A small collection of diaries and papers from the service of Laurence Richard Oliphant in the period 1890-1916. Including examination papers from his training as a cadet on HMS BRITANNIA at Dartmouth and diaries kept while he was in command of the depot ship HMS LEANDER (1882) in the wartime period 1914 - 1915. See item level records.

Administrative / biographical background
Oliphant was born in India in 1877 and educated at Twyford School in Winchester. He became a cadet on HMS BRITANNIA at Dartmouth in 1891 and first went to sea as a midshipman on the battleship HMS EMPRESS OF INDIA (1891). As a lieutenant his appointments included the iron screw frigate HMS RALEIGH (1873) in the Training Squadron and the battleship HMS HIBERNIA (1905) in the Channel Fleet. Oliphant married the Honourable Adelaide Daphne Hermione Willoughby, eldest daughter of the tenth Lord Middleton in 1909. He commanded the training ship IMPREGNABLE at Devonport in 1911-1914. During the First World War he commanded the destroyer depot ship HMS LEANDER (1882), the cruiser HMS SAPPHIRE (1904) in the East Indies, then the light cruiser HMS PENELOPE (1914) in the North Sea. Oliphant was then appointed to the staff of the Royal Naval War College at Greenwich and remained there until his retirement from the active list in 1922. He was then superintendent of the Royal Hospital School for over 10 years. Oliphant died in Yorkshire in 1950. His service record can be found under the references ADM 196/125/46, ADM 196/90/39 and ADM 196/44/332 at The National Archives.