Travel award report – Research on Captain Cornelius Francis James and the Abyssinian Expedition
Since 2023, the St Leonard’s College Postgraduate Travel Awards scheme supports postgraduate students with any travel that would benefit their research and development. In 2025, it allowed Alex Flagg, PhD student at the School of Art History, to conduct research in London. Here is the full report:
Through this generously funded research trip, I was able to undertake a series of visits to major institutions in London to consult material relating to Captain Cornelius Francis James and the Abyssinian Expedition, as well as to meet academics with relevant expertise. This research builds towards my PhD dissertation’s first chapter, on an Ethiopian manuscript held at the University of Edinburgh which was acquired by James during the looting of Mäqdäla.
I first visited the National Army Museum’s archives to look at material related to James. Of particular interest were letters he had written to his mother while on the Expedition: one of these itemised his loot following the Battle of Mäqdäla, where he states he acquired two manuscripts. This information helps to clarify longstanding questions regarding whether the manuscript is one of a two-volume set or if it is an independent text. Additionally, I saw an original watercolour of the battle, painted by James and accompanied by his caption highlighting the deliberate inclusion of the Expedition’s Catholic chaplain in the image, shown attempting to defend Mäqdäla’s church from British looting. This choice supposes James was interested in the ethical implications of looting despite his own acquisitions, pointing to interesting questions of positionality within the broader imperial context. I also had the opportunity to meet the National Army Museum’s Collections Manager Terri Dendy, who has undertaken important research on a lock of Emperor Tewodros II’s hair which was also acquired by James. Dendy’s research was the basis for its highly publicised repatriation in 2019. She generously shared genealogical research on the James family, which may provide further leads for this project.
I also visited the British Library to consult translations of papers associated with Emperor Tewodros II. While there, I met with Eyob Derillo and Yirga Gelaw Woldeyes, two leading scholars in Ethiopian studies. We discussed my project, and they kindly connected me with another academic who is interested in the provenance of the Edinburgh collection. Finally, I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, where I met with Alexandra Watson-Jones, the Curator of Provenance. Her research on British collecting of Ethiopian religious art and material culture proved especially useful in contextualising my project. The conversations I had with these individuals were an invaluable expansion of my academic network, and each offered their expert opinions on different facets of the project.
Ultimately, these visits were extremely productive, and I am incredibly grateful for the funding which supported this trip.