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McNeill, W.M.

McNeill Papers: Box 5

Donated by Mr W.M. McNeill

Mr McNeill’s diaries for 1926, 1928-30, 1934-6. 7 items.

McNeill Papers: Box 4

Donated by W.M. McNeill

Miscellaneous items:

  1. Scrapbook of press cuttings referring to a criminal trial involving the theft of satinwood logs from Crown forests in Ceylon. 1929-30. 5 ff.
  2. Note by Mr McNeill on ‘Pearl Fishery’, Marichchukkaddi, Gulf of Mannar, Ceylon, 1925. 4 ff.
  3. Reprints from forestry journals (3 items) W.M. McNeill Notes of Exotic Forest Trees in Ceylon, Ceylon Government Press, Colombo, 1935. 7 pp.
  4. Ceylon. Ordinance No. 2 of 1937. ‘To provide for the protection of the Fauna and Flora of Ceylon’. 27 pp.
  5. Ceylon. Sessional Paper VII-1935. ‘Report on the Management and Exploitation of the Forests of Ceylon’. 50 pp.
  6. Ceylon. Sessional Paper XI-1936. ‘Further Papers on the Report on the Management and Exploitation of the Forests of Ceylon’. 17 pp.
  7. All-Ceylon Exhibition Colombo 1912. Specimen Woods and Minor Forest Produce exhibited by T.J. Campbell, Esq., Conservator of Forests, Ceylon. 142 pp.
  8. Ceylon Game and Fauna Protection Society. Rules and Objects, 1948. 8 pp.
  9. Ceylon Game and Fauna Protection Society. Summary of Laws relating to Wild Life of Ceylon, n.d. 4 pp.
  10. Ceylon Game and Fauna Protection Society. Minutes of fifty-sixth Annual General Meeting. Colombo, 15 December 1949.
  11. Ceylon Game and Fauna Protection Society. Annual Report and Accounts, fifty-eighth year, 1950-51.
  12. Drafts of two reviews by Mr McNeill of Administration Reports of the Conservator of Forests, Ceylon. 1966-72. 13 ff.
  13. Programme note on the unveiling of the War Memorial Tablet, Kurunegala, 27 January 1923 with press cuttings. 4 ff.
  14. Papers relating to Mr McNeill’s appointment in the Colonial Service, 1921-22. 22 ff, 4 printed items.

McNeill Papers: Box 3

Donated by W.M. McNeill

  1. Letters from William McNeill to his parents describing his life in Ceylon. He was appointed A.D.C. to the Acting Governor Mr (later Sir) Bernard Bourdillon, serving twice: April 1930 – September 1930 and again February – March 1931. Detailed descriptions of official life and occasions. He accompanied Bourdillon on a visit to the Maldive Islands in March 1931. McNeill returned to the Forest Service in April 1931. Home on leave March 1932. He then went as a Commonwealth Fellow to the U.S.A. Letters from Ceylon begin again in February 1938 and continue until his return to England in November 1938. 130 letters, 349 ff., 1928-1938.
  2. Notes on conversation between His Excellency and His Highness at the Sultan’s palace, Male, 2 p.m. 5 March 1931. 3 ff.
  3. Collection of newspaper cuttings, Times of Ceylon and others: 1924 (elephant kraal), 1928 and 1933 (Maldives).

McNeill Papers: Box 2

Donated by W.m. McNeill

Letters from William McNeill to his parents in Northern Ireland. He arrived in Ceylon in 1922 and served as Assistant Conservator of Forests at Kurunegala. Many domestic details of his life as a young forest officer. Accounts of his travels on circuit. There are detailed descriptions of an elephant kraal (1924) and pearl fishing at Marichchukkaddi c.1925. 41 letters 233 ff 1922-25

McNeill Papers: Box 1

Given by W.M. McNeill

  1. Confidential despatch by B. H. Bourdillon, Acting Governor of Ceylon to the Colonial Secretary, Lord Passfield, of a visit to the Maldive Islands 5-9 March 1931. Mr. McNeill was A.D.C. to Mr. Bourdillon. Purpose; To meet the Sultan and other Government Officials with a view to discussing the succession to the Sultanship and the administration of the Maldive Islands. Synopsis of interviews with the Sultan, Crown. Prince and other officials and notables, and of discussions about the suitability and possibility of the Crown Prince succeeding his father. proclamation resulting from visit, and discussion of possible consequences. Opinion expressed on the best policy for the future of the Maldive Islands and the Islanders. 30pp
  2. MS copy of the letter from Mr. Bourdillon to the Sultan of the Maldive Islands, referred to on page 16 of the Report (item 1) regarding a change in the administration of the Islands. 5pp.
  3. Correspondence between W.M. McNeill, A.D.C. to the Acting Governor of Ceylon, Mr. Bourdillon, and the Sultan’s Private Secretary about the gifts sent by the Sultan to Mr. Bourdillon 8 March 1931. 4pp
  4. Four letters about obtaining literature on the Maldives from the Royal Asiatic Society, Ceylon Branch, for Mr. Bourdillon, February 1931.
  5. Printed Memorandum by Mr. E.B. Denham, C.C.S. 30 July 1905, on Political parties in Male with a list of the Sultans since 1881 and a genealogical table.
  6. Report relating to a Visit to the Maldive Islands of the Commission appointed to convey to His Highness the Sultan the Royal Warrant of His Majesty conferring the Dignity of Honorary Companion of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George Colombo 1920. 5pp
  7. The Maldive Islands: Report on a visit to Malé. January 20 to February 21, 1920 by H.C.P. Bell, C.C.S., (Retired) Colombo 1921. The visit was to enable Mr. Bell. to revise the Report on the Maldive Islands of 1881, to examine The State Record known as the Tarikh and to investigate the alleged existence of the Buddhist cult on the Maldives, prior to a conversion to Islam in the 12th century.
  8. Papers relating to the Maldive Islands
  9. Pencil notes on procedure to be followed on arrival of H.M.S. Enterprise at the Maldive Islands. 2pp
  10. Notebook kept by W.M. McNeill during the visit to the Maldive Islands when he was A.D.C. to the Acting Governor of Ceylon. The notes are of conversations between H.E. the Governor and H. H. The Sultan. A typed synopsis of these notes is found in item (1) but there are also notes of interest not incorporated in the reports, on the construction of fishing boats, description of the Sultan’s apparel, the flags, the Royal barge, the meeting-places at cross-roads etc.
  11. Government Papers on Forestry in Ceylon:
  12. Box of 60 photographs taken of the Official Visit of the Acting Governor of Ceylon, Mr. Bernard Bourdillon, to the Maldive Islands, 5-9 March 1931.
  13. MS diary of a Special Forest Survey of the Mahaweligange River Basin, Ceylon, carried out by W.M. McNeill, 20 February-5 March 1926. Foreword by the Rev. A.M. Walmsley, C.M.S., Hon. Chaplain, Ceylon Defence Force, 1926. Purpose of survey: to discover the possibilities for development and for reconstruction of the Mahaweliganga Forest areas with special reference to supplying large quantities of firewood annually to India; the exploitation of valuable timber, the possibility of growing large quantities of teak in the alluvial area near the river, and the navigability of the river for motor boat inspection. The diary is, however, purely descriptive of camping in the jungle, shooting, the birds and animals encountered and travelling. Some brief account of one or two villages, and Buddhist ruins discovered. Heat, mosquitoes, and beauty described. Mentions that from point of view of Forest Department, the jungle is practically worthless.
  14. Three tinted lithographs by Day & Son, London. n.d.