Letter no.21 of 1854 from Captain Arnold Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf, to Arthur Malet, Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay
IOR/R/15/1/143, ff 171-173A
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The record is made up of 3 folios. It was created in 12 Jan 1854. It was written in English. 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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The letter relates to attempts by the underwriters of the cargo ship Centaur , shipwrecked and plundered in May 1852, to recover her lost cargo of indigo. Kemball writes to the Government to report that he has received a letter from Colin Campbell, Honourary Secretary of the Insurance General Committee in Calcutta, dated 7 September 1853 (folios 172-73A), in which Campbell writes that it is the underwriters’ desire to appoint an agent to the Gulf, charged with the task of tracing and recovering the Centaur’s stolen indigo. In his letter Campbell requests Kemball to procure and appoint an agent in the Gulf on the underwriters’ behalf. In his own letter to Malet, Kemball requests clarification on the extent to which he himself will be responsible for the agent and his success. Kemball expresses his doubts as to whether any indigo can be recovered, given that the stolen goods are no longer in the possession of the stolen plunderers, and that any parties now found with indigo suspected of having been taken from the Centaur proclaim ignorance of the alleged contraband nature of their goods.
- Extent and format
- 3 folios
- It is part of
- 806 imagesRef: IOR/R/15/1/143
- Written in
- English in Latin script
- Type
- Letter
Archive information for this record
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- 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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Unrestricted
- Archive reference
- IOR/R/15/1/143, ff 171-173A
- Date(s)
- 12 Jan 1854 (CE, Gregorian)
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Letter no.21 of 1854 from Captain Arnold Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf, to Arthur Malet, Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay, British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/143, ff 171-173A, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/node/9492> [accessed 20 August 2026]
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- Reference
- IOR/R/15/1/143, ff 171-173A
- Title
- Letter no.21 of 1854 from Captain Arnold Kemball, Resident in the Persian Gulf, to Arthur Malet, Chief Secretary of the Government of Bombay
- Pages
- 171r:172v, 173ar:173av
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence