[BARLOW, George Edward Pratt 1784-1865]. Autograph manuscript memoir of George Edward Pratt Barlow written by his widow Elizabeth Theophila Barlow (née Clarke, 1813-1899) borrowing largely from his journal. Written in or after 1865, comprising 117 sides of manuscript mostly written on verso sides of the pages, and at the rear in another hand, 6 pages of manuscript commentary upon religious matters, with blank pages between the two. Bound in full parchment, measuring about 5 x 7 inches. PHOTO

The manuscript covers George Barlow’s life chronologically. The first 4 sides (with duplication) relate to his family origins and education, followed by 31 sides which cover his posting to India in the army in 1802, with extensive detail of his service and action in the war against the Marathas; an expedition and action in 1810 with the 69th Regiment to the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, and subsequent appointment as Judge Advocate; promotion and transfer to the 34th Regiment and posting to Ireland in 1814. In the 96 pages which follow, details are provided of his posting in Ireland and further postings to India, England and Ireland; followed by his command of the 61st Regiment in Ceylon 1828-1832; travel in Europe and north Africa while on half pay (he leaves the army 1842 upon attaining his full colonelcy); his appointment as chairman of Southampton Docks in 1842; and further travel in Europe, especially in France where he meets Louis Napoleon.

The following extracts come from the first 35 sides:

My beloved Husband was born in Bruton Street Bond Sq in 1784 Novmr 30th.  He was the son of Mr Robert Barlow, (who took the name of Pratt) a solicitor of high character, who cared so little for money that he always dissuaded his clients from litigation, thus making but little from an excellent business ……. He lived with his father and mother for many years, at Turnham Green.  While there, he & three of his brothers were taught entirely by a French Abbé, who came to them daily……… he became a very good French and Italian scholar, speaking both languages with great facility, at the same time studying Greek and Latin, Mathematics and all other usual of study of boys …………

In 1802 he left England in the Caledonia on 22nd July arriving in Calcutta in Janry 14th 1803.  He joined his 22nd on the 24th April 1803.  He was removed by Lord Luke to his 8th Light Dragoons on the 10th of Novber 1803.  On the 10th Decber from notice by Lord Luke to a Lieutenancy in the 10th Dragoons. ……..Jany, - Feby – March – April 1804 moving about the -?- country as an army of observation ….. Octber 2nd Marched to Jerra & came up at the rear of Holkar’s Army [Jaswant Rao Holkar]. Formed line & advanced to the charge. The enemy after receiving a second attack from the gallopers retired precipitately ….. Oct 3rd Advanced to Matura ……. Pendarris  encamped near the town of Matura on our way to the Jumsiah[?] …. Pickets frequently harassed by the enemy’s skirmishes. In consequence of Holkar’s remaining encamped within 2 or 3 miles of us, we made two attempts to surprise him before day-break but only succeeded in cutting up some of his stragglers & Camp followers …….. Holkar’s guns & infantry as we afterwards discovered were all this while besieging Delhi. ..... Oct 11th  encamped within 2 miles of Delhi & the enemy on hearing of our approach had raised the siege & marched to the westward…. Oct 17th encamped under the ? of Delhi having found it impracticable to pursue the enemy’s guns for want of supplies….. 30th Received information that Holkar with his cavalry had crossed the Jumunah ……Oct 31st the cavalry & reserve under the personal command of Lord Lake forded the Jumunah …. Our Hirkaru brought information that Holkar was in pursuit of a core of infantry & irregulars …. Nov 4th Arrived at Shanider ? where Col K’s Detachment had retired to protect its baggage…. Holkar made several attempts to storm the town of Shanibar, but was repulsed …. he made several rapid marches to the south east …… Lord Lake with the cavalry came up with and surprised him after a march of about 50 miles on the morng of 17th Novr 1804 & completely routed his force. The slaughter of the enemy is calculated at 4000. The surprise would have been more complete had not one of the tumbrels attached to the horse artillery blown up just before they came within cannon shot of the enemy’s camp… [goes on to describe action at Dieg and Bharatpur].

He arrived at Madras in Feby 1808. He was appointed A-D-C to the Governor of Madras becoming his incumbent. He was appointed private secretary to the Governor in Feby 1809 & active in this appointment until May 1810 without receiving salary ……. In May 1810  he obtained permission to accompany the 69th Regt on an expedition to the Isles of Bourbon & Mauritius …… GB went on the Brisbane expedition in command of troops …. on board a man of war the Boudicea with Admiral Sir Josias Rowley….. On the 26th we made the Isle of France, & all arrangements being completed on the 29th we landed without opposition at Cape Malharma ……. We advanced the same afternoon about 7 miles thro’ a very difficult country ……Our picquets were attacked soon after we came to the ground by a very strong reconnoitring party, led by General Du Caen in person.  Expecting a general attack the army was formed up in three lines, & the picquet immediately reinforced – the enemy however retired ….. General de Caen himself received a slight wound in the leg…….The principal column advanced about 6 miles, took possession of the signal post on the Montagne Longue & occupied a position in rear of it parallel to the enemy’s lines …. This column met with very considerable opposition & were smartly engaged with the enemy …. the French attempted to defend the passage of a bridge, but their position was forced & themselves compelled to retreat, our loss on this march have been about 120 men killed & wounded.  Colonel Campbell and Major O’Keife were among the former ……. On the 2nd December, the enemy, seeing our advanced position …. sent out a flag of truce & proposed to capitulate…… The islands shipping surrendered – the troops of the line & seamen, amounting to about three thousand to be sent immediately to France with their arms – Private property to be respected. The total amount of our casualties does not, I imagine exceed 180. The loss of the enemy, not so great.  47 sail of shipping were found in the harbour 6 of which were frigates, & 3 sloops of war [list of ships follows].

