Ancient CyprusAncient Cyprus

Colonial administration

Colonial Office

London, United Kingdom

Colonial administration in London. 7 people in the register connected with it.

History

  1. 1880s – 1889
    The 1886 permit reform under High Commissioner Bulwer (permits regardless of nationality, scientific purposes) was initially opposed by the Colonial Office in London for a variety of reasons; some representatives of the CEF and British Museum, supported by the Colonial Office, argued for British first refusal on sites.

    Henry Ernest Gascoyne BulwerUlbrich & Kiely 2012

  2. 1889
    Corresponded with the High Commissioner of Cyprus about the Berlin Royal Museums' permit to excavate at Idalion (Dali); in the same period London lobbying, including by Alexander Murray of the British Museum with the Colonial Secretary, favoured British bodies and the Cyprus Museum over foreign excavators.

    IdalionAlexander Stuart MurrayHenry Ernest Gascoyne BulwerSchmid 2025Ulbrich & Kiely 2012

  3. January 1894
    Lord Ripon, Secretary of State for the Colonies 1892-95, was in favour of granting the Germans a permit (for Ohnefalsch-Richter's Idalion campaign); the Foreign Office then asked for the precise land at Dali. Following the 1889 dispute, permits for foreign diggers were routed through the Foreign Office and embassies.

    DaliLord RiponMax Ohnefalsch-RichterSchmid 2025Ulbrich & Kiely 2012

  4. 1934
    A CO selection board offered John Hilton the post of first Director of Antiquities (accepted 9 August, at 600 pounds); he served about 17 months.

    John HiltonStanley-Price 2025

  5. 1935
    The Antiquities Law was approved by the CO more than a year before the Cyprus Government signed it (last day of 1935), despite three successive Secretaries of State; London complained of the Cyprus Government's 'lack of tact and imagination'.

    Malcolm MacDonaldJ. H. ThomasStanley-Price 2025

  6. August 1935
    Hilton was dismissed after the Governor, Sir Richmond Palmer, consulted in London; the Secretary of State (MacDonald) had decided his fate. Officials in the CO questioned the fairness of the dismissal; Hilton's tourism duties were later used as a convenient justification.

    John HiltonMalcolm MacDonaldRupert Forbes GunnisStanley-Price 2025

  7. May 1936
    Newly appointed Secretary of State Ormsby-Gore sent the Governor a sharp nine-page letter: the Director of Antiquities must have the full support of the Cyprus government, and Gunnis, who had interfered too much and was not an archaeologist, should forfeit his 150 pound stipend as Travelling Member of the Antiquities Advisory Board. Gunnis had been removed as Inspector in February 1936.

    William Ormsby-GoreRupert Forbes GunnisArthur Hubert Stanley MegawStanley-Price 2025

People

7 people

Staff and members · 7

On Ancient Cyprus

1 page

Sources

  1. 1.Nicholas Stanley-Price (2025). “Colonial society and the dismissal of John Hilton, first Director of Antiquities in Cyprus”. Empire & Excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878-1960, 109-126.
  2. 2.A. G. Marangou (ed.) (2000). The Consul Luigi Palma di Cesnola 1832-1904: Life and Deeds.
  3. 3.Stephan G. Schmid (2025). “Was there an official German interest in the archaeology of Cyprus between 1878 and 1914?”. Empire & Excavation: Critical perspectives on archaeology in British-period Cyprus, 1878-1960, 69-92. Leiden, Sidestone Press.
  4. 4.Anja Ulbrich, Thomas Kiely (2012). “Britain and the Archaeology of Cyprus. I. The long 19th century”. Cahiers du Centre d'Études Chypriotes 42. Online