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'AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SIR HERBERT TODD, C.I.E. 1893-1977' [215r] (429/498)
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.
floor, a large bedroom with attached sitting-room. Flowers arrived from
1. Charles L. the Public Relations Officer, 2. the N.E.D.C. (Near East
Development Corporation) who were one of the I.P.C. Groups, 3* corsage from
the Shepherds, roses from the Rathbones, he the senior member of the N.E.D.C.
We had a quiet evening with tea and dinner in our room. Nice summer
temperature of 72° - these deep, canyon-like streets do not let in much air!
Next day was nice and sunny so we went up the Empire State Building, one
hundred-and-two floors up, the highest skyscraper in the world, one thousand
three-hundred-and-forty feet. Fantastic view over all Manhattan Island. Back
to hotel for lunch.
J>
At 5 p.m. Charles D. arrives to conduct us to N.E.D.C. reception for us
in the library of the hotel. A big reception of Jersey, Socony and other
oil company people, including Mr. Hills, Consul General for Iraq with whom we
exchanged memories, and many others who had called on us in Baghdad.
After the reception Mr. and Mrs. D., Mr. and Mrs. L., Mr. and Mrs. Case
took us over to the Plaza Restaurant, Persian Room for dinner - rather noisy!
And so to a welcome bed!
Next day I went to Charles D.’s luxurious offices, met many oily men and I
gave a talk on the M.E. and replied to questions. To a private lunch room
in the building which has several restaurants and even a 60?o discount shop -
all subsidised of course. Even a club with #1,500 a year subscription - paid
mostly by the companies! American industrialists are well ^iled’ !! That
evening we were taken to the Carlton Restaurant for dinner with twelve other
guests, all who had visited or stayed with us in Baghdad. Taken to a musical
"Say Darling 11 , very vapid and silly - wouldn f t go down in London!
Next day I went r©und to a photographer for cabinet-sized photos, as
arranged by the Kiwanis Club of New Orleans to whom I have been asked to speak
when we visit New Orleans in the course of our tour. Nancy went off to a
ladies’ lunch with Kay Shepherd at their home in the country soms forty minutes’
drive away which she greatly enjoyed in a lovely, thickly wooded country.
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).
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- 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.