Frederick Williamson- An I C S by Service and a Photographer by Passion

Photograph taken by Williamson Prince Paljor is standing in front of  C E Dudley
Picture Source Digital Himalaya

Frederick Williamson was the Eighth British Political Officer of Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet in the 1930s. A part from a steward diplomat posted in the buffer zone of Sikkim, Williamson was also a passionate photographer. He has taken a number of pictures of Sikkim, Tibet and Bhutan (three Himalayan Kingdoms) during his stay at Gangtok as a British Political Officer. Between December 1930-August 1935, he and his wife, Margaret Williamson, shot approximately 1700 photographs throughout the Himalayan region. As well as documenting the Williamsons' personal travels, the photos provide an unusually well-preserved and well-catalogued insight into social life in Sikkim, Bhutan, and Tibet during the 1930s [Source: www.digitalhimalaya.com] His photographs resembles the social, political, cultural and economic aspects of then Sikkim and its immediate neighbors which are mostly confined in travelogues and writings of the scholars. The most important picture taken by him includes the family photographs of Sikkim Royals in which young pilot prince of Sikkim Paljor Namgyal is standing with the other member of the Royal House. A part from this rare picture, almost all the photography of Williamson like plays an imperative part for the study of pre Second World War Sikkim. The Williamson Photographic Collection is housed in the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge University and a recent exhibition entitled Collected Sights featured a number of Williamson's photos. Of equal interest are the 23 reels of 16mm cine film which Williamson shot while in Sikkim, Bhutan and Tibet. (Source www.digitalhimalaya.com ) The passionate photographer and a gigantic diplomat Frederick Williamson died in Lhasa in 1936.

Maharaja Sir Tashi Namgyal and Maharani Kunzang Deechen of Sikkim and Mrs. Dudley
Pic. Source: Digital Himalaya