My dear husband was made Judge Advocate of the expedition proceeding against these islands, by order of Lieut General George Hewitt Commander in Chief of India….. he awarded 2 sentences, one that of death, a very uncommon thing he told me for a military man to do,….. the other sentence was 400 lashes dreadful!  He was the bearer of the dispatches announcing the surrender of the Isle of France on the 3rd of December [1810]  – & arrived at Madras with them on board the Cornelius Jany 11th 1811. From this time to July 1813, he acted as private Secretary & Aide de Camp to the Governor of Madras. In March 1812 he had been promoted in England to a Majority in the 34th by purchase & in May 1813, was ordered by the Commander in Chief to return to Europe to join the 2nd Battalion [at Cork], & for this reason he left India.

The manuscript memoir comes with genealogical notes on the Barlow family, and a copy of the marriage certificate of George Edward Pratt Barlow and Elizabeth Theophila Clarke.

£1,200

George Edward Pratt Barlow (1784-1865) was the eldest of four sons of Robert Barlow (1744-1832) and Elizabeth Emma [maiden name unknown] (1755-1831), all born in the parish of St Paul in London. George did not marry until aged 65 when he married in 1849 the 35 year old Elizabeth Theophila Clarke (the writer of the manuscript memoir), born in 1813 at Fort George, Madras, the daughter of senior civil servant Richard Clarke and his wife Mary. George and Elizabeth lived at 8 Leonard Place in Kensington. Elizabeth tells us that she abstracted details of her husband’s life from his own journals (originals probably lost or destroyed), while a first hand knowledge of his life comes from the 16 years Elizabeth shared with her husband in marriage, plus the unknown period of their acquaintance before their marriage in 1849.

It is not clear whether Mrs Elizabeth Barlow knew of her husband’s infamous affair with Lady Elizabeth Barlow – on the one hand the affair had been going on for seven years when she was born, and she was three years old at the time of the divorce, but on the other, her father was working under the governorship of Sir George Barlow in Madras at the time of the affair, and the former Lady Barlow had been cohabiting with Colonel Barlow in Kensington only 13 years before their marriage. It seems likely that she did know, and the present memoir may therefore have been written as a defence of his good character, putting on record a long life of good service at home and abroad. If this is the case, it is possible that his wife destroyed his original journals having compiled the present memoir.

 

£100

William Charles Chamberlain was the eldest son of Sir Henry Chamberlain and his second wife, Anne Eugenia née Morgan. Shortly after this commission, Chamberlain was promoted Lieutenant on board the Stromboli for service in the Mediterranean. He become Commander in 1847 of Britomart serving off the west coast of Africa, and held further commissions as Commander and Captain; was Superintendent at the Devonport dockyard; and finally attained the rank of Rear-Admiral.

Chamberlain married firstly Elizabeth Jane Hall in 1845 (daughter of Captain Basil Hall, R.N.), by whom he had 3 sons: Basil Hall Chamberlain (1850-1935), a Japanologist; Henry Chamberlain (1853-1923), a Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Navy; and Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855-1927), a racialist writer. He married secondly in 1872, Sarah Morgan Holroyd.

The signatory, Sir John Barrow (1764–1848), was a great promoter of exploration and was a pre-eminent author of travels and the lives of explorers. He held a secretaryship of the Admiralty for forty years up to his retirement in 1845.

On the second side Flaxman comments on pulpits in churches “we must confess, that for clumsiness & ugliness worse could scarcely be devised ……… what a difference between the miserable pieces of joiners work & the fine ones of bronze & Marble in some of the Churches of Italy……” and suggests how church interiors can be enhanced “with harmony of forms, effect of light & shadow & all the most finished beauty & grace of Sculpture, Sepulchral Monuments as they are always works of experience & of course ought likewise to be works of great beauty, afford an extensive field for the exercise of the imagination & judgement …… the subjects presented by Religion & the Choicest objects of the Natural World……… by insulated groups, compositions of figures on walls & various architectural forms, assisted by the effect produced by bronze & variegated Marble, what miracles of Fine Art might our Churches become.”

Lower portion of the document damaged, with repairs to the right hand corner. PHOTO

£450

In his early career Flaxman was inspired by medieval art found in the tomb sculpture, decorative carving, and paintings in cathedrals, which helped lead him later to play an important role in the development of the British Gothic revival. The other great formative part of his life was his sojourn in Rome between 1787 and 1794 which was to transform him into a major international figure with proven ability in monumental and free-standing sculpture and in graphic design.

 £100

PINYON, Peter, medical practitioner (1831-1873). Small archive comprising a Certificate of Discharge, diary and photograph album relating to Peter Pinyon. Click the image for further photographs.

1. Certificate of Discharge printed on a vellum sheet (380 x 250mm) with manuscript insertions, naming Peter Pinyon, born 1831 in Ashburnham, Sussex, who served on the Mercia as ship’s surgeon from 10 December 1856 to 24 December 1857 on a voyage to Hobart Town [Tasmania].
    

2. Diary, octavo (120 x 183mm) leather bound, with a lock and key, free endpapers and first section missing, followed by 106 sides of manuscript entries, beginning 6 December 1856 and ending 21 December 1857 (many days with no entries). The diary commences with Pinyon joining his ship, then covers his voyage to Hobart Town, Tasmania, a voyage to Madras, India, and the return voyage to England via St Helena. At sea he provides frequent descriptions of marine life and birds observed, caught and shot; the health of those on board and treatments given; other ships encountered with (most are named); and meals taken. A few ink sketches are interspersed in the text, and a loose leaf pencil & watercolour sketch is inserted. The length of entries is very variable according to events of interest and places visited – the more detailed descriptions often run to 4 sides. The following short extracts give a flavour of subjects covered:

December 8th: “Saw the owners named Hotchkin, Mobbs & Prowse and was engaged at 4 guineas per month to go to Hobart Town and back / 5 guineas if passengers / with the chance of going to Madras”.

