Janus: The Papers of Leopold Amery

Churchill/AMEL 1 contains:
1	The Times, South Africa and "The Problem of the Army"
2	Political, up to First World War
3	First World War, Colonial Office and Admiralty
4	Secretary of State for the Colonies
5	General political, 1930s
6	India Office and the Second World War
7	1940's and post-war

More information

Please feel free to contact the repository.

The Papers of Leopold Amery

Title	Political, up to First World War
Reference	AMEL 1/2
Covering Dates	1901–1950 (The majority of files date from 1901-15.)
Extent and Medium	11.5 archive boxes

Content and context

Correspondence, articles, speech notes and papers on LSA's political work as a journalist and then as a member of Parliament, on subjects including colonial affairs, defence, tariff reform and Home Rule for Ireland.

Churchill/AMEL 1/2 contains:

Canadian Militia Bill 1904. Letters from Major-General 12th Lord Dundonald [earlier Lord Cochrane] (7) and Colonel Samuel Hughes (5), on the command of the Canadian militia, the dismissal of Lord Dundonald as commander of the Militia, the Canadian Militia Act and the anti-British policies of Sir Wilfrid Laurier [Premier of Canada]. Also includes: memorandum by Hughes on the defence of Eastern Ontario and the Quebec border; part of a report by Lord Dundonald on reorganization of the militia and Canadian defence (1902).
1 file.

1902-Jan 1905

Colonial Administration: at home and abroad. Annotated memorandum by [?] Sir Frederick Lugard [High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief of Northern Nigeria] on reform of colonial policy in the Tropics, including decentralising business from the Colonial Office and improving communications with the colonies.
1 file.

c 1906

Moroccan Crisis: speech notes. Annotated text of speech by [? LSA] on the state of the Anglo-French Entente after Germany sent a warship to Agadir [Morocco].
1 file.

c 1911

General articles. Cuttings, prints, proofs and manuscripts of articles written by LSA, mainly for the Times and National Review, on subjects including: mountaineering; north-western Canada; the Imperial Conference (1907); the East African empire; the Education Bill (1906); British trade figures; the military geography of the empire; reorganizing the Conservative Party; policy on tariff reform, defence, Ireland and social issues.
2 files.

Jan 1905-May 1908

General articles. Cuttings and prints of articles and papers written by LSA on subjects including: military tactical policy; defence from the imperial standpoint; the Australian tariff; South Africa and Imperial Preference; some practical steps towards an Imperial Constitution; cavalry equipment and training; Hudson Bay [Canada] and its coasts.
1 file.

Feb 1906-Sep 1911

Speeches. Annotated notes for speeches by LSA, on subjects including: the new army system; LSA's election addresses (1905, 1908); Canada; the Army Bill (in a speech written for Field Marshal 1st Lord Roberts, 1907); the defence of the Empire and federal problems; women's suffrage; Germany's naval menace; the new era in South Africa; mountaineering; policies on the constitution, Empire and home affairs.
2 files.

Mar 1904-Oct 1910

Edmondson Case. Correspondence (mainly congratulations) on a libel action brought against LSA by a soldier from the South African War, with correspondents including: representatives of Crowders, Vizard, Oldham and Company, solicitors (13); Francis Mildmay; Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Wight-Boycott; Harold Prichard; [Joseph] Austen Chamberlain; 1st Lord Haldane; Robert Philipson-Stow; Major-General Sir Frederick Benson; Lieutenant-Colonel Hubert Duncombe; 3rd Lord Denman; General Sir [Henry] Leslie Rundle; L J Maxse; Arthur Balfour;.
1 file.

Jan 1910-Mar 1911

Edmondson Case. Reports and interviews used in LSA's defence in a libel action brought against him by a soldier from the South African War, including: accounts of a battle at Leliefontein, near Senekal (1900); annotated proofs from the Times History of the South African War; witness statements and other legal papers; material from an earlier action brought against General Sir [Henry] Leslie Rundle and others.
3 files.

Feb 1901–1911

Edmondson Case. Press-cuttings and pamphlets reporting on a libel action brought against LSA by a soldier from the South African War, or used in LSA's defence.
1 file.

Jul 1908-Feb 1911

Lloyd George's Insurance Bill 1911. Papers against the bill (and later against the act) introduced by David Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, including: memoranda on 'Dishonest Finance' and the effect of the bill on different types of Friendly Society; programme of the Amend the Act League, including a speech by LSA pointing out defects in the act, with summary; text of speech by LSA against the bill.
1 file.

