Archive of Sir John Robert Chancellor

Collection

Despatches, official and personal correspondence, notes, and memoranda relating to Chancellor's work as Governor of Mauritius, Governor of Trinidad and Tobago, Governor of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), and High Commissioner for Palestine and Trans-Jordan (Jordan).

The material in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/1 is related to his career in the Army and in Defence. MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/2-3 cover his Governorship of Mauritius, MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/4-6 his Governorship of Trinidad and Tobago, and MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/7-10 his Governorship of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). The bulk of the collection, MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/11-25, is primarily concerned with his time as High Commissioner for Palestine. These boxes cover questions of immigration; land settlement and development; the Wailing Wall controversy; the dispute with the French Government regarding the route of the oil pipeline from Iraq to the Mediterranean; the reorganisation of the Palestine Police and of the Trans-Jordan Frontier Force; and the preparation of a local defence scheme.

MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/18-22 comprise material related to Chancellor's draft Memoirs. MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/18 contains the typescript of eighteen completed chapters; the material collected, and early drafts and notes, are contained in MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/19-22, in files numbered by him 1-44. These files are referred to by the letters MF (Memoir File) preceding the number. The contents of these Memoir Files are as he left them, with cross-references in the finding aid indicating where papers had been removed from their original places in his own official files. The memoirs deal exclusively with Palestine, except for MF 34, which contains notes of his early career and some reminiscences of Mauritius and Trinidad.

The last six boxes contain papers relating to Chancellor's activities after his retirement from the Colonial Service.

Dates

Creation: 1880-1955

Extent

1.89 linear metres (43 boxes)

Language of Materials

English
Arabic
French
German
Hindi
Undetermined

Preferred Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Libraries [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284].

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Full range of shelfmarks:

MSS. Brit. Emp. s. 284/1-31

Collection ID (for staff)

CMD ID 1175

Additional Description

Abstract

Archive of Sir John Robert Chancellor, colonial administrator.

Biographical / Historical

Sir John Robert Chancellor was born in 1870 and educated at Blair Lodge Academy, Polmont, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1890, and served in India with the Dongola (1896) and Tirah (1897-1898) expeditions before returning to England and entering the Staff College. In Jun 1903, Chancellor married Elsie (née Thompson), with whom he had two sons and one daughter.

In 1904, he was appointed Assistant Military Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence and from 1906 to 1911 served as Secretary of the Colonial Defence Committee. Sir Chancellor went on to serve as Governor of Mauritius (1911-1916), Governor of Trinidad and Tobago (1916-1921), and Governor of Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) (1923-1928), before serving as High Commissioner for Palestine and Trans-Jordan (Jordan) (1928-1931).

After his retirement from the Colonial Service, Chancellor took on the directorship of six companies and public service, particularly in agriculture, serving on the Agricultural Marketing Facilities Committee, Cattle Committee, and the Livestock Commission. In 1948, he began to draft his memoirs, which were left incomplete at his death in 1952.

Sir Chancellor was awarded the DSO (Companion of the Distinguished Service Order) (1898), CMG (Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George) (1909), KCMG (Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George) (1913), GCMG (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George) (1922), GCVO (Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order) (1925), and GBE (Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire) (1947). He died on 31 Jul 1952 at the family estate in Shieldhill, Lanarkshire.