December 15th: “We have about 70 Emigrants on board and 8 Cabin Passengers named Harris, Quilter & Wife, Callighan, Wyatt & Gatehouse who is an Australian”.

December 23rd: “Steerage passengers pretty well satisfied one remarked today that they had capital rations – Cabin passengers almost in a mutiny they having taken Cabin berths at £60 without beer or spirits & they complain they cannot get spirits……”

December 25th: [the Steerage passengers] have a bottle of Gin to each mess and have made themselves very jolly, some singing in the Steerage after Service which was stopped. The Steward appears to have become very tipsy before 5 o’clock.  The Captain had some conversation with him requested him to retire to bed. This appears to be the third time since we left ….”

January 12th: “Crossed the Line this morning ……. A good representation of a Horse hoisted up and then set upon by the jury. Verdict died from want of sufficient stimulus etc two or 3 boys dressed as women partaking in the affair as witnesses etc., after the horse hauled overboard…..”

January 26th: “Asked today by Mrs Turnbull to stand Godfather to the infant [born on board on the 13th] with Captn to be named Mercia …..”

February 10th: “I caught one Albatross at about 8A.M. the first on the voyage, in the afternoon there were about 40 or 50, during the day caught 10. I made one foot into tobacco pouch and another put by for pressing. We caught all with a hook baited with Pork ……the largest one caught 10 feet 6 inch…”.

March 20th [anchored off Hobart Town]:  “the Town good size, fine Town Hall, the Governor’s House plain building of wood 2 storeys, large and apparently very comfortable – Market building very fine with stone Columns, covered in but very little doing, business very dull at present …… the houses far from uniform in appearance, 10s given for a room & £2.10.0 for two by a Cabin Passenger”.

March 27th: “Went up the Mountain i.e. Wellington found the base of some of the trees 36 feet round ……. covered with Gum trees of extraordinary height and mostly blackened with fire …....  immense trees lying on the ground evidently been felled with no other object than that the ground might in due course of time be cleared….”

April 10th: “Went to Browns River a very pretty Bay….. During the month have taken some Photographic views of the Town & of the Mountain & succeeded in taking a fair Portrait of myself……. Mr De Graves drove me up to Mr Brent’s about 10 miles from Hobart Town on the Launceston Road nice stone built house and outbuildings and a very nice garden filled with Apple trees, Medlars, Quince, & Almond trees, Grapes, Cherry, etc…… while there heard of a practice where £230 were Guaranteed at Bothwell and almost the certainty of getting £500 or £600 per Annum -  very tempting …..” [see photo of these pages]

July 9th [near Madras]:  “….70 days from Hobart Town, the 3 Kangaroos brought with us well..”

July 10th [off Fort St George, Madras]: “…..two boats alongside one the Custom House Officer, the other with 5 or 6 Agents touting to supply ship - one would not take no for an answer Captain kicked his posts. off the poop” [see photo of these pages with sketch of boat]

July 22nd:  [a lengthy description of a fight initially between Robert Lamb and Fenwick, and then with Pinyon who comes to Fenwick’s assistance. Fenwick summons Police boats through raising flags and firing the ship’s gun. Lamb and two others are removed by the police].

July 23rd:  “on shore with F & 2^nd Mate as witnesses. Lamb in hospital could not attend – Mr F went before Magistrate stated the case – the 3 men were sent back as Mr F did not wish to prosecute…… [then went] to what is called the Black Town…… in almost every street you see the Jos House … twenty feet high with carving of hideous monsters.…. signs at many houses stating their business, selling cigars 10 to 12 shillings per 1000 ….. Native Cars something like a sugar loaf or small Chinese house on wheels, on which the rider sitting on the heels under the canopy drawn by 2 or more buffaloes, the whole ornamented with strings of little bells making a great noise…”

July 30: “This afternoon soldiers embarking for Calcutta by the Companys steamers……. An immense crowd of Natives round them, many ships are taken up to convey troops to Calcutta. Affairs are in a very alarming state at Delhi & at Calcutta, the Post Office has been destroyed the beginning of the month”.

August 9th: “….went on shore with Fenwick …… bought what is called Ceylon Diamond for a Rupee – find it is worth 2 Anas. Drove to a Jos House found before it a terrace erected on Columns and very grotesque figures carved in stone at top with Jos House at back – also a juggernaut car about 30 feet high ….. supported on 6 wheels……… Churches like English new ones with mats at windows ……. Railway built of stone pillars but not at present finished …….. Jail with tower in the centre ……. [native cemetery] some Tombs very handsome with top built over but most going rapidly to decay…”

August 19th: “Went to the Fort ……. Visited the armoury, a splendid collection of Arms many thousands guns, sabres, Pistols all in splendid condition and certainly one of the finest sights here, also went to Botanical Gardens …..”

August 19th: “Have tried to take Pictures but failed in every case and give it up no doubt partly owing to the high temperature [he was undoubtedly trying to use wet collodion plates]…….. Visited Hospital, far from a fine exterior – wards on ground floor paved with tiles clean and comfortable. Verandah round the outside of wards, in other respects like an English Hospital with the exception of the Guards of Soldiers”.

August 29th: “Left Madras Roads …… one of our passengers named Captn Stone a very agreeable fellow who has been in Madras Army for 21 years …. Mr & Mrs Seymour the former quite blind….. has been a translator in India to the Church Missionary Society…..”

November 1st: “Arrived in St Helena ……. Went on shore to the town called James Town, neat houses none very large, in English style but few chimneys ….. drove to the Governor’s House a plain stone building…… two storied house with 7 rooms on each floor turned in to stables thrashing places, the room where Napoleon died a thrashing machine being placed, his library with part of the wainscot still remaining, altogether very disgraceful - from there went to his grave….”

