Fonds - Eric Parker fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Eric Parker fonds

General material designation

  • Graphic material
  • Textual record

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Title statements of responsibility

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  • Source of title proper: Title based on provenance of fonds

Level of description

Fonds

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Edition area

Edition statement

Edition statement of responsibility

Class of material specific details area

Statement of scale (cartographic)

Statement of projection (cartographic)

Statement of coordinates (cartographic)

Statement of scale (architectural)

Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • [ca. 1910-198-?], predominant [ca. 1921-1924] (Creation)
    Creator
    Parker, Eric

Physical description area

Physical description

4 cm of textual records
689 photographs : prints and negatives
2 compact discs

Publisher's series area

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1896-1988)

Biographical history

Eric Parker was born on June 16, 1896, in London, England. In 1914, he enlisted in the British Army and served in both England and France until 1917, when he successfully applied to join the British India Army. In India, Parker entered the 3rd Battalion, which was stationed along India’s northwest frontier, and which participated in the Waziristan Campaign. From 1921 to 1922, as Captain of the 90th Punjabis, Parker served as Officer Commanding the Trade Agent’s Escort at the British Trade Agency in Gyantse, Tibet. During his period in Gyantse, Lt. Col. Parker corresponded with British diplomat, Sir Charles Bell, and with various members of the Tibetan government, including the 13th Dalai Lama. In addition to carrying out his regular duties, Parker also conducted basic and advanced infantry training of Tibetan soldiers at the request of the Tibetan military.

On January 2, 1923, after resigning his commission, Parker travelled to Calcutta to marry Minnie Armstrong, who had traveled from England to join him. Together, they travelled back to Tibet on horseback in order to attempt to establish a trading station. The Parkers remained one year in Tibet, living in both Yutang and Ganze. During Parker’s years in Tibet and India, he learned to speak Tibetan, Urdu, Tamil, and Punjabi. He and his wife also collected numerous objects, letters, and photographs, which provide rare documentation of the period in Tibet’s history prior to the Chinese invasion in 1950.

In 1940, Parker was recalled to serve in the British India Army, eventually attaining the rank of Temporary Leiutenant Colonel. He remained in active service until 1947, when he resigned his post and moved with his family to Victoria. With the dissolution of the British India Army in 1947, Parker’s military rank was never formally removed.

Custodial history

Scope and content

The fonds consists primarily of material accumulated and/or created by Lt. Col. Parker during the period of his military duties in Tibet and time spent there after his release from the military (1921-1924). This material includes textual records such as correspondence relating to military matters with Sir Charles Bell, and those written to, and received from, Tibetan officers and the 13th Dalai Lama. A few letters written in Tibetan have been recently translated into English and are included in the fonds. Other textual materials includes handwritten speech and other notes, published documents such as an Almanac (written in Tibetan), newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous items such as philatelic materials and handwritten children's rhymes and songs.

The fonds also contains a collection of black and white photographs and negatives, the majority of which were images taken by Lt. Col. Parker, while others, predate Parker’s time in Tibet. The photographs are housed in two albums (Photograph Collections A and B), and show Tibet primarily in the 1920s. The images depict military and domestic scenes in Tibet including photographs of individuals from all social strata, as well as local architecture and landscapes. Some of the places (e.g., monasteries) no longer exist. The albums also contain more recent colour prints of the many Tibetan objects acquired by the Parkers (and now housed in the Ethnology Collection at the Museum of Anthropology). Some duplicates occur within and between albums. The negatives correspond to prints in one album (Photograph Collection A). Only a small number of negatives have not been printed.
The fonds is arranged in the following 3 series:

  1. Correspondence
  2. Photographs
  3. Miscellaneous Materials

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Photographic records were acquired by the Museum of Anthropology by donation from Mrs. Mary Noble of Victoria, B.C. in August 2005. Mrs. Noble is the daughter of Eric Parker. An accrual of negatives and documents was made in October 2005

Arrangement

Arrangement of the textual material was imposed by the archivist (CY), while photographs were kept in their original order within two albums and designated as Collections A & B by Father Donald. These albums are now recognized as 'Photograph Collections A & B' or 'PCA and PCB'

Language of material

    Script of material

      Location of originals

      Availability of other formats

      Two compact discs were created by Lt. Col. Parker’s grandson, Father Donald, and contain scanned images of photographs and of all textual records (including translations and transcriptions). These discs are stored separately from the rest of fonds, in the "Temp. CD storage" box in the media area

      Restrictions on access

      Access to the Eric Parker collection of photographs and documents is restricted to “read only” for 5 years after donation. Anyone wishing to reproduce any of the photographs and documents within that time period must first contact Father Harry Donald for permission. Consult archivist for further details.

      Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

      Finding aids

      A series, box/file are available. Item lists for Photograph Collections A & B are also included

      Associated materials

      Related materials

      Accruals

      No further accruals are expected.

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      Standard number

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      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Created 19 December, 2012. Revised December 1, 2015.

      Language of description

        Script of description

          Sources

          Accession area