18th- and 19th-Century British Historical Collections and Non-Literary Personal Papers
Provided below are brief descriptions of collections of at least one box in size or larger consisting of 18th- and 19th- century English, Scottish, and Irish materials that are not primarily literary or artistic in nature, such as governmental and business records, and personal papers/collections for individuals whose main domain was outside of literature and art. Please consult the resources and links cited in each entry for additional information. Paper inventories may be consulted in the Kenneth Spencer Research Library's reading room or by contacting a curator (Elspeth Healey, ehealey@ku.edu, or Karen Cook, kscook@ku.edu). For collections that are primarily literary/artistic in nature or for bound manuscripts and collections only a few items in size, please see the other tabs in this guide.
Anne, Queen of Great Britain, 1665-1714 (MS 139)
Drafts of speeches by Anne, Queen of Great Britain (1665-1714). This material is fragile and requires curator supervision.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3008725 (brief stub record only)
Armstrong, John, 1674-1742 (MS 101)
Informal reports on military life from Colonel John Armstrong (1674-1742) to Henry Watkins as secretary of the Duke of Marlborough, 1707-1712; reports on the demolition of Dunkirk to Watkins as secretary of the Duke of Ormonde, 1713-1714. Other correspondence. Armstrong's diplomatic notebook, etc. See also related item, MS G48 (Marlborough Orderly Book)
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Reading Room Paper Inventory under ("Armstrong Papers") and Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): multiple catalog records: http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3007681; http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3007682; http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3007686
Berkeley, Charles Berkeley, Earl, 1649-1710 (MS 130)
Accounts. London and Gloucestershire, 1702-1717. Account books, containing the accounts of Charles Berkeley, including while Viscount Dursley and after succession as 3rd Earl, 1702-1713, 1717-1716, Elizabeth, Countess Dowager of Berkeley, 9 June 1711-19 Mar. 1712, Hon. George Berkeley, Mar.-Apr. 1713.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Reading Room Paper Inventory (under "Berkeley-Dursley accounts") and Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): multiple catalog records: http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3008008; http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3007998; http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3007999
Bolton Company Letters (MS 84)
Letters from an English merchant and his company (William Bolton and Co.; Bolton, Darell and Morgan; Bolton, Morgan, & Co.) to his London associates (the merchants Robert, William, or Gyles Heysham). Import and Export: cloth, grain, furniture, clothes, leather, glass, small manufactures, American wine, brandy, sugar-preserved fruit. Madeira (also Portugal, Great Britain); 1695-1711
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Reading Room Paper Inventory (under "Bolton Company Letters") and Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): Some item level catalog records available by conducting a KEYWORD search for "Bolton Company" (in quotation marks) at http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First.
Brietzcke, Charles, 1738-1795 (MS 194)
MS 194A: Diary. London, 1759-1762. Informal, chatty diary kept by a young-man-about-town, Charles Brietzcke, a Clerk in the Secretary of State’s office under Holdernesse, Bute, Grenville, and Halifax. Gossip, recreation, office life, and family life. With this is kept MS 194B: 4 folders containing typed transcript for 1759-1761.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3008995
Cole, Robert, died circa 1866 (collected by) (MS 151)
Collection of military papers, collected by Robert Cole, 1705-1837. Great Britain. Military, naval, and Government documents, including some printed forms. Most are military orders, warrants, reports, etc.; most are related to the Ordnance Office, to other military supplies, or to the Barrack Office.
