PRO 30/401862-1908Major General Sir John Charles Ardagh: Papers
These are papers of Major-General Sir John Charles Ardagh, which were bequeathed to the Public Record Office by his widow, Susan Hamilton, dowager Countess of Malmesbury.
They consist partly of materials used by her in the preparation of his biography, published in 1909, and comprise drafts and proof-copies of War Office and Foreign Office memoranda, technical notes and monographs, diaries, collections of private memoranda, press-cuttings, etc, and public and private correspondence.
Among his most frequent correspondents were General Wolseley and Lord Charles Beresford; there is also one letter from General Gordon. The public documents are largely concerned with Sir John's work as private secretary (1888 to 1894) to the Marquis of Lansdowne and the Earl of Elgin, successive Governors General of India, as Director of Military Intelligence (1896 to 1901), as a member of various commissions of inquiry and arbitration and as a delegate to international conferences.