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'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977' [108r] (215/498)
The record is made up of 1 file (247 folios). It was created in 1976-1978. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
- 106 -
a fair share and not be a hanger on to civilisation - arrogance and boasting
and superiority not all from the west, India has its full share of it. ?o
me, coming from the north of India, I was so astonished to find what was,
after all, an Indian audience, so well up in English that their Vice-Chancellor
could address them in English and all v/ould fully understand.
Bishop Corfield and Mrs, Garfield came to stay - he was an elder brother
of the C in our Political Service,
News came in over our new radio of the sinking of the German raider -
the "Scharnhorst".
On January 1st honours I received the C.I.E. - after thirty years* service.
I feel it has been too long delayed when others, much my junior, and with not
such good reports have received the award long ago,
I received an invitation from the Viceroy for Nancy and me to go and stay
at Viceroy House in Delhi. Nancy had to attend a Girl Guides' rally and
m^ke a speech which was good experience for her. I reckon we have over two
thousand five hundred Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in this Political
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.
.
we went by train to Madras where we stayed with Sir H. and Lady Hood for
tw© days. We had a very pleasant stay with the Hoods and saw something of
Madras and the place where St. Thomas is supposed to have been martyred.
In February 1944 we flev* to Delhi - Nancy's first ever flight. Her
stopped teeth ached at height, but pain went as we dropped down to land. We
landed at Bangalore and stayed the night at the
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.
with the Frasers.
Next day on to Delhi where a car met us and took us t© the Viceroy's house
where we found ourselves installed in a large suite of rooms. Several of
our friends were also there. Also Sir C. Mackenzie, the blind man, who got
the well-known hostel for blind people going.
The Viceroy held the investiture where I received my C.I.E. - ceremonioiE
business of walking the length of a long room when the Viceroy presented
orders to me and some ten others. We had to walk backwards from the Viceroy,
which was a bit awkward.
About this item
- Content
Memoirs of Sir Herbert Todd (1893-1985) of the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. , later of the Iraq Petroleum Company. Written during the years 1976-78, the memoirs begin by recounting Todd's childhood on his family's farm in Kent, his education and entrance into the Home Civil Service in 1912, and his entrance into the Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. in 1913. Roughly half of the memoirs (ff 10-137) covers Todd's career up to 1947, which can be summarised as follows:
- Posted to the Indian Police, Burma [Myanmar], 1913-17 (ff 10-22)
- Served in the 11th Bengal Lancers (Probyn's Horse), Indian Army, in Mesopotamia [Iraq], 1917-19 (ff 22-24)
- Remained in Baghdad as Assistant Commissioner of Police, Baghdad East Subdivision, 1919-20 (ff 25-31)
- Transferred to Indian Political Service The branch of the British Government of India with responsibility for managing political relations between British-ruled India and its surrounding states, and by extension the Gulf, during the period 1937-47. , holding positions in Baluchistan, 1921; Gilgit, 1927; Quetta, 1931; Bharatpur, 1936-39 (ff 31-67)
- Served in the Home Guard during extended leave (1939-40), first in Canfield, Essex, and later in Blackheath, London (ff 68-72), followed by a spell as an air warden while awaiting re-posting to India (ff 72-78)
- First attempt at passage to India abandoned when the ship he was travelling on, SS Simla , was torpedoed, September 1940 (ff 79-88)
- Returned to India, holding positions at Udaipur, 1940 (ff 93-97); Baluchistan, 1941 (ff 97-101); Cochin [Kochi] and Travancore, 1943 (ff 101-111); and Calcutta [Kolkata] and the Eastern States, 1944-47 (ff 111-134)
- Returned to London on leave, April 1947; career brought to an abrupt end in June 1947 with the announcement of the handing over of power and Indian independence (ff 135-137).
The last hundred or so folios relate to Todd's employment in the Iraq Petroleum Company (IPC), 1948-59 (ff 138-227), and his subsequent retirement in Oxted, Surrey, 1959-78 (ff 227-248). As Chief Representative of the IPC, Todd and his wife spent much of their time in Baghdad. The memoirs document Todd's relations with prominent Iraqi politicians, diplomats, and visiting British MPs, as well as Todd's visits to Beirut, Damascus, Palestine, Jordan, Kuwait, Persia [Iran] and the United States. Also included are Todd's thoughts on the Suez Crisis and the 1958 revolution in Iraq (Todd was holidaying in Austria at the time and never returned to Baghdad).
Aside from his career, Todd writes about his hobbies (polo and hunting) and comments on UK and world events, such as the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the death of Winston Churchill, and the first moon landing in July 1969; he also mentions in passing meeting Professor Max Mallowan and Agatha Christie at the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud (Iraq) in April 1955.
The text is typewritten with annotations and crossings out in pencil and ink. It includes some offensive terms and language in its descriptions of members of colonised populations.
- Extent and format
- 1 file (247 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 249; 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. The file also contains an original printed foliation sequence. It should be noted that number 13 in the original foliation sequence is missing (in between folios 14 and 15).
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F226/30
- Title
- 'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977'
- Pages
- 2r:248v
- Author
- Todd, Sir Herbert John
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- The copyright status is unknown. Please contact [email protected] with any information you have regarding this item.