3. Carte-de-visite photographic album, embossed leather bound binding with brass clasp (locking pin missing) (135 x 160mm), containing 30 CDV photographs. Most of the sitters are un-named, but two are of Mrs Pinyon [Fanny Witherden Pinyon], one of her mother, and another named as Thos. Hilton. The majority of photographers represented have Kent, Sussex and London addresses.

 The three items £550

Peter Pinyon’s narrative of his voyage to Tasmania and Madras provides a fascinating picture of daily life on board an emigrant vessel, and a tantalising glimpse of Hobart and the other ports of call. One of the Mercia’s passengers was the schoolmaster and clergyman Richard D.P.Harris (1817-1899) who Pinyon mentions several times, including him taking the Sunday service on board. Harris left England with his daughter Charlotte and two sons to take up the rector-ship of Hobart Town High School. He was to maintain the school's pre-eminent position in the colony, and was to play an important role in the movement to establish a university at Hobart (see Australian Dictionary of Biography). 

The Mercia’s visit to Madras in July and August 1857 came at a critically sensitive time at the very height of the early stages of the Indian Mutiny, when Delhi, Lucknow and Cawnpoor were under siege (see Pinyon’s comments for July 30th).

Peter Pinyon was born in 1831 in Ashburnham, Sussex, the eldest of six children of farmer James Pinyon and his wife Ellen. Peter Pinyon married Fanny Witherden Beale in 1859, the daughter of Charles and Mary Beale of Biddenden, Kent. In the 1861 census he is recorded as Peter Pinyon MRCSE & LSA General practitioner, living at Benenden, Kent, with his wife Fanny and 8 month old son George Beale Pinyon. A monumental inscription is recorded at Benenden Church reading: In affectionate remembrance of Peter PINYON, Esquire, surgeon of this parish, who died December 31^st 1873 aged 42 years. Universally respected, leaving a widow and one son, George Beale. Also of Fanny WITHERDEN, wife of the above Peter Pinyon, who died April 14^th 1884 aged 49 years.

 £350

A letter from Sharp, Walker and Beresford, dated 2 November 1708 giving an account of their suspension came before the Board of Trade and the Plantations on January 19th 1708/9, and the following day the Earl of Stamford communicated another letter to the Board 'from Major John Pilgrim, one of the members of Councill in Barbadoes, to his lordship, of the 2nd of November, 1708, complaining of Mr. Crow's proceeding, which was read, and directions were given for preparing the draught of a letter to the Earl of Sunderland, relating to the suspension of Colonel Sharp, Mr. Walker, and Mr. Beresford, from the Council in that island’' [from ‘Journal, January 1709: Journal Book M’, Journals of the Board of Trade and Plantations] . The resulting letter to the Earl of Sunderland was signed on January 21st. The Board met again on January 24th to consider a letter received from Governor Crow dated 23 September, together with a packet of related documents in Crow’s defence, and as a result drew up this letter.

Mitford Crow (1669-1719) was appointed governor of Barbados in 1706, arriving on 8 May 1707 finding the island's government ‘in the last distraction, nothing but corruption and parties’. His high-handed treatment (and eventual suspension) of several of his councillors, his dismissal of several justices and militia officers, and his attempts to end the monopoly of a small group of barristers made him many enemies, who accused him of siding with factions, possessing an arbitrary attitude, and acting as the supreme legal authority of the island. The council of trade reprimanded him twice in 1708, and in July 1709 Queen Anne sent him a letter stating her resentment of his disrespect in disobeying her order to restore the councillors. In October 1709 he was ordered to return to England to defend himself before the privy council, and left Barbados in May 1710.(ODNB)

Charles Spencer, third earl of Sunderland (1675–1722), was appointed to the cabinet as Secretary of State for the Southern Department holding office from 1706-1710. The signatories of the letter were:

FANNING, Edmund (1737–1818), colonial official and army officer. Autograph letter signed to Lieut. Manwaring, H.M.S. Plantagenet, 4to, 3 sides, Prince Edward Island, 15 June 1813, thanking him for his letter in which he had forwarded a letter from his mother, but saying that his parents are unable to answer the enquiries about his mother’s property on the island, “I understand that Peter Rose in whose care he left it [the land], died about six months ago, and that the Land and Property is left in the Possession of his widow Mrs Rose & her deceased Husband’s Brother …….. I do not apprehend that there can be any difficulty in finding many persons here who may have some knowledge of the Transaction between your Father and Mr Rose …… I intend soon returning to England having lately lost my only son a Captain in HMs 22d Regt of Foot ……. I recalled your Father Captain Manwaring very well. He served sometime under my Command & was a very deserving Officer…”. Small holes and edge nicks along creases.

Together with

MAINWARING, Edward Reeves Philip (1788-1865), naval officer. Autograph document signed by Edward R.P. Mainwaring Capt. RN, 4to, 3 sides, [no date] detailing a summary of his early service “…. entered the Navy in June 1799 on board HMS Roebuck commanded by Capt John Buchanan – was engaged in her Boats in action with the Spanish Gun Boats in the G- of Gibraltar …….. assisted in landing the British troops in the Morning of the 8^th of March in Egypt…….. when Lieut. of the Plantagenet in the Baltic frequently ingaged in her Boats with Danish Gun Boats ….. in December 1813 with the Barge of that ship I took the American letter of Marque Rapid mounting one long twenty four pounder & thirty men – for which service won the approbation of the late Sir John Warren the Admiral Commanding in Chief …… on the Coast of America I was frequently ingaged with the Enemy both on shore & afloat …….. at the Battle of Trafalgar I was with the Squadron under the Command of the late Sir John Jervis ….”. Small holes and edge nicks along creases.

