Fonds RU-PCCL/Storrs - Papers of Sir Ronald Storrs

Global extent: 41 boxes; 10 selected and described boxes

These sources describe the events, and the manoeuvrings behind the events, in Middle Eastern Politics and Diplomacy between 1904 and 1950. Storrs’ own observations are enriched by letters from Amir Abdullah, Allenby, Leo Amery, Gertrude Bell, Norman Bentwich, Bernard Berenson, Violet Bonham-Carter, Curzon, King Faizal, Prince Ibrahim Hilmi, Sharif Hussein, Kitchener, T E Lawrence, Rose Macauley, Milner, Nashab Pasha, Sirri Pasha, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Samuel, Ethel Smythe, Arnold Toynbee, Robert Vansittart, Chaim Waizmann and others.

The papers describe in detail the various troubled areas in which Storrs served:

EGYPT, 1904-1917. Storrs began his career in the Egyptian Civil Service, holding a variety of posts before his appointment as the Oriental Secretary ("the eyes, ears, interpretation and intelligence" of the Consul) under Gorst, Kitchener and McMahon. He was present at the time that the Coptic Premier was assassinated, during the ministerial crisis of 1914, and played a major role in steering Egypt away from Turkish or German alliances during World War I.

WITH LAWRENCE OF ARABIA DURING THE ARAB REVOLT, 1914-1917. Storrs was involved in the planning and diplomacy that preceded the Revolt in the Desert, shuttling back and forth between Sharif Zaid, Aziz al-Masri, Sharif Abdullah, King Faisal and King Hussein. He gathered intelligence in Hejaz, Jeddah, Cairo, Aden, Basra, Baghdad, Muscat, Oman and Kuwait and it was during this period that he became a close friend of T E Lawrence.

JERUSALEM, 1917-1926. From 1917 to 1920 Storrs served as Military Governor in Jerusalem; and from 1920 to 1926 he was Civil Governor of Jerusalem and Judea. He was present at the time of the "Balfour Declaration," during the 1921 riots, and when King Faisal was expelled from Syria. He attempted to unite Arabs and Jews and brought together The Mufti of Jerusalem and Musa Kazem Pasha al Husseini with Theodore Herzl and Chaim Weizmann. He also promulgated the work of the Pro-Jerusalem Society, bringing together hostile groups to safeguard antiquities.

CYPRUS, 1926-1932. Storrs was appointed Governor of Cyprus in 1926 and gained early popularity by engineering the cancellation of the Cypriot share of the Turkish debt. Tensions soon resurfaced, with the Enosis movement pressing for unification with Greece, and both Greeks and Turks protesting at his attempts to keep religion out of education. Anti-British sentiments were symbolised by the burning of Government House in 1931, destroying his library and art collection.

NORTHERN RHODESIA, 1933-1934. At the expiry of his normal term of Governorship in Cyprus, Storrs was appointed Governor of North Rhodesia. He organised the building of a new capital in Lusaka and toured Barotseland, Congo, South Africa and Zanzibar, before retiring due to ill health.

TOURIST, LECTURER AND MIDDLE EAST COMMENTATOR, 1934-1950. After he had regained his health, Storrs pursued an active retirement - writing, lecturing and travelling the world. His diaries describe visits to Tunisia, Canada, USA, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Balkans, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Iran, Libya, Abyssinia, and Sudan. There is a fine World War II diary and a he kept in touch with Arab opinion through meetings with ibn Saud, Aga Khan, King Faisal, Aziz al-Masri, Prince Muhammed Ali, Albert Hourani and King Abdullah.

The fonds is closed.

The 41 boxes are arranged in seven sections.

Section I comprises 1 box and covers Storrs’ early life and education at Charterhouse and Pembroke College, Cambridge. Some later material for the period 1911-1916 is featured in his letters to his mother. This Section has been covered in its entirety.

Section II comprises 5 boxes and covers Storrs’ 14 years in Egypt, 1904-1917. This Section has been covered in its entirety.

Section III comprises 5 boxes and covers Storrs’ 10 years in Jerusalem, 1917-1926. This Section has been covered in its entirety.

Section IV comprises 5 boxes and covers Storrs’ 6 years in Cyprus, 1927-1932. This Section has been covered in its entirety.

Section V comprises 3 boxes and covers Storrs’ 2 years in Northern Rhodesia, 1933-1934. This Section has been covered in its entirety.

Section VI comprises 21 boxes and covers the years 1934-1950, after Storrs’ retirement from diplomatic service. They cover his work as a London County Councillor, his war-time experiences and his continuing interest and involvement with the Middle East. We have filmed 12 of the 21 boxes in this section, covering the entirety of his diary, 1934-1950 and all of the material directly relating to the Middle East. We have omitted box 9 which features typed excerpts from the diaries already reproduced; boxes 12-14 which contain his translations from Horace; and boxes 17-21 which contain loose press cuttings and personal papers from his retirement years.

Section VII comprises 1 box and covers photographs and illustrations. This Section has been covered in its entirety. We have also filmed a copy of Orientations (London, 1937).

The Storrs papers are available on microfilms.

• Middle East Politics, 1904-1950: Ther Papers of Sir Ronald Storrs (1881-1955) from Pembrock College, Cambridg. A listing and guide to the microfilm edition with a preface by Professor Donald S Birn, University of Albany, State University of New-York, Adam Matthew Publications, 1999
• Digitized photographs : https://cudl.lib.cam.ac.uk/view/PH-PEMBROKE-SPEC-STOR/1

ISAD(G), Second Edition, Ottawa 2000.

1999

Middle East Politics, 1904-1950: Ther Papers of Sir Ronald Storrs (1881-1955) from Pembrock College, Cambridg. A listing and guide to the microfilm edition with a preface by Professor Donald S Birn, University of Albany, State University of New-York, Adam Matthew Publications, 1999

Author(s) : Adam Matthew Publications, Pembroke College Library