Alan & Lillie M. Probert Collection
Scope and Contents
Correspondence, legal and business documents, transcripts, literary manuscripts, notes, photographs, printed material and maps relative to the Proberts' research interests.
The collection contains original research materials acquired by the Proberts (dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries), as well as materials generated during the Proberts' lives and careers.
Subgroup I consists of materials collected by Probert related to mining in Mexico, particularly in Mineral del Monte. It contains original manuscript materials regarding operation of the mines during their ownership by the Romero de Terreros family, Counts of Regla (1687-1824), and from the English-owned Compañía de Real del Monte (1823-1910). The latter group contains many letters and reports from principal officers James Vetch and John Rule, and employees such as John Hitchcock Buchan.
Subgroup I also contains research notes and materials, which includes transcripts and reproductions of materials from various archives, correspondence related to Probert's research on mining in Mexico and on the Compañía de Real del Monte, maps on and pamphlets (mostly twentieth century) of concerning Mexico and England, and assorted material.
Subgroup II, the Proberts' personal papers, contains literary productions (one by Lillie, the rest by Alan) and related material, including correspondence related to their publications. Probert was a contributor and editorial advisor to The Journal of the West. His correspondence with editors and contributors is found throughout this subgroup. Subgroup II also contains correspondence pertinent to the Proberts' varied research interests; assorted research materials, including some items related to mining in Guatemala; and assorted lists, notes, correspondence, maps, and journals and other printed material.
Dates
- Creation: 1687-1987
Language of Materials
English, Spanish
Access Restrictions
Unrestricted.
Use Restrictions
Standard copyright restrictions apply.
Biographical Note
Alan Probert was a mining engineer and author. He was born in 1901 in London, England, and died March 18, 1985, in Laguna Hills, California. His wife, Lillie May Walker Probert, died in 1989. Alan Probert received a B.S. degree with honors from the University of California, Berkeley in 1925. In the same year he went to Nome, Alaska, to work as an engineer for Hammon Consolidated Goldfields. He went on to work in a number of mines and mining camps in California, Arizona, Nevada and Idaho before beginning a 23-year association with the United States Smelting Refining and Mining Company, for which he worked in Colorado, Utah, Alaska, and then for thirteen years with the Compañía de Real del Monte y Pachuca in Mexico. He later spent five years (1950-1955) with the U.S. Bureau of Mines in Mexico and Washington, D.C. From 1955-1961 he served as vice-president and general manager of the Compañía Minera de Guatemala, S.A. From 1961 until his retirement, Probert was a consulting engineer, employed exclusively in Latin America, for such firms as the International Nickel Company, Monsanto, and United Fruit Company.
While employed in Mexico, Probert developed an intense interest in Mexican mining history, particularly that of the state of Hidalgo. He researched and collected materials on mining in Mineral del Monte, focusing on the period of early British involvement in the years 1824-1829. His research interests included British technical expertise and mining history. He wrote on diverse subjects, most related to either mining or Mexico. Lillie Probert assisted her husband in his research, and was the author of at least one published article.
Full Extent
22 linear feet
Abstract
Correspondence, manuscripts, and notes of mining engineer Alan Probert and his wife, Lillie, regarding the history of mining in Mexico
Acquisition Information
The Alan and Lillie M. Probert Collection was donated by the Proberts to the Benson Latin American Collection between the years 1964 and 1989.
Alternate Form Available
Subgroup I, Series 1 (original documents concerning the Real del Monte) is also available on microfilm.
Processing Information
The collection was described by the Benson's Mexican Archives Project, April-June 1995.
Finding aid initially prepared by the Mexican Archives Project, April-June 1995.
- Title
- Alan and Lillie M. Probert:
- Status
- Edited Full Draft
- Subtitle
- An Inventory of Their Collection at the Benson Latin American Collection
- Author
- Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection
- Date
- 2001
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- February 18, 2003: Edited with XMetal3 by Bob Stewart following TARO EAD V.1 Editing for BLAC Finding Aids.
- Tue Jul 22 14:58:32 CDT 2003: urn:taro:utexas.blac.00053 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (20030505).
- 2017 June: Finding aid edited and inventory added by Carla O. Alvarez.
- 2021 April: Edited by Carla O. Alvarez to fix compliance check errors to prepare for the migration to new TARO website.
- 2021 November: Edited by Devon Murphy to update control access terms and formatting based on the TARO Control Access List.
- 2025 July: Revised by Ryan Sullivant to fix validation errors prior to ingestion into ArchivesSpace.
Repository Details
Part of the Benson Latin American Collection, The University of Texas at Austin Repository
2300 Red River Street
Austin Texas 78712 United States
(512) 495-4578
bensonspecialcollections@austin.utexas.edu