 The two £250

Edmund Fanning was born in 1737 on Long Island, New York. After graduating from Yale in 1757 he settled in Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he held several political posts, becoming a protégé of colonial governor William Tryon. After serious conflict with the leaders of the Regulator movement, Fanning followed Tryon to New York in 1771 as his personal secretary. At the start of the American Revolution he was driven from his home, following which he was commissioned a colonel by General William Howe, and went on to raise a regiment of Loyalists named the King's American Regiment. He was wounded twice during the war and was credited with saving Yale College from destruction by British forces. At the end of the war he became a colonel in the British army; was appointed lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia; and in 1786 was appointed lieutenant-governor of Prince Edward Island, from which position he resigned in 1805. He moved permanently to London in 1813 and died there in 1818. He was survived by his wife and their three daughters. As recorded in the letter, he had lost his only son Frederick Augustus (1789–1812).

1.      July 14 [1810-1812?], 4 sides, 4to, regarding Charlotte’s sister Louisa and Sir L.H. who Louisa had met while staying at Mr Grant’s and is quoted as saying “my saying I don’t dislike him  is very different from making him to be my Husband ……. but he certainly is very agreeable, however I don’t like to have him pushed down my throat”. She continues on the subject of Louisa and Sir L.H, wondering whether it would be appropriate for her to attend the Blandford Ball in his presence.

2.      February 7 [wm 1810] 4 sides (signature cut out), 4to, regarding a present: “I have received the Queen’s commands to send you the inclosed little dab [handkerchief] which she hopes you will like. The little Butterfly put me in mind of some of Mr Selwyn's beautiful Drawings….”, with concerns regarding the Queen’s health “Sir Henry Halford & Sir J Pulman attend her they assure us she is in no danger, but that she requires great care and quiet”, and with news of other relations.

3.      July 14 [1812], 4 sides (signature cut out), 4to, thanking Charlotte for her letter, expressing her pleasure that “to know you happy is one of my greatest comforts, for believe me whatever may be my own lot, the happiness of others is my principle concern…… I think you both very fortunate in obtaining one another, & rejoice that how such amiable creatures should have come together”, and regarding a conversation she has had with Charlotte’s daughter Louise.

4.      March 20 [1813] 4 sides, 4to, apologising for not replying sooner, but explaining she has “put it off till I could send you the little Mantle I have had so much pleasure in making for your dear little Baby [in pencil: Myself] ….. This box will contain a Piece of Muslin for a Gown for you and enough lace to trim it as a lace cape all of which comes from the Queen a little Christening frock & cape from the D of Cambridge & the mantle from your humble servant”. She makes an offer that “if I can ever be of any use in Mr Selwyn’s promotion to a Stall – I shall be delighted as well as the D of Cambridge” and reports on the health of the King and Queen, and her worries about others, including Lady Chesterfield.

5.      February 22 [1814] 4 sides, 4to, thanking Charlotte for her enquiries after the Queen “who I am happy to say has in no way suffered from the melancholy ….. of her Brothers death – She was in some degree prepared for it as the last accounts said he was very ill”, and reporting on other members of the family and enquiring after Charlotte’s family. A pencil note records: “from my Godmother Prs Mary afterwards Dhs of Gloucester - in 1813 - I have my "Baby Mantle" still ! M. Selwyn 1880”.

6.      August 18 [1815] 4 sides, 4to, thanking Charlotte for her letter, commenting upon her baby daughter, and upon affairs at court: “To our great joy Charlotte [Princess Charlotte Augusta 1796-1817] was persuaded to make her appearance on the 16 which she refused to do on the 12 ….. She looks very ill & out of spirits  but as it is highly necessary to get her into society ……the Prince [Regent] could not agree ……until she … appeared properly at one of the Queen’s parties” …... “we are all really unhappy at the strange marriage the D of Cumberland is  really going to make with the P. Solms [Princess Friederike Caroline Sophia Alexandrina of Solms-Braunfels] I fear it will take place immediately. The Q is quite miserable about it…..” [from 1818 to 1828 the Cumberlands lived in voluntary exile, mostly in Berlin].

8.      No date, [pre 1818] 4 sides (end of letter missing), 8vo, replying to Charlotte’s letter despite her illness, regarding their loss in the Bank at Gloucester “I have seen my Sister Augusta who shall in our joint names write immediately to Lord Liverpool & try & see what can be done for Mr Selwyn in the royal -- exchange & we shall be most happy if we are fortunate enough in obtaining what is so necessary for your comfort”.

9.      Kew, August 7 [1818?], 4 sides, 4to, thanking Charlotte for her letter asking after the Queen “I am happy to assure you is all the better for change of air ….. Lady George told the Queen concerning Louisa … the  Q to inform us of her having at last decided for herself  ---?---- us not to name it as they had --?---- received her --?--- from Scotland”. She reports that the Duke of York has fractured his arm “coming out of the shower ….. his foot slipped & down he came. Thank God he has had a good night ….. & suffered very little pain” and on her having seen Sir Henry & Lady Neal.

10.  Windsor, December 9, [1818] 4 sides, 8vo, on mourning paper, regarding the death of her mother the Queen “thank God Augusta & me have been most mercifully supported……. the last 12 hours we have every reason to believe she did not suffer at all …… consolation that was to us as her sufferings during the whole of the long illness was dreadful to witness ……. Her last act was that of kindness to her Daughters as she only signed her will on Monday the day before she died (though the will had been written some months before) & I think we are all as grateful as we ought to be ……. as to myself I can only say that no child ever loved a mother more tenderly”. [Queen Charlotte died at Kew Palace on 17 November 1818, and was buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor, on 2 December].

11.  January? 7 [c 1819?], 4 sides (with repairs), 8vo, expressing great pleasure in the receipt of her letter and news of Mr Selwyn, and with news of Eloise, Charlotte and others.

12.  October 7 [1819], 3 sides, 8vo, reporting “I am desired by Augusta to say she is prevented seeing you today as well as all of us”, and making alternative arrangements. “I send you the …?.... for the Christening from the Duke of Cambridge ….. & myself – I likewise inclose fifty pounds from myself…”.

