Acc.13124 October 2010 Revised January 2013

Inventory

Acc.13124

Peter Roderick Oliver

National Library of Scotland Manuscripts Division George IV Bridge Edinburgh EH1 1EW Tel: 0131-466 2812 Fax: 0131-466 2811 E-mail: [email protected]

© Trustees of the National Library of Scotland Correspondence, diaries, photographs, press cuttings and miscellaneous printed ephemera, 1917 – 1977, of and relating to Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Roderick Oliver.

Peter Oliver (1907 – 1945) is best known as a mountaineer. He was a member of the British 1936 and 1938 Everest Expeditions, and accompanied in the on the first ascent on Mana Peak in 1937. He served with the Frontier Force Rifles (Coke‟s Rifles) and the South Waziristan Scouts on the North West Frontier between Pakistan and Afghanistan. His travels are documented through his letters home, diaries and photographs. Peter Oliver died on active service in Burma in 1945.

Peter Oliver was born in Lucknow, India. He was educated at Sherborne School in Dorset, England. His parents were Edward William Oliver (1869- 1929) and Bessie Oliver née Johnson (1878- 1946). They were both born in Torquay in Devon. His father was a Major and veterinary surgeon in India. Peter had a younger brother, William Marcus Oliver (b.1909).

For other papers of Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver see MSS.24656-24720 and Acc. 12096.

Bought 2010

NB. This material has been re-arranged prior to cataloguing. Ask staff for further information.

1-5 CORRESPONDENCE 6 DIARY 7- 164 PHOTOGRAPHS 165 -168 FAMILY PAPERS 169- 176 MISCELLANEOUS EPHEMERA AND MEMORABILIA

1- 5 CORRESPONDENCE

1. Correspondence and various other documents dating from between 1917 and 1977: correspondence mostly addressed to Peter Oliver relating to family, friends and career, including letters from fellow Everest climbers Hugh Ruttledge and Frank Smythe, 1920s to 1945; correspondence and papers relating to Peter Oliver‟s death in 1945, including telegram and condolence letters; later correspondence concerning Peter Oliver‟s grave in Burma, 1950s, the discovery of Peter Oliver‟s will, 1970, and award of war medals, 1976; photographs, family birth, marriage and death certificates, press cuttings, memorabilia and pamphlets. (286 sheets)

2. Letters of Peter Oliver to his parents and brother, 1927 – 1935, written while on service on the North West Frontier Province and the Garhwal Himalaya (177 ff.)

3. Letters of Peter Oliver to his mother and brother 1936 – 1938, including some illustrated letters from the Everest Expeditions of 1936 and 1938. (186 ff.)

4. Letters of Peter Oliver to his mother and brother 1939 – 1941 written while serving with the HQ 5 Indian Division, Middle East Forces (North Africa), Staff College, in Quetta, Secunderabad and elsewhere. (174 sheets)

5. Letters of Peter Oliver to his mother and brother 1942 – 1945 written while serving in India and Burma under the South East Asia Command (139 sheets)

