Collection of prints inserted in a bound copy of the Rhodesia-Nyasaland Royal Commission Report (Cmd. 5949) 1939. Written on the title page is 'Illustrated with the Chairman's snapshot photographs.' Plate 1 is inside the front cover; the remainder are in pairs on sheets of paper bound into the volume at intervals. They are prints of sharp definition and high quality, mostly 140 x 90 mm, but numbers 5, 17, 18, 44, 46 and 47 are approximately 95 x 120 mm. All have hand-written captions. The captions, including the names of institutions, have been recorded as found and may include language which is offensive, inaccurate or inappropriate. They have been retained to reflect the context of the collection's creation. The photographs are not arranged chronologically, but by subjects. These include land and agriculture (8-20), livestock (21-27), mining (28-37), the people (39-49), leprosy (52-53) and taxation (54-55) as well as general scenes.

Charles Bathurst, Viscount Bledisloe (1857-1958), had a lifelong interest in agriculture, but was also active in public life as an M.P. (before receiving a peerage in 1918), Governor-General of New Zealand 1930-35 and Chairman of Royal Commissions, including that on Rhodesia and Nyasaland, which reported on future relations between the three territories. He was Chairman of the Empire Day Movement and a Vice-President of the Royal Empire Society.

The Rhodesia-Nyasaland Royal Commission arrived at Bulawayo on 16 May 1938, moved to Nyasaland, reaching Zomba on 17 June, thence to Northern Rhodesia (8 July), returning to Salisbury on 14 August, leaving Rhodesia on the 20th.