13.  Windsor Castle, July 12 [1819?], 8 sides, 4to, thanking Charlotte for her letter, hoping she likes her house and is happy, and reporting upon the King’s illness “The state of things of course since this fit leaves the King in a more precarious situation for it is to be suffered a Paroxysm when ever it comes on will be attended with are other fits which if it does not destroy the K the next time must in the long run – And as this last attack came on with so much rapidity it adds much to our anxiety”.  With extensive further news about friends and family.

14.  February 26 (on mourning paper) [1820], 4 sides, 8vo, thanking Charlotte for her letter, reporting how all are being supported in their suffering, and asking after her own health and that of the family. [George III had died on 29 January 1820].

15.  Bagshot Park, September 13 [wm 1821] 3 sides, 4to, thanking Charlotte for her letter, and giving news about Augusta and the Duke of Cambridge and his family, and asking after Mr Selwyn and the children.

16.  January? 22, no year [1829] 3 sides, 4to, sympathising regarding the news that Charlotte’s eldest son has had an accident (a pencil note reads: Frederick who broke his leg at 12 yrs old) and responding to a request “I would apply for what you are so anxious about but in the first place this Government has from much too short a time in power for one to mature to apply for any friend of mine”. 

17.  White Lodge, Richmond Park, September 16, [1854] 6 sides (crest (?) cut out from 2 leaves), 8vo, expressing pleasure at having heard from her, saying she has given the card she enclosed to Col.Liddell; commenting on family matters and her health; and concluding on the subject of hostilities [in the Crimea] “…..all been engaged in this attack & after so much illness it makes me tremble for them all but I put my trust in God who knows best what is for our future….” Mentioning “our dear George”who “was able to go with Lord Raglan”.

18.  No date, [pre 1812] 1 side, 4to, incomplete (with signature), thanking her for her stay and the happy times she has spent there. Overleaf in another hand: “written by Princess Mary (afterwards Duchess of Gloucester) on leaving Weymouth where we had passed three months together” and with a further note in pencil “My Godmother afterwards, to my dear Mother, then Charlotte Murray”.

18 letters £900

Princess Mary, duchess of Gloucester was born on 25 April 1776, the 15^th child of George III (1766-1857) and Queen Charlotte (1744-1818). The king was highly emotionally attached to his daughters and was reluctant for them to marry, a situation worsened following his illness, when it became even more difficult for them to broach the question of marriage with either the King or Queen. Mary resented the imposed household restrictions like the rest of her sisters, and finally married her cousin Prince William Frederick, second duke of Gloucester on 22 July 1816. Their married life at Bagshot Park was not an entirely happy one, and the marriage was childless. (ODNB)

Her correspondent Charlotte Sophia Murray (1785-1866) was the daughter of Lord George Murray (1761-1803), Bishop of St Davids, and Ann Charlotte Grant (d 1844) who was lady in waiting to Queen Charlotte (Lady George in the letters). Charlotte’s siblings were John (b 1782), George (b 1784), Caroline (1788-1819) and Louisa (1790-1871), and Edward (1798-1852).Charlotte married the Rev. Townshend Selwyn (1782-1853), Canon of Gloucester on 16 June 1812. They had at least ten children, of whom the elder were Mary Elizabeth Adolphine (1813-1881), Charles George (b 1816, died in infancy), Frederick Leopold Augustus (1817-1881), Jasper Henry (1819-1901) and George Sydney (b 1821). Princess Mary was the godmother of Mary Elizabeth Adolphine, and it is Mary’s pencil notes that are found in many of the letters.

An interesting group of letters with much potential for further research.

WILSON, William Carus (1791–1859), Church of England clergyman and founder of charity schools. Autograph letter signed to Charles Baker, Deaf & Dumb Institute, Doncaster, 1 side 8vo, with address overleaf and penny red stamp and frank mark September 10^th 1845, acknowledging the receipt of his correspondent’s letter and of a package (probably of publications) “I feel exceedingly obliged to you for your kindness in sending them but really should feel ashamed to accept them even for my schools without paying for them”. Right hand edge with creases and top edge slightly cut down.

£150

William Carus Wilson, a Church of England clergyman, was the founder of several charity schools for girls and was a prolific author of accessible religious literature, mainly aimed at children. The Clergy Daughters' School which he founded at Cowan Bridge, Lancashire in 1824, became notorious as the original of Lowood Institution in Jane Eyre (1847). Charlotte Brontë entered the school in 1824 with her sisters, Maria, Elizabeth, and Emily, and always blamed the school's harsh regime and punitive religious discipline for the deaths of her two eldest sisters. When Mrs Gaskell identified the school and Carus Wilson by name in her Life of Charlotte Brontë (1857) she was threatened with a libel action.

By 1845 when this letter was written Wilson’s ill health forced him to cease the active editorship of his periodicals, and he resigned the management of his schools to his son and sons-in-law.

