Schomberg, Reginald Charles Francis, 1880-1958, explorer, author

Various materials, including diaries, typescripts, maps, correspondence (thirty-four letters from Sir Aurel Stein), photographs and a substantial collection of glass negatives taken by Schomberg during his travels in Central Asia. The Schomberg collection is divided into two parts: Glass negatives (RSAA/SC/SCH/1) and Other Material (RSAA/SC/SCH/2).

Lieut Col Schomberg, DSO, who joined the Central Asian Society in 1921, led a varied life, as soldier, explorer, author and, in his final years, as a Catholic priest. He served with the Seaforth Highlanders, winning a DSO and Bar, retiring from the army in 1928. For the next twenty years or so, he devoted much of his time to exploration of some of the more remote parts of Central Asia. His chief publications were: Peaks and Plains of Central Asia; (1933), Between the Oxus and the Indus; (1935), Unknown Karakoram; (1936), and Kafirs and Glaciers: Travels in Chitral (1938).

<p>For 2 photographs, possibly taken on Schomberg's 1944 expedition to Kashmir and at some point separated from the Schomberg Archive, see RSAA/SC/SCH/2/55</p>

Schomberg's glass negatives (RSAA/SC/SCH/1) are currently being catalogued and are not available for consultation until the cataloguing and conservation exercise is completed.