Oct 1911-Apr 1912

The Parliament Act 1911. Press-cuttings and typescripts of letters written by LSA and others including 1st Lord Curzon to the Times on the constitutional crisis arising from reform of the House of Lords.
1 file.

Jul 1911-Aug 1911

The Parliament Act 1911. Papers on the reform of the House of Lords, including: report of the Halsbury Club committee, by 2nd Lord Selborne, Chairman of the committee; notes and circular letter on the formation of the committee by 19th Lord Willoughby de Broke [secretary, earlier Richard Verney]; explanatory memoranda and annotated papers by LSA on the Parliament Bill, the powers of both Houses of Parliament, the constitutional breakdown and need for reform, results of the Parliament Act and arguments against the bill.
2 files.

Oct 1911-May 1913

Papers on the Marconi Affair. Printed papers on relations between the Government and the Marconi Company, after the company won the contract to build wireless stations, and ministers dealt in Marconi shares. Includes: collected articles by W R Lawson for the National Review on the affair; edition of the National Review by L J Maxse, Editor, on "The Great Marconi Mystery"; reprints of a speech by LSA on the affair (printed by the National Review as "St. Sebastian of Limehouse"); reports of the Marconi Select Committee; press-cuttings of letters written by LSA to the Times.
3 files.

May 1913-Aug 1913

Invitation to Coronation of King George V.
1 file.

May 1911

Facsimiles of proclamations of the accessions of King George V and King Edward VIII [later Edward, Duke of Windsor].
1 file.

May 1910-Jan 1936

Colonial and Imperial Conferences. Correspondence and papers on the conferences of 1907 and 1911, with correspondents including: George Buckle [Editor of the Times] on the impracticality of King George V opening South Africa's first Parliament; Philip Kerr [later 11th Lord Lothian] on people for LSA to meet on his visit to Canada, including Sir Wilfrid Laurier [Premier of Canada], before the 1911 conference, bringing the Dominions more into imperial affairs, subjects for the conference, LSA's memorandum on the conference, suggestions by 1st Lord Milner for additions to LSA's memorandum and advocating imperial union (8); Lionel Curtis on subjects for the conference; letters from LSA on subjects including his hopes for a future Imperial council and executive, and the limitations of British colonial policy, the negative attitude of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the advantages of sending the King to open the South African Parliament, and having deputations from the Dominions at his coronation, and the new Dominions Office. Also includes: minute on the reorganization of the Colonial Office and future establishment of an Imperial Department; memoranda by Philip Kerr on the 1911 conference; annotated memorandum by LSA on the reorganization of official relations with the Dominions and the possible development of the Conference system; minute on discussions on achieving Imperial union; notes for consideration by the sub-committee on the 1911 conference; prints of the proposed agenda for the 1907 conference and of correspondence on the future organization of colonial conferences (from the 1905 conference); memorandum by LSA on suggestions for imperial policy; print of an article by Lord Milner, reflecting on the next conference.
2 files.

Nov 1905-Nov 1912

National Service. Papers and correspondence, with correspondents including: copy of a letter from Arthur Balfour to Sir George Clarke [Secretary to Committee of Imperial Defence, later 1st Lord Sydenham] on new risks of invasion from Germany; Field-Marshal 1st Lord Roberts on the poor state of the army, the dangers of leaving national defence to volunteers and asking LSA to help him with a speech (4); Charles A'Court-Repington [earlier Charles A'Court] on the arguments against conscription; letters from LSA to George Wyndham on creating a military reserve (2). Also includes: texts of speeches by LSA on national service, including a speech for Lord Roberts; copy of the National Military Training Bill (1908) and National Service Bill (1907); press-cuttings of speeches; print of a letter by LSA to the Times on the need for national service; notes by LSA on the costs of home defence; memorandum by [?] Lord Roberts on the conditions for a war for home defence.
2 files.

Jun 1905-Mar 1913

Speeches. Annotated typescripts, prints, cuttings, notes and manuscripts of speeches by LSA on subjects including: imperial unity, particularly on Canada, the possibility of an Imperial council and separating the Colonial Office from an Imperial Office, and including a speech written for 1st Lord Roberts; taxation (in LSA's maiden speech in the House of Commons); temperance; links between defence policy and strategy; the need for a national policy for dealing with syphilis; blocking motions.
2 files.