PORTRAIT MINIATURES

INCLUDING  SILHOUETTES

AKED. Portrait miniature of a young man c.1780 mounted in a round sculpted gilt brass frame (45 mm in diameter) on the back of which is a handwritten label reading "Mr Aked (Father of Grandmama Williams ?". £500 Possibly the father of Mary Ann Aked who in 1821 married Robert Vaughan Wynn Williams (b.1798) at Mayfield, Staffordshire, and had two sons and two daughters. The origins of the name Aked are found in Yorkshire.
ARCHER, Edward. Hollow cut silhouette of a gentleman c. 1790 (profile 60mm high), mounted in a contemporary ebonised oval frame (128 x 107mm) with suspension loop. The paper has two handwritten inscriptions - a partially visible inscription reading "...Profile of my uncle E.A.  RH" and another "Edward Archer b. at Newcastle 6 May 1754  d.17 March 1793 buried at Heston Church Nr Hounslow". A paper label on the reverse reads "Edward Archer (2nd son of Ed Archer of McJohn) Born 1754. A merchant of Henrietta St. Covent Garden London. Died unmarried March 1793. Burd. at Heston, Middlesex". £150 Edward Archer (1754-1793) was the son of Edward Archer (1701-1777) and his second wife Elizabeth Chamney, who were married 9 October 1746 at St Peter & St Kevin in Dublin.
BENT, Rev. George. Portrait miniature on ivory (?) of a gentleman c.1800 mounted in a gold frame (60 x 70mm) on the reverse of which is a hair piece in a smaller oval window in an ivory cut-out, with a handwritten paper label on the glass reading "The Revd George Bent died 16 Jany. 1814, aged 72". £400 George Bent (1741-1814) matriculated at Balliol College Oxford (1758), and took his MA at Peterhouse Cambridge (1768). He was rector of Jacobstow from 1776, and minister of Sandford in Devon from 1789, until his death in 1814. He married firstly Mary daughter of John Milton of Bristol in 1773, by whom he had (at least) two sons and two daughters, and secondly Hannah widow of Thomas Marsh in 1785. He is probably the George Bent recorded in the IGI christened 2 July 1741 at St Kerrian, Exeter, son of George Bent M.D.(c1708-1782).
PARSONS, William. Portrait miniature on ivory of a gentleman c.1810 mounted in a contemporary ebonised miniature frame (120 x 140 mm) with acorn suspension. On the reverse is an old handwritten label identifying the sitter, reading "William Parsons, also in oval Miniature with pearls of Bewdley, Worcs: Born 1st July 1755. Went to East Indies 1775. Married 1782? (Miss Asprey?). Landed at Weymouth 1793 (His wife in oval Miniature) [Father of] Penelope Turton". Also with a typewritten transcription label, and an auctioneer's (Bonhams)label. A very fine portrait in excellent condition, in an attractive frame (the latter with a couple of blemishes lower left and right). The miniature comes with a two page photocopy of Parson's obituary from the Gentleman's Magazine. £500 Parsons' obituary appears in the Gentleman's Magazine for 1816, which tells us he entered sea-service with the East India Company from 1769 to 1775, but "disliking the maritime profession" he was dispatched on a private embassy to China under the patronage of Lord George Pigot (1719-1777), Governor of Madras. On his return in 1777 his friend the colonial administrator Robert Monckton (1726–1782) and his relative Richard Hurd (1720–1808), bishop of Worcester helped Parsons obtain the lucrative position of Writer to the East India Company, which he occupied until his return to England in 1793 when he settled into retirement in Bewdley, Worcestershire. Further research is required into the details of his marriage (presumably in India) and family mentioned in the label.

