'Parsons Collection: Album of views of India and South-East Asia by Major General Sir Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons'

Content

Full leather bound album measuring 352 x 500 mm, decorated with blind tooling, and with initials 'A.P.' stamped in gold in centre of front cover. The album is numbered '5' on the front cover. The album is enclosed in a card slipcase. Binding by Zaehnsdorf, London. Prints are mounted several to a page, with handwritten captions and identifications in ink beneath each image.The views in this album are almost entirely amateur work and the contents can be broken down into the following broad headings:

Prints 1-49 Snapshot views of architecture at Ahmadabad, Allahabad, Gwalior, Agra, Sanchi, Mandu, Kotah, Chittaurgarh, Udaipur, Jaipur, 1940-41.

Prints 50-86 Snapshot views in Afghanistan, including views of rock-cut Buddha image at Bamian, 1941.Prints 87-98 Snapshoy views of Sikkim (Gangtok area) and Tibet (Yatung), 1941.

Prints 99-101 Snapshot views of Moscow, 1942.

Prints 102-143 Snapshot views, mainly mountain scenery, taken during Kashmir-Kagan tour, August 1942.

Prints 144-227 Snapshot views of North-West Frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. , Iraq, Iran (Persian tour of April 1943).

Prints 228-266 Snapshot views of North Africa: Egypt, Libya, Sudan, with a few views of Nicosia, 1943-4.

Prints 267-310 Snapshot views of England, with two views of the Quetta Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. (271-2), 1945-51.

Prints 311-425 Snapshot views of African tour, 1951-52.

Prints 426-448 Snapshot views of England and Ireland, 1952-53.

Prints 449-490 Snapshot views of Pakistan tour, with some views of Afghanistan, 1954-55.

Prints 491-554 Snapshot views of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Africa, 1956-57.

Prints 555-599 Snapshot views of North and South America and Canada, 1957-58.

Prints 600-614 Snapshot views of England and Spain, 1959-60.

Prints 615-642 Snapshot views of Port Said, Aden, Malaysia and Singapore, 1961.

Prints 643-703 Snapshot views of Cambodia, with a few views of Bangkok and one English view (703), 1961.

The complete collection comprises four albums, Photo 667/1-4. For Parsons' papers, see Mss. Eur. D.696.

Major General Sir Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons (1884-1966) entered The Sherwood Foresters in 1906 and the 52nd Sikhs Frontier Force in 1908. He joined the Indian Political Department in 1919 and served in the Third Afghan War 1919 and the Waziristan Operations of 1921-22. From 1936-39 he was Agent to the Governor General, Baluchistan, in the latter year also serving as Acting Governor, North-West Frontier Region of British India bordering Afghanistan. Province. He served at GHQ, Middle East from 1943-44.

Donated by Major R. V. E. Hodson, Mar 1983. See file IOLR/E/1/272/2.

703 prints

Extent and format

Full leather bound album measuring containing 642 silver gelatin The principal photographic process used for black and white photography from the 1870s. prints mounted several per page and indicated with handwritten captions

It is grouped into

'Aurora (Argonant), Bahrain.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/491

'Oil Jetty-Mina el Ahmedi.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/496

'Oil flare-Ahmadi.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/497

'Constellation at Kuwait.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/498

'North end of Awali.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/499

'Manama' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/500

'Portuguese Fort, Bahrain'. Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/501

'N. L. at Portuguese fort.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/502

'Mosque – Suq el Khamis' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/503

'Mosque at Suq el Khamis' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/504

'Jetty at Sitra.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/505

'British Sailor at Mina.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/506

'British Sailor.' Photographer: Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

1 image

Ref: Photo 667/4/507

Physical characteristics

Dimensions:

352 x 500 mm

Written in

English in Latin script

Type

Photograph

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

Photo 667/4

History of this record

Date(s)

1950s-1960s (CE, Gregorian)

People & organisations

Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons

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'Parsons Collection: Album of views of India and South-East Asia by Major General Sir Arthur Edward Broadbent Parsons', British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Photo 667/4, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/mirador/81055/vdc_100023331896.0x000001> [accessed 2 April 2025]

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