Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1966 - 1967 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Wilfred Patrick Thesiger was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and was educated at Eton and Oxford. In 1930 Thesiger returned to Africa at the invitation of Emperor Haile Selassie and returned again in 1933 to lead an expedition to explore the course of the Awash river. Between 1935-1940 he served in the Sudan Political Service and joined the Sudan Defence Force to serve in World War Two. After the Second World War, Thesiger travelled across Arabia including two crossings of the great Arabian desert, the Rub' al Khali or Empty Quarter, and travels in inner Oman. He lived for some years in the marshes of Iraq, and then travelled in Iran, Kurdistan, French West Africa and Pakistan. He lived for many years in northern Kenya. Thesiger returned to England in the 1990s and was knighted in 1995.
Repository
Archival history
W.P. Thesiger 1966
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Correspondence and Printed Material regarding the award of the Burton Memorial Medal to Wilfred Patrick Thesiger, and his work.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
The material was divided into two sub-series for correspondence and printed material.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
The Minutes of the Council Meeting may provide additional details of the award to Wilfred Patrick Thesiger. The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 1967, p.191, provides details of the Presentation of the Burton Memorial Medal to Wilfred Thesiger.