Minister

A collection of material preserved by his Family relating to Andrew Bonar Law (1858-1923), Conservative Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1922-1923, born in Canada of Scottish and Ulster Scots descent, for whom see his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

A savage and bitterly-sarcastic satirical spoof epitaph, the text of which, the Liverpool Mercury reported in 1822, had been 'repeatedly published before'. Some versions are said to have included a woodcut by George Cruikshank, but the only other publication found (with a few minor variations from the present version) is in the Irish Magazine, June 1809, pp.286-287, where the author is named as 'WILKS INR.', i.e. '[John] Wilkes [sic] Junior'. Printed on one side of a 26.5 x 10 cm piece of unwatermarked wove paper.

On 3 x 11 cm strip of paper, cut from the conclusion of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'I remain with sincere | respect | Yours truly | W E Gladstone', with the recipient's name at bottom left: 'Rev. J. Cumming'. Fragment of text on reverse: '[…] have no inconsiderable sympathies upon the tender subject […]'. Endorsed in pencil in a contemporary hand 'Member Newark'. Gladstone was Member of Parliament for Newark between 1833 and 1846.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Conventionally-presented printed notice, in copperplate with mourning border, with address and date at foot. Reads: 'Mrs. Neville Chamberlain is deeply grateful for the wonderful messages and letters which she has received and she sends you her heartfelt thanks for your sympathy.' At the head of the notice is the ANS: 'Thank you Sir Egerton so much. I [?] you are right in what you say about my husband's efforts & work. & I like to have your sympathy. | Anne Chamberlain'.

Peel's father Sir Robert Peel (1750-1830), 1st Baronet, took possession of Drayton Manor, Tamworth, in 1796, and the family moved in four years later. The bookplate cannot be the father's, as he was not a 'Right Honble.' member of the Privy Council, while his son was. The bookplate is a black and white steel-engraving on an 8 x 6 cm slip of paper. In fair condition, aged and worn, with light diagonal crease. The arms are topped by the words 'Drayton Manor', with 'Right Honble. | Sir Robert Peel, Bart.' at foot.

7pp, 4to. Containing 112 lines of text on two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. Headed 'Private', and with the heading, date and place written by Halliday at a different time from the rest of the text. A long and impassioned letter, in which Halliday offers to become inspector of 'all the public and Private Asylums in England and Wales', at a payment of no more than £150 a year in expenses.

On one side of a 29 x 39 cm piece of vellum. In fair condition, with the usual discoloration found in vellum. A printed document, completed in manuscript, with a good example of George IV's signature as Prince Regent ('George P R') at top left. The royal seal has been removed from the space beneath the Prince Regent's signature. The signature of the Home Secretary ('Sidmouth') is at bottom right, somewhat faded. The document is a warrant appointing 'George Philips Esqr. Captain in the York Chasseurs', 'Commanded by Our Trusty and Welbeloved Major General Hugh Mackay Gordon'.

In August 1828, following the passing of the 1828 Madhouse Act, the Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel established a commission to oversee London's madhouses, consisting of five physicians, six Middlesex JPs, and ten other honorary (i.e. unpaid) commissioners. The present document by Peel casts interesting light on the process of appointment. It is on both sides of 18 x 23 cm piece of paper, evidently used as envelope for 'the Instrument' mentioned in Peel's note. Aged, and with tear and hole caused by breaking open of seal. Folded twice.

1p, 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small printed biographical slip laid down at top left of page. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with broken seal in black wax, to 'The Rt Honble Earl of Liverpool'. Reads: 'My Lord - | A smart attack of ye Gout occurred yesterday as I had anticipated, but every thing appears to be going on well this morning | I have ye honour | to be | Your obliged & obedt | Servt | Astley Cooper'.

On one side of 23.5 x 34 cm piece of vellum. In fair condition, with the usual discoloration of ageing in the vellum. Folded twice vertically. The king's 'blind signature' ('George R') is in the customary place at top left, with the seal in red wax under paper below it, and slightly obscuring it. The document is a printed form, filled out in manuscript, beginning: 'George the Third by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland King Defender of the Faith &ca.

2pp, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. Folded twice. Large heavily-smudged signature of the king ('George R.') at head of first page, which has the royal seal under paper in the left-hand margin. Signed at end of document ('By His Majesty's Command') by the Home Secretary and future Prime Minister: 'R Peel'.

The present document carries the signatures of three central figures on the British side during the American War of Independence: King George III, his Prime Minister Lord North, and Secretary at War Lord Barrington, along with the signatures of the Earl of Onslow, Jeremiah Dyson and John Lloyd, Deputy Auditor of the Imprest. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Thin strip of paper from mount adhering to inner edge on first page.

2pp, foolscap 8vo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip of stub adhering to the reverse of the second leaf, which is endorsed 'Paymaster General's Deputation to The Honble. Augustus Phipps | Dated 5th July 1800'.

1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to an edge. Folded once. At bottom right are Grenville's signature ('W: W: Grenville') and a good impression of his seal in red wax. Twenty-line document, written in a secretarial hand, with two embossed tax stamps at head.

1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to edge on reverse. Ten-line letter, addressed to 'Richd: Clark, Esqr.' Reads: 'Sir, | I have received a Letter from Mr.

1p, folio. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip from mount adhering to one edge. Folded twice. The three signatures are firmly and boldly written ('H: Pelham | H Fox | R Arundell') in the right-hand margin. The document read s: 'Order is taken this 18th. Day of April 1746 By Virtue of his Majestys General Letters of Privy Seal bearing date the 26th day of June 1727. And in pursuance of a Warrant under his Majesty's Royal Sign Manual dated the 10th. instant That you deliver and pay of such his Majestys Treasure as remains in your Charge unto Thomas Winnington Esqr.

