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Post by steppetraveller on Aug 28, 2015 14:05:03 GMT 3
Can anyone help with information about Thomas Witlam Atkinson and his wife Lucy, who travelled to Kopal in present-day eastern Kazakhstan in 1848? They were the first Europeans to visit this region of the Alatau and Lucy gave birth to a son in Kopal, whom they called Alatau Tamchiboulac Atkinson. In total, they stayed in the town for eight months. Thomas wrote two books about his travels, Oriental and Western Siberia (1858) and Travels in the Region of the Upper and Lower Amoor (1860). Lucy also wrote a wonderful book called Recollections of Tartar Steppes (1863). When they arrived in Kopal it was the southernmost outpost of the Russian empire and was still being built by Cossacks. I would like to know where I would be able to find the official records, particularly the military despatches that would have been sent every day to Ust-Kamenogorst or Orenburg, which would have recorded events in the town. At some point the Atkinsons met Sultan Souk, who was the father-in-law of Choqan Velikhanov. Any further information on him would also be much appreciated. Anyone who wants to know more about the Atkinsons can now read my new book: South to the Great Steppe: the travels of Thomas and Lucy Atkinson in Eastern Kazakhstan, 1847-52 - see www.amazon.co.uk/South-Great-Steppe-Kazakhstan-1847-1852/dp/0954640993/275-4491325-5636559?ie=UTF8&keywords=south%20to%20the%20great%20steppe&qid=1452075528&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1
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