850s. In particular, the letters document the period prior to the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the establishment of the British Raj. They document Courtenay's thoughts and observations on a wide range of subjects including, but not limited to:
-people (eg. friends, colleagues, public figures etc.)
-Indian current affairs (eg. railway/canal works, postal service, activities of the East India Company etc.)
-British current affairs (eg. UK elections, politicians, the Great Exhibition etc)
-conflicts and battles (eg. Siege of Mooltan [Multan], Second Burmese War, Crimean War etc.)
It is understood that the correspondence between Waterfield and Courtenay was exchanged in a professional capacity, but their informal nature suggests that they were separately acquainted. This is also supported by the fact that after Courtenay left his position in India in 1856, he continued to write to Waterfield. (see DHW/4/10)
It has not been possible to reference every single piece of information contained within the letters in the catalogue. Instead, only substantial references, where the discussion consist of at least a couple of lines, have been listed. Where this is the case, the date of the individual letters has been noted, so that it is possible to find these references.
Key individuals referenced in the letters fluctuate from year to year depending on political and social events, and so reference is made to these figures at the beginning of the relevant catalogue description.
The spellings used by Courtenay for place names and conflicts have been used in the catalogue. |