Collection context
Summary
- Title:
- Robert Gardner Warton Papers,
- Dates:
- 1892-1929
- Creators:
- Warton, Robert Gardner
- Abstract:
- Lieutenant Colonel Robert Gardner Warton of the Staff College, Camberly (F.R.G.S.) was the first Englishman in North Rhodesia (Zambia). He undertook three expeditions between 1892-1898, successfully receiving land concessions which he brought to the British Commissioner, and which were among the last areas to be linked with the British Commonwealth. The collection consists of correspondence, letter book, reports with accounts, diaries including sketches, maps, photographs, and clippings relating to Warton's activities as a pioneer member (later Administrator and Managing Director in Africa) of the North Charterland Exploration Company.
- Extent:
- 2 boxes (1.0 linear ft.)
- Language:
- English.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Robert Gardner Warton Papers (Collection 1214). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
Collection consists of correspondence, letter book, reports with accounts, diaries including sketches, maps, photographs, and clippings relating to Warton's activities as a pioneer member (later Administrator and Managing Director in Africa) of the North Charterland Exploration Company, a mining and trading venture in Rhodesia.
Expanded Scope and Content NoteMaterials consist of handwritten daily diaries detailing several of Warton's expeditions from England to Zambia via Mozambique between 1892 and 1896 (including shipboard life, trade negotiations with Portuguese, dealings with natives (including customs, language, religion, vocabulary, etc.), surveying for the construction of telegraph lines and stations, overseeing prospectors searching for gold); a typed transcription of the 1893 diary; sketches done by Warton; 2 maps of the grant from the British South Africa Co. to North Charterland Exploration Co. in Northern Rhodesia, west of Lake Nyassa, east of Muchinga Mountains; one hand-drawn map of the telegraph line from Gambe (near Beira) to Inyamuriho; annual reports of the North Charterland Exploration Company; business correspondence; personal correspondence; photographs taken by Warton; and legal documents (1895).
- Biographical / historical:
-
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Gardner Warton of the Staff College, Camberly (F.R.G.S.) was the first Englishman in North Rhodesia (Zambia); undertook three expeditions between 1892-1898, successfully receiving land concessions which he brought to the British Commissioner, and which were among the last areas to be linked with the British Commonwealth.
Expanded Biographical NoteLt. Col. Robert G. Warton (b. 16 Jan. 1847, d. 20 Sept. 1923) of the Staff College, Camberly (F.R.G.S.) represented the North Charterland Exploration Co. in its dealings with Portuguese and other trading companies in Mozambique and Northern Rhodesia (later Zambia) in the late 19th century. He negotiated the purchase of land concessions from Carl Wiese (a German citizen who received the land from a native Zulu chief),and which were among the last areas to be linked with the British Commonwealth. He was appointed by Cecil Rhodes to act as the British South Africa Company's Commissioner and Magistrate for the North Charterland Exploration Company in Northern Zambesia under Forbes, the Administrator for the area, and was the first Englishman (but not the first European) to enter the area, setting up telegraph stations that would eventually link to the Cape in South Africa. In 1888 he also brought the first English cricket team to South Africa for a test match.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from E.A. Wharton, 1968.
- Arrangement:
-
Arranged in the following series:
- Diaries (box 1)
- Photographs, correspondence, reports, maps, legal documents, newspaper clippings (box 2)
- Oversized material (box 3).
- Physical location:
- Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Indexed terms
- Subjects:
- Diaries.
About this collection guide
- Date Prepared:
- © 2004
- Date Encoded:
- Text rekeyed by Caroline Cubé from in-house card file, January 2004 . Machine-readable finding aid derived from rekeyed finding aid, encoding added via Notetab Pro. Online finding aid edited by Josh Fiala. Date of source: September 1978 .
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Open for research. Advance notice required for access. Contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of item], Robert Gardner Warton Papers (Collection 1214). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
- Location of this collection:
-
A1713 Charles E. Young Research LibraryBox 951575Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
- Contact:
- (310) 825-4988