6 DIARY

6. Diary of Expedition in the Garhwal Himalaya with Frank Smythe, 1937 and Diary of 1938 Expedition. (95 sheets)

7 – 164 PHOTOGRAPHS

7 -94 Career and Travel 95-140 Family 141-164 Unidentified photographs

7- 94 Career and Travel

7. Postcards, mostly of the Alps, late 1920s to mid 1930s

8. Wales, late 1920s

9. Europe, late 1920s to mid 1930s

10. Muad & Galtur (skiing), late 1920s to mid 1930s

11. Baspa Valley, 1929

12. Delhi, late 1920s to mid 1930s

13. , late 1920s to mid 1930s

14. Haramukh, late 1920s to mid 1930s

15. Negatives, Razmak 1928, 3 of home 1927

16. Negatives, Abbotabad 1928 and 1930

17. Negatives, Baspa 1929

18. Negatives, Baspa 1929

19. Negatives, Ambala, 1929 – 1932

20. Negatives, Dharmsala, 1930

21. Negatives, Dhaula Duar, 1930

22. Negatives, „Best photos Baspa 1931‟

23. Negatives, „Baspa 1931‟

24. Negatives, „Trisul best‟, 1930s

25. Negatives, „Selected photos, Trisul, Delhi, 1931

26. Negatives, Kohat, 1931

27. Negatives, Wales, late 1920s to mid 1930s

28. Negatives, England, 1932

29. Negatives, Switzerland, 1932

30. Negatives, Dechi/Agra, 1933

31. Negatives, Pachmarhi, 1933

32. Negatives Scouts, Early 1934

33. Negatives Haramukh, 1934

34. Negatives Narai Juan, Khyber, 1930s

35. Negatives Sports at JLA Twickam? Abad, 1934

36. Negatives Scouts, Early 1934

37. Negatives Tiarza Kurram, 1934

38. Negatives, Copies of Alps, 1935

39. Negatives, LDA, March – April, 1935

40. Large mounted photos signed by Peter Oliver with his descriptions, Dharmsala, Baspa, 1930, 1931

41. Ladha, early 1936

42. Portraits, 1936

43. To Everest, 1936 'Photos for Seaton'

44. Everest 'Annotated good photos', 1936 or 1938

45. March to Everest, 1936 or 1938

46. Everest and North Peak, 1936 or 1938

47. Everest 1938

48. Everest 1938

49. Everest/ , 1936 or 1938

50. Negatives, Everest, 1936 or 1938

51. Negatives, Marghoi Camp, 1939

52. Negatives, Voyage, Marghoi Camp, 1939

53. Negatives, Dunagiri, late 1930s

54. Negatives, Dunagiri, late 1930s

55. Negatives, Cannanore, Ooth – Aravan Kadu, late 1930s

56. Surrender at Amba Alagi, 1941

57. Syria, Abad, Poona, 1942

58. Cyprus 'Snaps to keep', 1940s

59. Cyprus, 1940s

60. Cyprus?, 1940s

61. 1944

62. Dorf, 1940s

63. Various annotated, 1940s

64. Kolahoi, 1940s

65. Misc Mons, 1940s

66. Mons, 1940s

67. Negatives, Syria, Abad, Poona, 1942

68. Negatives, Cyprus ME, 1940s

69. Negatives, Cyprus ME, 1940s

70. Negatives, Kolahoi, 1940s

71. Negatives, Quetta, Poul to Poul?, 1940s

72. Negatives, Phal, Ziarat, 1940s

73. Negatives, Anuba Alagi, 1940s

74. Negatives, Cyprus, 1940s

75. Army group shots

76. Annotated photographs, undated

77. Tiny prints, unidentified

78. „Small photos – ordinary‟, unidentified

79. Unidentified prints

80. Venkana, undated

81. Fopi Lockhari, undated

82. March to Cannanore, undated

83. March to Cannanore, undated

84. Bahadur, undated

85. Mixed Sikaran, undated

86. Nilkania, undated

87. Unidentified prints

88. Unidentified prints

89. Unidentified prints

90. Unidentified prints

91. Dorf, undated

92. Small unidentified prints

93. Large unidentified prints

94. Bundle of photocopies of various images, 1920s to 1940s

95- 140 Family Photographs

95-102 Childhood 103-105 Sherborne School 106 – 122 Marcus Oliver 123 -140 Other family photographs

95- 102 Childhood

Photographs that feature Peter Oliver as a child, early twentieth century.

95. Various family photos, includes Peter Oliver as a boy.

96. Family photographs including Peter and Marcus Oliver as children in India, their parents, their grandfather and Peter as a young adult, mostly 1910s to 1920s.

97. „Small photos of India‟, childhood family pictures

98. „Early photos - India‟

99. Various photographs, including man and dogs, studio portrait of women and two small boys

100. Childhood photographs

101. Small album, photos of boys

102. Assorted featuring boys

103 – 105 Sherborne School

Peter Oliver attended Sherborne, a boarding school in Dorset between about 1920 and 1925.

103. Postcards of Sherborne, including postcards written by Peter and Marcus to their father just before starting school

104. Album of prints of Sherborne School buildings

105. School group photographs including school sport team photographs and Peter as captain of cricket team, 1920s

106 – 122 Marcus Oliver

Photographs of, and relating to William Marcus Oliver, known as Marcus, younger brother of Peter Oliver, mid twentieth century.

