Papers of the Bell family releating to archaeology in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]; history of the Archaeological Survey; biographies of figures in Sri Lankan archaeology.
Donated by Ms Heather Bell.
File 1: Articles and pamphlets on the history of the archaeology of Ceylon [Sri Lanka].
Devendra, D.T., ‘Seventy years of Ceylon archaeology’ in Artibus Asiae, vol. 22, 1959, pp. 23-40.
Devendra, D.T., The story of Ceylon archaeology, Archaeological Society of Ceylon, 1969.
Godakumbura, C.E., ‘History of archaeology in Ceylon’, photocopy from the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Ceylon Branch, vol. 13, 1969, pp. 2-38.
Karunaratne, W.S., ‘Archaeology in Ceylon’, in Ceylon today, vol. 5, no. 1, 1956, pp. 1-8.
Levers, R.W., Manual of the North-Central Province, photocopy of chapter 15, ‘Archaeology’, pp. 211-242.
Ancient inscriptions in Ceylon, collected and published for the Government by Dr Edward Muller, London, 1883.
Pakeman, S.A., ‘A hundred years of the Royal Asiatic Society in Ceylon’, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Ceylon Branch, vol. 1, 1956, pp. 1-12.
Vimalananda, T., H.C.p. Bell and archaeology in Ceylon, 1890-1912, in Ceylon Historical journal, vol. 2, 1952, pp. 86-91.
White, H., ‘Archaeological survey’, in E.B.F. Sneter (ed), Ceylon Manual, Colombo, 1912-13, pp. 228-233.
File 2: Annual reports of the Archaeological Survey.
Annual reports on the working of the Archaeological Survey, printed in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Ceylon Branch, 1891-1912.
File 3: Papers relating to the organisation and management of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon.
Report into the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon, 1899.
Photocopy of BL file C0541/716, Ceylon Office No. 8234 – Report on proposals by Bell for the reorganisation of the staff of the Archaeological Survey, with comments by govt. officials (esp. R.E. Stubbs).
Photocopy from BL file C056/12. Ordinance enacted by the Governor of Ceylon, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof. No. 17–1887. An ordinance relating to treasure trove. 2pp.
Photocopy from BL file C056/13. Ordinance enacted by the Governor of Ceylon, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof. No. 3–1891. An ordinance to amend the law relating to treasure trove. 2pp.
Photocopy from BL file C056/15. Ordinance enacted by the Governor of Ceylon, with the advice and consent of the Legislative Council thereof. No. 15 of 1900. An ordinancefor the better preservation of the antiquities of the Island. 4pp.
File 4: Papers relating to the sites and monuments at Anurahapura and Sigiriya.
File 5: Notes and reports on outlying sites
File 6: Short biographical notes
File 7: Reactions to a report on ‘concubinage’.
Bell Family Papers: Box 1
Papers descriptive of family life and offical duties of forest officials in the Central Provinces, the Himalayas and Simla; family papers from the Maldive Islands.
Donated by Ms Heather Bell.
File 1: Letters and diaries of the Bell family, 1916 to 1937.
Diary of a voyage to India kept by Phyllis Bell (née Aitken), 1916.
Private accounts of C.F. Bell, I.F.S., Chief Conservator of Forests, Central Provinces, 1932-1935.
Private accounts of C.F. Bell, I.F.S., Chief Conservator of Forests, Central Provinces, 1936-1937.
Notebook of dinner party guests and menus, Nagpur, 1930s.
Letter from a former staff member, 14.6.1927. Mentions birth of a daughter, illness and observaiton of a meeting of forest officials.
Notes from a child’s language lesson – Humpty Dumpty in Sinhalese.
Letter from Heather Bell to her sister Nancy, 29.12.1936. Details of a tiger hunt.
Collection of letters home from a tour in the Himalayas, from Bethia N. Bell, 1935.
Handwritten notes of the HImalayan tour by B.N. Bell.
TS version of the above, with photocopied images.
TS notes ‘The life of a forest officer’ by B.M. Bell.
‘Himalayan highlights’, sketches of life in Simla written by Phyllis bell. Guests and seating plans for dinners at Barnes Court, Simla and the Viceregal Lodge, Simla.
File 2: papers relating to the Maldive Islands.
‘Invaders and explorers in the Maldives, 1343-1922: Ibn Batuta to H.C.P. Bell’, text of a lecture presented by at the Maldives exhibition at the British Mueseum, 1994.
Mrs Lawson Robins, ‘English lady’s visit to the Maldives’, revised by H.C.P. Bell. Photocopy of notebook published in 1920.
Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1882, Extra No. Offprint, ‘Ibn Batuta in the Maldives and Ceylon’.
Copy of the catalogue of the H.C.P. Bell Collection in the Natioanl Archives, Colombo.