DAGUERREOTYPES, AMBROTYPES
& EARLY PHOTOGRAPHS

CHRISTENED BY JOHN WESLEY BEARDMORE, Joshua (1787-1860). A 1/9th plate ambrotype of an older gentleman, the plate with a few marks to the lower half, mounted in single case half designed for hanging. On the reverse is the trade card of the photographer E.Shayler of 82 St John H. Road, Islington, on which the sitter is identified as Joshua Beardmore 1787-1860. £50 Joshua Beardmore was born 15th January 1787 at 38 Milk Street, Cheapside, London, and was christened on 15th February 1787 by Rev John Wesley (1703-1791). He married Dorothea Cox in 1812 in Nottingham, and in later life they lived in Hemel Hemstead, Hertfordshire. Both were buried in Highgate Cemetary. The photographer Edward Shayler operated at 82 St John H. Road, Islington from 1854-1867, which places this photograph being taken 1854-1860.
BRIDGES, Keziah née TANT. 1/4 plate ambrotype of a middle aged lady, seated, with tinted highlights to her jewellery. The plate has various scuff marks visible in the scan, but comes in a very fine full leather case. On the reverse of the plate is a label (torn) reading "Keziah Tant first wife [of] William Bridges and mother of Frederick Bridges 1841 - 1909". £75 Keziah Tant was born circa 1808 and on 12th October 1833 married William Bridges (the son of Edward Bridges and Phoebe Fray) at St Michael Bassishaw, London. Their son Frederick, born in Belgravia in London in 1841, was a woollen merchant, and married Anne Maria Turner in 1867. Another possible son is William Henry Bridges born in Tooting Graveney in 1837, who died in the 1840s. Keziah died in 1845.
CRAMPTON family. Two ambrotypes, firstly, a 1/4 plate ambrotype of an elderly lady lady, the plate in fine condition although the crystallised blacking layer behind shows reflections, contained in a worn half case, with inscriptions around the reverse of the preserver edge reading "Aunt Selina Crampton born 1810(?) died 1893 favourite daughter of Sir P. Crampton". Secondly, a 1/6 plate ambrotype of a girl, again the plate in fine condition but with the degraded blacking layer behind showing through (the emulsion image is very fine and shows much better details than the scan), contained in a full leather embossed case, with pencil written details under the plate reading "(Charlotte Crampton) Aunt Charlotte "Cha" She was my mother's sister & died when I was a little boy. I can remember her. She sang beautifully". £100 Selina Crampton was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1813, one of six children of the surgeon Sir Philip Crampton (1777–1858) and his wife Selina Hamilton née Cannon (1781-1834). Her father, Sir Philip,  was elected FRS in 1812, and in 1813 he was appointed surgeon-general to the forces in Ireland. He was also surgeon to the queen in Ireland, a member of the senate of the Queen's University of Ireland, and four times president of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (ODNB). Charlotte Crampton who features in the 1/6th plate ambrotype is possibly a child of Selina's brother Josiah who married his cousin Elizabeth Crampton in 1833.
DAVIES, Laura. A 1/4 plate daguerreotype of a lady, extensively tinted, and with the impressed name of the photographer T.W.Lonergan on the matt, mounted in a half case. On the reverse is an old handwritten label reading "Laura Davies Fs godmother". £150 The sitter Mrs Laura Davies (assumed her married name as she wears a wedding ring) has not been identified, and the photographer is equally elusive as Lonergan's name is unrecorded as a daguerreotypist or a photographer more generally. A Thomas William Lonergan is recorded as having died in Kentish Town, London in 1875, a gentleman, aged 64.
Désilets, J.O. A 1/9 th plate daguerreotype of a young man in priest's costume. The plate is in fine condition (cleaned?), and comes with a fine matt and preserver inside a full embossed leather case, worn with the spine replaced. Under the plate on the backboard are pencil inscriptions in French including a date of 1855, and an ink inscription identifying the sitter as J.O.Désilets. SOLD  J.O.Désilets was a priest from Quebec, Canada, who became the 'Grand Vicaire' (assistant to the bishop) of Manseau, a municipality in the Centre-du-Québec region.
SKITT / WAKEM family. 1. A half plate ambrotype of an elderly lady sitting at a table with a book, the plate hand coloured throughout, but with a vertical crack (see photo enlargement), mounted in an old gilt frame with the trade label of J.Commin of Stockwell Green. Handwritten labels on the reverse read "Great Grandmother SKITT née Colley" and "Arthur and Jane SKITT's Grandmother........", with : 2. a 19th century oval paper photographic print, mounted in a modern frame, inscribed on the reverse "Four generations taken by Dr Wakem York House, London" with a numbered key identifying the sitters "1.Emily Wakem m. Arthur Skitt (1882). 2.Her mother [Adelaide]. 3.Her Grand mamma [Eliza]. 4.Her great "  ". 5. A friend. Photo coloured by Dr Wakem about 1857." £60 The connection between these families is via the marriage of Emily Wakem (featured in the photographic print) to Arthur Skitt in 1882 in Lambeth. Dr John Wilcox Wakem (b.1827) was a surgeon and apothecary, and evidently a photographer, who married Adelaide Hooper (middle of back row in the photo).
PROCTER, Ann. A 1/4 plate daguerreotype of a lady, identified in pencil on the paper seals on the reverse "Gt Gt Aunt Blackham[?] ..... was Ann Procter married 3 times". Mounted in a half case on the reverse of which is the photographer's stamp "The London School of Photography 103 Newgate St. 174 Regent Street". £150 The difficulty of reading the married name of the sitter - Blackham[?] - has made the lady difficult to trace. Being married three times she would have had two other married names previous to this! The photographer is recorded at the two addresses given  form 1860-1875, which probably places this daguerreotype to the early 1860s.
TURNER, Alfred Wall. A 1/6th plate ambrotype of a gentleman, the plate with crazing to the emulsion, mounted in a full case (joint weak). On the reverse is a paper label reading "Alfred Wall Turner husband of Hannah Heath and father of Annie Maria wife of Frederick Bridges". £35 Alfred Wall Turner was born c.1814 in Chipping Ongar, Essex, and in the 1861 census is recorded as a licensed victualler living at 21 Old Burrington St, St James, Westminster, with his wife Hannah, two sons, a daughter and a niece.

MEDALS

CRIMEA-INDIAN MUTINY GROUP 1854-1858. The Crimea medal with 1 clasp Sebastopol and Bailey medal brooch, impressed JOHN McGUIRE. 44th R[worn]; the Turkish Crimea medal un-named; and the Indian Mutiny medal with Bailey medal brooch, impressed 838 SERGT. INSTRUCTOR OF MUSKETRY JOHN McGUIRE 1/6 FOOT. NVF-VF, the Crimea medal with heavy edge knocks both sides and the Indian Mutiny medal light edge knocks. All have replacement ribbons. The group comes with copies of McGuire's service papers (9 pages). £850 John McGuire was born in the parish of Blacklog, Londonderry in 1836. He was a labourer by trade and joined the 44th Foot on 19th April 1854 to serve in the Crimea (papers confirm the Crimea medal with Sebastopol clasp). He was transferred and posted to India with the 6th Foot on 18th September 1857 becoming a sergeant Instructor of Musketry, returning to England in 1862. He saw service again in India from 1867-1870. Despite good conduct, he faced two courts martial during his service - in 1862 receiving a reduced sentence, and in 1871 when he was reduced to the ranks as private (working his way back to sergeant by 1872). He was discharged with a pension in 1876.
DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE & ART, QUEEN'S MEDAL 1897 [to Charles H.E.Ogilvie]. National Medal for Success in Art, bronze medal, impressed around the rim "CHARLES H.E. OGILVIE , SUBJECT 8c2, 1898". 51mm in its original (but tatty) case. EF with one small corrosion spot on the reverse. £75 Charles H.E.Ogilvie was a Scottish artist who painted in oils. His work was exhibited between 1903 and 1928, including eleven works being shown at the Glasgow Institute for the Fine Arts, and two works at the Royal Scottish Academy.
HERIOT-WATT COLLEGE EDINBURGH [to James REID]. Bronze medal, impressed on the reverse "ENGINEERING SESSION 1888-89" and engraved as awarded to "JAMES REID". 49mm in its original case by Alexander Kirkwood & Son. EF. £50 The Heriot-Watt College was formed in 1885 from the merger of the Watt Institution & the School of Arts and the Heriot trust bequest, providing general and technical education (becoming a university in 1966). The first Professor of Mechanics and Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics was appointed in 1887, and James Reid was one of the first class medal recipients in the department, attaining 88% in his Engineering course 1888-1889 (Heriot Watt University archives).
QUEEN'S COLLEGE BIRMINGHAM [to S.PERRY].  Bronze medal, impressed on the obverse "S.PERRY" and on the rim "ANATOMY (SENIOR)1884=7-8". 46mm. EF. £50 Details of the recipient not traced.