Bell analysed the political situation ahead of elections

Explorer Gertrude Bell is often referred to as the "uncrowned queen of Iraq" following her deep involvement with the country during the critical period of its birth.

And documents to be featured in a new exhibition show the extent of her influence as the country formerly known as Mesopotamia looked ahead to its first elections.

Bell (1868-1926) is one of 17 great Britons featured in the "Movers and Shakers" exhibition at the National Archives in Kew, west London.

Letter from British High Commissioner to the Colonial Office, 1927 Enlarge Image

There are two documents on display. One is a copy of an extract from an Intelligence report written by Bell on 15 April 1921.

The other is a letter six years later from the British High Commission in Iraq asking the Colonial Office in London to name a wing of the Baghdad Museum after Bell, at the request of the country's new king, Faisal.

In the report, submitted three months before the referendum in July 1921, Ms Bell gives her views on current public opinion, estimating the level of support for the prospective candidates.

Her love for travel began early in her life. On leaving Oxford University in 1888, Bell visited Persia (modern day Iran) and fell in love with it.

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She learned Persian and Arabic and how to ride camels, but despite her love of adventure she was politically conservative and joined the Anti Suffrage League.

In 1907 she published her first book about Syria and due to her extensive knowledge of the Middle East, Bell became a vital source of information to the British during World War I.

Churchill calls

As a result, she was the only woman drafted as an intelligence agent and became Oriental Secretary to the High Commission in Basra. Her knowledge of Iraq and Persia continued to be invaluable during the post-war years.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS Writer Geoffrey Chaucer 1343-1400 Inventor William Caxton 1415-91 Noblewoman Cecily Neville 1415-95 King HenryVIII 1491-1547 Queen Elizabeth I 1558-1603 Politician and Soldier Oliver Cromwell 1599-1658 Architect Christopher Wren 1632-1723 Astronomer Edmund Halley 1656-1742 Civil Servant Henry Cole 1808-1882 Political Economist Karl Marx 1818-1883 Writer Charles Dickens 1812-1870 Nurse Mary Seacole 1805-1881 Scientist Francis Crick 1916-2004 Mathematician and Computer Scientist Alan Turing 1912-1954 Social Explorer Gertrude Bell 1868 - 1926 Soldier and Statesman Winston Churchill 1874 - 1965 Musician Elton John 1947-

In 1921, she was asked to draw up the borders of the new nation of Iraq and helped choose its first ruler, Prince Faisal.

For years she was one of Churchill's closest personal and political advisers, a position that earned her the title of "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq".

As her political role in Iraq declined with the new regime in power, she returned to her first love - archaeology.

In 1923 she became Honorary Director of Antiquities in Iraq and established the Baghdad Museum. At the instigation of King Faisal a wing of the museum was dedicated to her.

National Archives senior events and exhibition coordinator Sue Barnard said of Gertrude Bell: "She was one of those Victorian women who did a lot with her life."

Movers and Shakers is at the National Archives in Kew, west London, from 6 December - 31 May.

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