Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections

A recent research trip to the Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections at the British Library proved interesting. My client needed various sources checking for references to a particular individual and his extensive family, a wife and some 14 children in total! Curious to think that despite all of those names, and a great deal of diagnostic information with which to orient enquiries, I located just two references to the family. A disappointing result, of course, but also a useful illustration of the considerable lacunae which, as is well-known, exists in the documentary record detailing the history of the British in India.