Size: 2 boxes
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/4163822549
Davidson, Thomas, fl. 1786-1820 (MS 37)
Collection of 18th-century letters, many by public figures, compiled by Thomas Davidson (fl. 1786-1820), a Newcastle-on-Tyne lawyer and Clerk for the Peace for Northumberland. Newcastle, etc., 1709-1849.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Reading Room Paper Inventory under ("Davidson Collection of 18th-century letters") and Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3001150
Dissenters Collection SEE Smith, William
D'Olier Family (MS 246)
This collection of manuscripts and published sources concerns the life and ancestry of Richard D'Olier of Dublin, Ireland, a leader in 18th century Dublin Methodism whose Huguenot ancestors emigrated from France to Ireland. Included is a memoir recounting the 1793 to 1794 imprisonment of the Richard D'Olier family members who were residing at Montauban in the south of France when the Reign of Terror commenced. See also MS Q39.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/3856655320
East India Company (MS 94)
Financial records of an officer of East India Co., Robert Walpole, (died 1744), a mariner on vessels trading to India and China: personal expenses, mess expenses, and private trade. Includes itemized bills, account-books, bonds, wills, powers of attorney, correspondence, and papers concerning winding up his estate by his heir, Edward Turnour, 1st Earl of Winterton.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/0238907855
East India Company (MS 95)
Commissions issued by the East India Company. 18 items, 1806-1858
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/8941979570
East India Company (MS 96)
Documents pertaining to the business of the East India Company, 1701-1748. Multiple records.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): Multiple finding aids, search "MS 96" and "East India" at http://etext.ku.edu/search?route=ksrlead;brand=ksrlead
East India Company (MS 97)
Documents pertaining to the business of the East India Company, 1782-1858. Multiple Records
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): Multiple finding aids, search "MS 97" and "East India" at http://etext.ku.edu/search?route=ksrlead;brand=ksrlead
East India Company (MS 98)
Miscellaneous documents associated with the East India Company, 1835-1852
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/1535836188 (scroll to bottom of arrangement for materials from MS 98)
David Erskine, 11th earl of Buchan (1742-1829) SEE Guttridge, George Hubert, 1898-1969 (compiler) ***(MS 201)**
Fletcher of Saltoun Collection (MS 109)
Books and manuscripts relating to the Fletcher of Saltoun Family, mostly from Saltoun Hall. Salton (East Lothian, Scotland), 16__ - 1806. Estate records, agricultural records and notes, commonplace book, etc. See Online Finding Aid for a listing of separately cataloged MS Books related to this collection (MS 109).
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/2935153601
Frampton, Robert, Bishop of Gloucester, 1622-1708 (MS 103, shelved at MS Q23)
MS 103A: Letter to Francis North (Francis North Guilford, 1637-1685) as Chancellor. Gloucester, 28 Feb. 1682/3.On preferments; the presentment of the vicarage of Tewkesbury (owned by the Chancellor); the late incumbent John Welles, ca. 1609-ca. 1683 (ejected for nonconformity). MS 103B: Letters to William Walsh (1663-1708), literary man-about-town. Standish, Gloucestershire, 1697-1702. BOTH FRAGILE-shelved at MS Q23
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Reading Room Paper Inventory (under "Frampton, Robert") and Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3007704 and http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3007706
Frazer, William, 1824-1899 (MS 85)
Notes on bells by William Frazer (1824-1899), letters received, etc., ca 1884-1898. On ancient Celtic ecclesiastical bells. Includes notebook, loose notes, sketches, letters to Frazer, offprints, etc. Great Britain: Ireland: Dublin; Scotland; England
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/9010238955
Glenbervie, Sylvester Douglas, Baron, 1743-1823 (MS 147)
Correspondence, notes and additional materials related arboriculture, plant life, and maintenance in the Forest of Dean, England. Attributed principally to Sylvester Douglas Glenbervie, baron, 1743-1823, or to the Gt. Brit. Office of Woods, Forests, and Land Revenues. 1813-1896. FRAGILE. See also bound manuscript MS E234. Consult paper inventory for detailed descriptions.