106. Photographs, mostly featuring Marcus and Friends

107. Photograph of Marcus and friend outside a pub, ca. 1960s

108. Assorted annotated photographs, includes his godson, a Spanish friend of Marcus‟s and Easter celebrations.

109. „Owen, Italy, 1949‟

110. Captain Radford, Danny Hare, friends of Marcus 1952- 1953

111. Portrait of Marcus as an elderly man

112. Holiday snaps of Rothenburg, Sept 1934

113. Miscellaneous colour prints

114. „Pat Allsop et moi‟, Berlin/ Thoms Family, Chichester at the Deanery

115. Friends in Salisbury and Tandridge 1955- 1956

116. Miscellaneous prints

117. Harry Brighton & Windsor, 1949

118. Le Touquet & Cambridge, 1950

119. Hamburg

120. Malta & Taormina

121. Weddings and dances, ca. 1960s

122. Photographs of Marcus as an elderly man, and friends

123 – 140: Other Family Photographs

123. Studio portraits taken in Torquay, late nineteenth century

124. Various photographs, featuring different people, most annotated by Marcus, 1930s to 1970s

125. Portrait of man in uniform by Fred Bremner, Lahore, India.

126. Portraits of Bessie Oliver

127. Various portraits including children, Peter Oliver as adult, Mother and a friend, other unidentified

128. Photo Album, possibly dating to the Oliver boys school years

129. Various, 1910s to 1930s

130. Various photographs mostly annotated, featuring Bessie Oliver

131. Photograph Album, probably features Oliver boys as teenagers/young adults

132. Group wedding photographs and children in fancy dress group photograph, early twentieth century

133. Portrait of Bessie Oliver by Paul Tanquery

134. Various portraits unidentified but probably includes Marcus Oliver, Michael Langley (the naked man by the river) and possibly Edward Oliver.

135. Family photograph album, holiday shots 1926 -1929

136. „Portraits‟ assorted photos, some feature Peter and fellow climbers

137. Assorted family photographs

138. Peter Roderick Oliver Portraits

139. Envelope of negatives

140. Assorted loose photographs

141 -164: Unidentified, unsorted photographs

141. Unidentified and unsorted photographs

142. Unidentified and unsorted photographs

143- 163. Unlabelled envelopes of negatives

164. Two rolls of negative photographs and broken glass negative

165 – 168 FAMILY PAPERS

165. Family and genealogy papers, notes on family history, and copies of birth certificates.

166. Handwritten will written by Marcus Oliver in 1962, attached to a newspaper clipping about the importance of making a will.

167. Correspondence mostly related to Marcus Oliver, includes letter from Jagrup, family servant, 1921, job offer letter from Peninsulan & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, 1927, letters from Michael Langley, a journalist, to Marcus, from Sudan, Italy and Malta, 1930s – 1940s, letters and notes from Paul Tanqueray, photographer.

168. Papers relating to E.W. Oliver, includes letter proposing ideas for a film about the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and typed articles written for publication in magazines and newspapers dating from 1920s. Subjects covered include the popularity of polo, animal preservation, greyhound racing, educating an elephant, Indian Mutiny, Oxford and the “George” and the Ascot Race.

169- 176 MISCELLANEOUS EPHERMA AND MEMORABILIA

169. Sketches and poems, probably by Peter Oliver as child or teenager

170. School ephemera includes cricket fixture booklets, membership of Old Shirburnian Society Card, 1924 boxing champion medal

171. Scroll of Honour awarded to Peter Oliver for his service in the Second World War

172. Second World War and Army items includes official programme of the Victory Celebrations, 8th June 1946, Take care of your respirator leaflet, Marcus's application for membership of OTC, Marcus's clothing ration books, Marcus‟s record of service in army.

173. Miscellaneous printed ephemera includes various business cards, Indian Empire Garden Party Polo Card, 1925, General Election booklet, 1950, Print of Scottish American War Memorial by Charles Napier, French identity cards for Bessie and Marcus Oliver, Birthday speech in honour of Charles A. Cain by George Clark.

174. Greetings Cards

175. Newspaper clippings covering Sherborne School, celebrities, acquaintances, death notices and royalty

176. „Nowell Smith and his Sherborne‟ by Oliver Holt, memoir of schooldays by a contemporary of the Oliver boys at Sherborne School.