| Description | These are diaries for calendar years which note Joseph Chamberlain's official appointments as Secretary of State for the Colonies; they contain brief daily entries recording such engagements as Cabinet and committee meetings, meetings with other Government offices, meetings with colonial governors and delegations, royal engagements and meetings with his political colleagues; these diaries were maintained by Joseph Chamberlain's Principal Private Secretaries whilst he was Secretary of State for the Colonies; the signature of Sir Harold F. Wilson [Principal Private Sec 1895-1897] appears at the foot of pages in the volumes for 1895 and 1896, and the initials of Lord Ampthill [Arthur Oliver Villiers Russell Ampthill, 2nd Baron Ampthill: Principal Private Sec, 1897-1900] appear at the foot of pages in the volumes for 1896 and 1900 |