Important archive of ten letters and documents addressed to Sir Francis Mudie (1890-1976), Governor of Sind and later the last British Governor of Punjab, spanning the climactic years of Indian independence, Partition and the creation of Pakistan, 1946-1948.

The archive comprises autograph and typed letters from a notable group of political, diplomatic and administrative figures connected with the final years of the British Raj and the transfer of power in India.

Correspondents include:

• Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Secretary of State for India and member of the Cabinet Mission.
• Sir John Colville (later Lord Clydesmuir), Governor of Bombay and Acting Viceroy of India.
• Fitzroy Maclean, soldier, diplomat, wartime operative and MP.
• Terence Shone, senior India Office official.
• Sir Laurence Grafftey-Smith, Britain’s first High Commissioner to Pakistan.
• Major General A. C. Arnold.
• Colin MacKenzie.
• Felicity Longmore.
• One retained letter by Sir Francis Mudie.

A particularly interesting group of letters relates to Karachi and the movement of senior British officials, politicians and administrators during the constitutional negotiations preceding Indian independence.

Among the highlights:

• A Cabinet Mission period letter from Lord Pethick-Lawrence, written from the Office of Cabinet Delegation at the Viceroy’s House, New Delhi, mentioning Stafford Cripps.
• A letter from Sir John Colville referring to the achievement of getting Jawaharlal Nehru and Muhammad Ali Jinnah to travel together.
• A highly interesting letter from Terence Shone, written after arrival in London, in which he remarks that he shared a compartment aboard their aircraft with Jinnah, describing that he had “quite a honeymoon with him” during the journey.
• Correspondence from Government House Calcutta, Government House Karachi, the Viceroy’s House New Delhi, the India Office Whitehall and the British High Commission in Karachi.

Collectively the archive charts the period from the Cabinet Mission negotiations of 1946 through the Partition era and into the early years of Pakistan following independence in August 1947.

Rather than a random group of autographs, this is a coherent archive documenting the personal and administrative network surrounding Sir Francis Mudie during the final years of British rule in India and the emergence of Pakistan.

The archive is especially attractive as it combines senior political figures, governors, diplomats and civil servants with direct references to the negotiations and personalities that shaped the end of the British Raj. The correspondence links the Cabinet Mission, the Viceroy’s administration, Karachi Government House, the India Office, and the early British diplomatic presence in Pakistan.

A fascinating and historically significant archive relating to the British Raj, Indian independence, Partition, Pakistan, the India Office, the Viceroy’s administration and twentieth-century imperial history.

Provenance: 

One of c.2,500+ items once from the collection or dealer stock of Winifred A Myers (Autographs) Ltd, St Martins Lane, London, evidenced by the quantity of Myers pre-printed envelopes and paper folders and the general ‘presentation’ of the items, many having Myers identification notes in pencil. 

Winifred Alice Myers (1909 – 1985) served as ABA (Antiquarian Booksellers Assoc) president, 1950-1952. See the ABA website for an extended article on Myers. Myers left her business, in 1985, to Ruth Shepherd, who traded from home until 2004. 

Sir Robert Francis Mudie KCSI, KCIE, OBE (Aug 1890 – Sep 1976) was a British civil servant and a member of the Imperial Civil Service during the British Raj. He was the last British colonial-era governor of Sind and after the partition of British India in August 1947, he served as the first governor of West Punjab in the Dominion of Pakistan.