Bound volume containing typescript copies of letters written by Beryl Power relating to her work for the Royal Commission on Labour in India and to places visited during the work and during her return journey to England. They relate to the formal side of the work; the travelling; the geography of the places visited; cultural, social and educational aspects of native life in the countries visited; fellow members of the Commission (British and Indian); the social life of the Commission; and sightseeing. As well as labour in India itself, the Commission studied Indian workers in other countries including Ceylon [Sri Lanka] and Burmah. Towards the end of her travels Beryl Power also visited, by invitation, the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. Presumably there was also a Vol I which is now missing. Some of the letters are amended and annotated by hand. The later letters are interspersed with pages of photographs. The volume contains 17 letters and other papers and photographs, as follows:
16 October 1930, 10pp: concening 4 days spent in Ceylon, because most 'labour on the rubber, coconut and tea estates - - - is Tamil labour from Southern Madras'. Mention of Sir Alexander Murray and his daughters.
20 October 1930, 6pp: in Rangoon, Burmah.
22 October, 1930, 10pp: concerning the silver, copper, zinc and lead mines of the Burma Corporation Ltd, Namtu, Northern Shan States (Burma).
26 October 1930, 10pp: en route to the oilfields of the Anglo-Burma Oil Company.
29 October 1930, 9pp: going down the Irrawaddy towards Rangoon, describing the oilfields.
30 October 1930, 2pp: from Government House, Rangoon.
9 November 1930, 1 page: short letter - BP has had dengue fever.
Printed report by Ashin Teiksu Myat Paya Galay, the Fourth Princess of Burma, to the Royal Commission on Labour, 23 October 1930.
12 November 1930, 6pp: en route from Rangoon to Calcutta - 'I missed everything in Rangoon - all the work and all the play'.
19 November 1930, 3pp: from Old Delhi.
1 December 1930, 6pp: from Old Delhi.
7 December 1930, 4pp: from Old Delhi.
[The word 'Interval' is handwritten on the last page of the above letter.]
8 April 1931, 5pp: from the General Manager's Bungalow, Fields, Anglo-Persian Oil Co, Southern Persia. 'This begins a new and brief series of homeward bound letters, which you will receive eventually.' Includes a description of a trip to Jaipur.
4pp b/w photographs of Abadan, 'the laden car', Ahwaz (the garden of the APOC house), the oilfields and the pipeline, Masjid-i-Suleiman [APOC HQ, where commercial oil was first discovered in Iran in 1908 by the then D'Arcy Exploration Co], Bakhtiari tribesmen, Bakhtiari huts and tents, company buildings, company housing, and the River Karun.
9 April 1931, 6pp: 'Abadan has grown up as a result of the oil industry' being the end of the pipeline where the crude oil is treated. 'The Governor - - is - - the first citizen of Abadan, and the General Manager of the APOC the second.' Description of Abadan, including schools established by APOC.
3pp b/w photographs including the River Karun, Bakhtiari tribespeople, APOC oilfields and housing, and Masjid-i-Suleiman.
12-16 April 1931, 13pp: Persia - journey to Fields, to the bungalow of the General Manager of APOC, through fields, desert and oilfield scenery; a Persian dinner party; Ahwaz to Teheran, a 4 day motor trek through tribal areas, interleaved with 3pp b/w photographs including the River Karun, the remains of a Roman bridge at Pul-i-Dokhtar, a fortress, Dizful, a wayside teahouse, and Qum.
1 page b/w photographs, including a deserted palace at Teheran and the APOC Director's House at Teheran.
No date, 12pp: On the road from Isfahan to Shiraz. Qum, Teheran - 'we found our first big Persian bazaar thrilling - '. Lengthy holdups for a 'chapter of accidents' - punctures, broken jack, broken exhaust etc.
8pp b/w photographs, mostly of Isfahan, including The Palace of the Forty Pillars; also the APOC Director's garden at Teheran.
27 April 1931, 20pp: Hamadan. Dwells on Isfahan at length - 'Isfahan is far nicer than Teheran - - is entirely Persian' - and Persepolis and Shiraz. This letter is interleaved with 13pp b/w photographs, including the Kashkais trekking near Shiraz; Persepolis; and Shiraz.
3pp b/w photographs of Bisitun, Kermanshah and Baghdad.
8 May 1931, 16pp: Beyrout. Journey into Iraq; Baghdad; Syria; car for 6 days from Damascus to Jerusalem via Baalbek, Beirut, Haifa and Nazareth.