May 1911-Feb 1914

Notes for speeches. Manuscript speech notes by LSA on subjects including: tariff reform, Imperial Preference and Free Trade; Imperial defence; the role of the Royal Navy; the Imperial Conference; the constitution and reform of the House of Lords; national service; policy on South Africa, particularly on equal rights for the Boers and British. Also includes: notes on whether LSA himself should join the army at Salonika [Thessaloniki, Greece] or stay in the War Office; draft letter on the possibility of LSA leaving the Times.
2 files.

c 1903-c 1915

General articles. Cuttings and prints of articles by LSA on subjects including: Imperial administration, particularly in India; wage conditions; tariff reform; Imperial policy, including constitutional measures, defence and the economy; a tribute to Joseph Chamberlain.
1 file.

Sep 1911-Aug 1914

The Imperial Fund. Correspondence and papers on fund-raising for the Tariff Reform League, with correspondents including: 11th Duke of Bedford [earlier Lord Tavistock]; M Woodward [? Secretary to 2nd Duke of Westminster, earlier Lord Belgrave] (7). Also includes: lists of subscribers; guest list and seating plan for the Imperial Fund Banquet, with annotated text of a speech by LSA; account of the Founders' Dinner, with memorandum by LSA on the aims of the fund; fund-raising pamphlet.
1 file.

Jul 1912-Feb 1913

Imperial Preference Campaign Mass Meeting. Programme and plan of the meeting.
1 item.

23 May 1911

Empire Parliamentary Association. Photographs and some press cuttings from the visit to Australia by the British branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association, with a programme from the branch's visit to South Africa.
3 files.

Sep 1913-Aug 1914

The Case against Home Rule. Press cuttings of articles by LSA written for the Morning Post against Home Rule for Ireland, with proofs and a copy of a pamphlet consisting of the collected articles.
1 file.

Feb 1912-Mar 1912

The Home Rule Crisis. Press cuttings and proofs of articles and letters by LSA for the Times and the Covenanter on Home Rule for Ireland, with annotated texts of speeches on the Home Rule bill, and a photograph of LSA with Sir Edward Carson, [?] 6th Lord Londonderry [earlier Lord Castlereagh], James Craig [later 1st Lord Craigavon and Percy Clive. Also includes: letter from Sir Ulick Alexander, recalling a meeting with LSA in 1914.
2 files.

Nov 1910-Sep 1950

British Covenant. Cutting and texts of articles, letters and memoranda by LSA for the British Covenant against Irish Home Rule, with a petition form against the Home Rule Bill and issue of the Covenanter.
1 file.

Jan 1914-Aug 1914

Home Rule. Typescript and manuscript speech notes by LSA against Home Rule for Ireland, with print of an article by LSA for the Lancashire and Cheshire Junior Unionist.
2 files.

Jan 1912-May 1914

Home Rule and the Ulster Crisis. Includes: extracts from the Quarterly Review on Home Rule; published interview and correspondence between John Seely, Secretary of State for War [later 1st Lord Mottistone], General Sir Arthur Paget [Commander-in-Chief, Ireland] and Brigadier-General Hubert Gough [Commander, 3rd Cavalry Brigade at the Curragh], on resignations of officers in the Irish Command over the imposition of Home Rule; copies of Hansard covering the debate on the Government of Ireland Bill, March-April 1914.
1 file.

Dec 1913-Mar 1914

The Curragh Crisis. Papers and correspondence on events in Ulster over the imposition of Home Rule in Ireland, March 1914, with correspondents including: Major Philip Howell, 4th Hussars, on events in the crisis, and the involvement of various individuals including Winston Churchill [First Lord of the Admiralty] and General Sir Arthur Paget [Commander-in-Chief, Ireland] (3); [?] Sir Max Aitken [later 1st Lord Beaverbrook]; H A Gwynne [editor of the Morning Post]; "H W" [Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Wilson, Director of Military Operations at Army Headquarters]. Also includes: various versions of events, including a diary by Frederick Oliver, annotated by LSA; notes and memoranda by LSA commenting on events; diaries of naval and military movements during the crisis, by LSA; memorandum giving an account of a meeting between Paget, Field Marshal Sir John French [Chief of Imperial General Staff, later 1st Lord Ypres], Lieutenant-General Sir [John] Spencer Ewart [Adjutant-General to Forces] and [?] John Seely [Secretary of State for War, later 1st Lord Mottistone].
2 files.

Mar 1914-Apr 1914

Blacksod Bay: altered route scheme. Correspondence between Sir Thomas Troubridge and others on a proposed link between a ferry and Irish railways at Blacksod Bay [County Mayo, Ireland] for the fishing trade, with plan of the bay showing the proposed new rail route.
1 file.

Mar 1909-Jul 1914