"In 1927, Mr Oldrieve, the Secretary of the British Empire Leprosy Relief Association, completed a series of visits, made in the interests of the work of the Association, to those parts of the Empire where leprosy is most prevalent, and as a result of the work that has been commenced since the formation of the Association, leprosy relief measures are being undertaken in a systematic way in everypart of the Empire where leprosy is at all prevalent. Soon after his return from his last tour Mr Oldrieve informed the Committee that he wished to be relieved of his work as Secretary of the Association as soon as a successor could be found, as he strongly felt that the next official of the Association to visit the Colonies, etc, should be a medical man, who was an expert in the treatment of the disease. The Committee reluctantly accepted this view, and decided to approach Dr R G Cochrane with an invitation to succeed Mr Oldrieve." Leprosy Notes 6 (July 1929):2.

In 1924-25, Oldrieve visited India and Burma, the Straits Settlement and the Federated Malay States, and Culion. In 1926, he visited the British Colonies of Nigeria, the Gold Coast, and Sierra Leone in West Africa. Then he went to the West Indies, specifically Barbados, Trinidad, Jamaica, and British Guiana. The reports on these visits are held in The National Archives of the United Kingdom.