Área de identidad
Código de referencia
Título
Fecha(s)
- [1986 - 2003] (Creación)
Nivel de descripción
Volumen y soporte
1 archival box
Área de contexto
Nombre del productor
Historia biográfica
William James Adair Nelson (1907-1993), the elder son of H. Adair Nelson who was the original manager of His Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen, was educated at Aberdeen Grammar School (1914-24). On leaving school he was apprenticed to chartered accountants Williamson & Dunn, qualifying with distinction in 1930 when he took up a series of appointments with London accounting firms, followed by five years in Colombo working for Ford, Rhodes & Thornton. He served in the Royal Artillery in the Middle East during WWII. In 1946 he was appointed Finance Inspector to the Ministry of Food in Colwyn Bay, later becoming Finance Officer to the National Coal Board. In 1948 he was appointed Treasurer and Assistant Secretary at Aberdeen University where he remained until his retirement in 1975.
During his five years in Sri Lanka he developed an interest in castles and artillery fortifications and after his retirement he wrote Dutch Forts of Sri Lanka published in 1984. He then went on to study Fort Jesus at Mombasa and his book of the same name was published posthumously in 1994. Nelson was an active member of the Fortress Study Group for which he wrote many articles.
Institución archivística
Historia archivística
Origen del ingreso o transferencia
It is unknown how the Papers came into the RAS Collections. They were probably in the possession of Nelson's daughter, Sarah, and passed on to the Royal Asiatic Society sometime after August 2003.
Área de contenido y estructura
Alcance y contenido
These Personal Papers consist of the typed manuscript for Nelson's Fort Jesus of Mombasa including colour photographs. There are photocopies of a letter sent by his daughter and of Nelson's Obituary in the Aberdeen Grammar School Magazine.
Valorización, destrucción y programación
Acumulaciones
Sistema de arreglo
The Papers were divided into two files:
- WAN/1: Manuscript of Fort Jesus of Mombasa
- WAN/2: Allied Correspondence
Área de condiciones de acceso y uso
Condiciones de acceso
Open. Please contact the archivist using the email address given here. The archive is open on Tuesdays and Fridays 10-5, and Thursdays 2-5. Access is to any researcher without appointment but it will help if an appointment is made via phone or email. Please bring photo ID
Condiciones
Digital photography (without flash) for research purposes may be permitted upon completion of a copyright declaration form, and with respect to current UK copyright law.
Idioma del material
- inglés
Escritura del material
Notas sobre las lenguas y escrituras
Características físicas y requisitos técnicos
Instrumentos de descripción
Área de materiales relacionados
Existencia y localización de originales
Existencia y localización de copias
Unidades de descripción relacionadas
A Copy of Fort Jesus of Mombasa by Nelson (Canongate Press, 1994) is held in the Royal Asiatic Society Collections. We also hold 180 colour 35mm slides of Fort Mombasa.
An interview with Nelson is held by the University of Aberdeen Oral History Archive
Nota de publicación
Nelson, W.A., Fort Jesus of Mombasa, Canongate Press PLC, Edinburgh, 1994
Área de notas
Identificador/es alternativo(os)
Puntos de acceso
Puntos de acceso por materia
Puntos de acceso por lugar
Puntos de acceso por autoridad
Tipo de puntos de acceso
Área de control de la descripción
Identificador de la descripción
Identificador de la institución
Reglas y/o convenciones usadas
Estado de elaboración
Nivel de detalle
Fechas de creación revisión eliminación
Idioma(s)
Escritura(s)
Fuentes
Nota del archivista
These Papers were catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in July 2017