Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart papers, 1895-2003

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Summary

Creators:
Lockhart, Robert Hamilton Bruce, 1887-1970, Budberg, Moura, Reilly, Sidney George, 1874-1925, and Lockhart, Robin Bruce
Abstract:
Correspondence, speeches and writings, diaries, notes, memoranda, photographs, and memorabilia, relating to miscellaneous aspects of Anglo-Soviet relations during the Russian Revolution, British espionage in the Soviet Union during the Russian Revolution, miscellaneous aspects of British government activities during World War II (including Anglo-Czechoslovak relations), and personal affairs. Includes many letters by Baroness Moura Budberg, some letters by British espionage agent Sidney Reilly, and some material about him collected by Lockhart's son, Robin Bruce Lockhart.
Extent:
11 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize box, 1 oversize folder (5.2 Linear Feet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

The Robert Bruce Hamilton Lockhart papers consist of correspondence, diaries, memoranda, notes, speeches and writings, photographs, and memorabilia, relating to miscellaneous aspects of Anglo-Soviet relations during the Russian Revolution, British espionage in the Soviet Union during the Russian Revolution, miscellaneous aspects of British government activities during World War II (including Anglo-Czechoslovak relations), and personal affairs. Also included is some material about Lockhart collected by his son, Robin Bruce Lockhart.

The Biographical file includes material on Lockhart's role in the counter-revolutionary "Lockhart Plot" against the Soviet Union. This scheme to overthrow the Bolshevik government, with help from Sidney Reilly, resulted in Lockhart's arrest and subsequent sentencing to death on charges of espionage and sabotage. The Subject file contains information relating to the Chester Concession, which was a grant awarded by the Turkish National Assembly in 1923 April to the Ottoman-American Development Company giving it the right to develop Turkish natural resources, and a report on the role of the Polish government in Boris Savinkov's conspiracy against the Soviet Union.

The Sidney Reilly file contains material collected by Lockhart about this British espionage agent. It includes letters to and from Reilly, as well as a 1968 article about the search for Reilly. A related item in the Correspondence is a 1932 letter from Baroness Moura Budberg indicating that Reilly might still be alive.

The Great Britain Foreign Office documents series consists of dispatches relating to the situation in Czechoslovakia in 1946-1948. The bulk is from the British Embassy in Prague to the Foreign Office in London, but some from British Embassies elsewhere in Europe and the Soviet Union are included. Security-classified documents have been removed from this series, as required by law, until they can be declassified by government officials.

The Incremental materials series is arranged following the arrangement of the rest of the collection. These materials include the papers of Robin N. Bruce Lockhart, son of Robert H. Bruce Lockhart, who wrote a book about Sidney Reilly titled Ace of Spies.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1887 September 2
Born, Anstruther, Scotland
1912-1915
Vice-Consul, British Foreign Service, Moscow
1915-1917
Acting Consul-General, British Foreign service, Moscow
1918 January
Head of Special Mission to the Soviet Government
1918 Sept.-Oct.
Arrested by the Bolsheviks; released and exchanged for Maxim Litvinov
1919-1922
Commercial Secretary to British Legation, Prague, Czechoslovakia
1922-1928
Worked in banking in Central Europe
1929-1937
Member, Editorial Staff, Evening Standard (London)
1932
Author, Memoirs of a British Agent
1934
Author, Retreat from Glory
1936
Author, Return to Malaya
1937
Author, My Scottish Youth
1938
Author, Guns or Butter?
1939-1940
Director-General, Political Intelligence Department, British Foreign Office
1940-1941
British Representative with Provisional Czechoslovak government in London
1941-1945
Deputy Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, British Foreign Office and Director-General of Political Warfare Executive
1943
Knighted, Order of St. Michael and St. George
1947
Author, Comes the Reckoning
1948
Author, My Rod My Comfort
1950
Author, The Marines Were There
1951
Author, Scotch
Author, <title render="italic">Ján Masaryk</title>
1952
Author, My Europe
1955
Author, Your England
1957
<title render="italic">Friends, Foes and Foreigners</title>
Author, <title render="italic">The Two Revolutions</title>
1960
Author, Giants Cast Long Shadows
1970 February 27
Died, Hove, England
Acquisition information:
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library Archives in 1985.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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