Size: 1 box (+ separate bound manuscript)
Access Point: Reading Room Paper Inventory (under "Glenbervie forestry collection") and Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): multiple catalog records; peform a BOOLEAN searh for Glenbervie AND IV (with "AND" and "IV" all in caps) at http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First
Great Britain. Court of Chancery (MS 135)
Great Britain. Court of Chancery. Decrees [selected]. Chancery, [Six Clerks Office?], 1733-1783. Separately written official copies, apparently collected to illustrate some point of law usually concerning wills or mortgages. On stamped paper. See also bound manuscripts MS D143 and MS G44
Size: 2 boxes (+ two separate bound manuscripts)
Access Point: Reading Room Paper Inventory (under "Great Britain: Court of Chancery") and Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3007980
Great Britain. Treasury (MS 145)
Treasury documents: Orders to pay. London, 1716-1760. Includes a leaf (MS 145: Item 14, dated 23 Dec. 1760) authorizing the Exchequer of Receipt to pay Douglas, Bowden, Lehook, Peregrine Cust (1723-1785); Smith, Champion, Poole, Touchet, and Gildart £10,000 to maintain the British forts and settlements upon the coast of Africa. Directed to Teller Thomas Townshend (1701-1780).
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Reading Room Paper Inventory (under "Great Britain: Treasury") and Online Catalog
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://catalog.lib.ku.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?bbid=3008780
Guttridge, George Hubert, 1898-1969 (compiler) (MS 90)
Collection of approximately 110 letters, mainly written and received by Sir William Lee of Hartwell (Buckinghamshire), 4th baronet (1726-1799). A small number of letters received by other family members and some related materials are also present. The correspondence covers topics such as county and national politics (elections); family; social and financial relationships; and estate management (agriculture, building, tithes and enclosures). Correspondents include members of the Harcourt, Grenville, and Stanhope families. Compiled by George Hubert Guttridge (1898-1969).
Size: 2 boxes
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/4880546103
Guttridge, George Hubert, 1898-1969 (compiler) (MS 201)
Papers of David Erskine, 11th earl of Buchan (1742-1829), about electoral reform movement in Scotland and Yorkshire. This collection includes an autobiography (1793-1794) by David Erskine, 11th earl of Buchan (1742-1829) as well as printed minutes, etc. of Scottish and Yorkshire reform committees (1782-1783).
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/7474402772
Lee, Sir William of Hartwell (Buckinghamshire), 4th baronet (1726-1799) SEE Guttridge, George Hubert, 1898-1969 (compiler) ** (MS 90)**
Novikova, Olga Alekseevna, 1840-1925 (MS 30)
Correspondence: Collection of 1683 unbound letters etc., written to Novikova, a cosmopolitan Pan-Slavic lobbyist, by influential English and European members of her salon. Includes 92 letters from British politician and Prime Minister W. E. Gladstone, and 291 letters from German Social Critic Max Nordau.
Size: 11 boxes
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/7508532467
Smith, William, 1756-1835 (Dissenters collection) (MS 3)
Dissenters Collection: William Smith Papers. Letters received and other papers of William Smith, M.P. (1756-1835). Great Britain, Ireland, Newfoundland, Switzerland, 1785-1835 and n.d. Concerns primarily the politics of obtaining civil and religious liberty for Dissenting sects. Also lead mining in Derbyshire; family letters of Shore-Nightingales.
Size: 2 boxes
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/8634812338
Spottiswoode & Robertson collection (MS 186)
Spottiswoode collection: Letters received by John Spottiswoode and David Robertson, London; with other material. Scotland, et. al., 1726-1866. Partial archives of the London firm of Spottiswoode & Robertson: solicitors, conveyancers, Scottish law agents and Parliamentary agents. The collection consists mainly of correspondence (96 letters) but also includes other material (16 receipts, warrants, etc.). As this correspondence indicates, Spottiswoode & Robertson acted primarily for Scottish nobility and gentry, 1790-1850.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/9556314048
Townshend, George Townshend, Marquis, 1724-1807 (MS 41)
Correspondence of George Townshend (1724-1807), 1st Marquis of Townshend, 1724-1807, and his circle. Letters directed to Townshend, primarily as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1767-1772. Other correspondence of the Townshend circle, etc.; most dated 1760-1820. Concerns politics, civil and military preferments, Army, militia, social life, Parliamentary news, India, Ireland, literary trivia, lawyers, estate matters, etc. Great Britain, Ireland, and abroad, 1711-1849.
Size: 1 box
Access Point: Online finding aid (see link below)
Catalog or Finding Aid link(s): http://hdl.handle.net/10407/0921501720
