
LIVE LECTURES
The British in India's first live event for 2025 will be a lunchtime lecture on two prominent political officers in Arabia on Thursday 3 April at the University Women's Club, 2 Audley Square, Mayfair, London W1K 1DB. ​​
How to book
THURSDAY 3 APRIL 2025 11.30-14.30
Curzon's Chosen Men: Political Officers on the Periphery of Empire
Alan Dillon
University Women's Club, 2 Audley Square, Mayfair, London W1K 1DB
In the early 20th century, political resident John Gordon Lorimer ICS and political agent Captain William Shakespear of the Indian Foreign Department played prominent roles on behalf of the British and Indian Governments. As ‘warrior scholars’, both used their diplomatic, linguistic, intelligence and exploration skills in the Arabian Peninsula and Persia to enhance Britain’s understanding of the periphery of Empire, leaving geopolitical legacies that continue to resonate long after their careers were tragically cut short.
Alan Dillon is a serving diplomat who spent twelve years in the Royal Marines before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 2000. He has served in Afghanistan, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Saudi Arabia and Oman, interspersed by spells in Whitehall, mostly covering the Gulf and South Asia regions. He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the author of Captain Shakespear: Desert Exploration, Arabian Intrigue and the Rise of Ibn Sa’ud (2019) and Lorimer: His Gazetteer and Britain’s Pursuit of Knowledge (2024).​​​​​
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This lecture is a joint event with the Indian Civil Service Society.
​Tea, coffee and drinks will be available from the bar downstairs while a short meeting takes place at 11.30am in the Library for members of the former Indian Civil Service Association (Incorporating the Indian Police (UK) Association) and others with connections with the Civil Services of the British Government of India who wish to join the new Indian Civil Service Society.
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The lecture will be presented in the Library at 12 noon and followed by book sales. For those who would like to stay, an optional two-course meal (main course, dessert and coffee) from 1pm to 2:30pm will follow in the Drawing Room. Tickets for the lecture cost £15 and for the lecture and meal £62.50. Drinks can be purchased separately from the pay bar in the Drawing Room after the lecture.
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HOW TO BOOK
Tickets may be booked online by card (fees apply), cheque or bank transfer.
Platform and payment processing fees apply
Platform and payment processing fees apply

UNIVERSITY WOMEN'S CLUB

Governor-General Lord Moira and his party enjoy a fireworks display in the grounds of the palace of Farhat Baksh in Lucknow (detail). Watercolour from Views by Seeta Ram from Cawnpore to Mohumdy vol. IV produced for Lord Moira, afterwards the Marquess of Hastings, by Sita Ram between 1814 and 1815. British Library, public domain. Farhat Baksh, originally named the Château de Lyon, was designed and built in 1781 on the banks of the Gomti river by Frenchman Claude Martin as his city residence in Lucknow. After Martin’s death it was acquired by Saadat Ali Khan, Nawab of Avadh, who renamed it Farhat Baksh and transformed it into a palace.