Mss Eur F126/12-28

The correspondence in this series comprises of three separate categories:

Papers relating to the career of Sir Lewis Pelly including his certificates of commission; testimonials of his work in service to the Government; his record of service; and medical reports; and correspondence relating to the award of honours and medals to members of the Persian Expeditionary Force in 1857, of which Lewis Pelly was a member. Also included within file 21 is correspondence with the Earl Canning, Governor General of India regarding special duty Pelly had undertaken in Herat and Afghanistan and possibilities for his next posting at that time (1860), which was as Acting Consul at Zanzibar. File 17 includes personal journal accounts of trips and visits undertaken in Zanzibar and India during his appointments and special missions.

Papers relating to areas of general interest to Lewis Pelly including Russian and French influence in Central and Eastern Asia 1858-1866; events in Persia 1838-1841; the ongoing state of affairs in Kelat 1858-1870; military provision in Mysore, India 1873; Events in Afghanistan and their reporting in British and Indian newspapers 1878; and the history of the Province of Gohud circa 1843.

Papers relating to Pelly's life following his retirement from service with the India Office including his passports; a speech given by him titled 'Empire and its responsibilities' at Hampstead Constitutional Club in 1892; his personal notes on a publication by former colleague Charles Umpherston Aitchsion and a publication on International Law; and a journal containing the last article his wife Lady Amy Pelly had read to him prior to his death on 22 April 1892 which was titled 'Prospects of marriage for women' and related to his interest in the women's suffrage movement.