The letter is written a few weeks after the king's recovery from his first bout of mental instability. In the period immediately preceeding the king's recovery a Regency Bill had been making its way through the House of Commons. It was made redundant by the king's recovery; had it been enacted the Prince of Wales, as Regent, would almost certainly have dismissed Pitt in favour of his rival Charles James Fox.

2pp, folio. On a single sheet. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, folded twice into the customary packet. The first page is headed with the king's scrawled signature ('George R.'), he being practically blind with cataracts at the time of signing. The document is countersigned at the end by three Lords of the Treasury: 'Sp Perceval | Wm Eliot | W Sturges Bourne'. The tax stamp is in its customary position in the left-hand margin of the first page.

2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. The document has three horizontal fold lines, one of which has led to wear at along the foot of Dashwood's signature. An interesting assemblage of individuals. Of the six signatories three played a significant part in the American Revolution: King George III and his Prime Minister Lord North, with Charles Townshend, who was responsible for the unpopular 'Townshend Acts', taxing the colonies and leading to the Boston Massacre.

1p, 4to. On bifolium addressed on verso of second leaf to 'Revd Dr. Gaskin | Bartlett's Buildings', with Perceval's seal in red wax split between the bottom two corners of the same page, which is also endorsed by Gaskin: 'London | Hon. Spencer Percival [sic] | Recd Decr 23. 1800'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The letter begins: 'Mr Perceval's Compts. to Dr. Gaskin and returns the 10th. Vol of the Society's Tracts which is marked the 9th and has been sent in the set by mstake instead of the 10th. Mr.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, folded four times. The Downing Street letterhead has been struck through, and place and date added in manuscript, possibly not by Gladstone himself, the place indistinct ('Holborn' or 'Holby'?). The letter reads: 'My dear Lord Crewe | With the greatest regret I have to inform you that an imperative call to London caused by the state of affairs in the Soudan will prevent us, to our great disappointment, from fulfilling the engagement which you had so kindly accepted. | Yours sincerely | W E Gladstone'. Gordon had died in the fall of Khartoum on 26 January.

2pp, 12mko. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight discoloration along central horizontal fold. Addressed to 'Her Imperial & Royal Highness | The Duchess of Edinburgh'. Reads: 'Madam | At Windsor Your Imperial & Royal Highness was good enough to say I might send these specimens of labour performed in a field which is now not much frequented | Under cover of the permission thus accorded, I take the liberty allowed, and add my request that it may not entail the trouble of any acknowledgment | I have the honour to be | Your I. R. Highness's | most faithful humble servant | W E Gladstone'.

An apparently-unique Manuscript – signed by Lord Stanley as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, and dated from 'Downing Street, | 30: July 1842' – of what W. P. Morrell describes in his 'British Colonial Policy in the Age of Peel and Russell' (1966) as a 'Circular Dispatch to Governors of West Indian Colonies', regarding the 'Act to amend the laws for the regulation of the Trade of the British Possessions abroad' (5 & 6 Vic. c. 49). The document discusses the act with regard to 'the West Indian Colonists' and 'the British Possessions in South America and the West Indies'.

On one side of a 7.5 x 11 cm piece of paper, cut from the top of a letter. In good condition, lightly aged, and laid down on part of a leaf removed from an album. Reads 'Whitehall | June 22. 1844 | Sir Robert Peel requests Mess. Hanbury Taylor & Co [...]'. Written during his second ministry, 1841-1846, and after the Tamworth Manifesto of 1834, which brought into being the modern Conservative Party.

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Having returned from Geneva, she has just seen his letter 'asking me to give one of the Lunch Hour addresses at Christ Church'. She would be 'very willing to do so', but fears that the arrangements she has already made 'covering some months ahead' mean that she will not be able to settle the details before the end of spring. She asks him to write 'towards the close of the year, and I then hope I shall know whether I am in this world or the next!'.

7 x 21 cm panel from the front of an envelope, carrying the frank in Pitt's autograph, with 5.5 x 3 cm rectangle extending vertically from the bottom, with Pitt's seal in red wax adhering at the foot. Laid down on a leaf from an album. In fair condition, lightly aged, with the seal somewhat cracked and with a few small fragments having chipped away. The frank, written in a bold hand, reads: 'May 1790 | Dr. Leycester | Serles Stair Case | Lincolns Inn'. The signature is written in the customary fashion, between two lines at bottom left: 'W Pitt'.

Both messages, c.20 x 16cm, typescript, good condition. Hutchinson's message, one page, with date and Eden's title ("Sir") added in Manuscript. Hutchinson says: " Your great recovery has encouraged your many supporters to hope for your early reappearance in active public life perhaps through return to Parliament STOP Could you authorise me to say anything about your hopes and intentions - George Hutchinso [...]".

On 6 x 11.5 cm piece of paper, cut from the end of a document. In good condition, on aged paper, laid down on piece of grey paper cut from an album, with the words 'Marquis Seignelay.' in a nineteenth-century hand at the foot of the mount. Seignelay's signature is large and bold, above the following words in a neat secretarial hand: 'Vostre tres humble & tres aff.ne Seruiteur.'

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, aged and ruckled. A somewhat florid letter of thanks, addressed to 'My dear Lord', and with the valediction 'Your affectionate Friend, | Sidmouth'. The letter begins: 'Your kind Solicitude on Account of my two Daughters is just what I should have expected from your long experienc'd Friendship.' The girls have had 'a merciful Deliverance from a great & imminent Danger, in Comparision with which the Degree in which They have suffer'd, tho' not inconsiderable in itself, is a Subject of heartfelt Thankfulness from me & all my Family'.

1p., 8vo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with closed tear along fold line of second leaf, which is blank other than the manuscript docketing: 'William Griffith Esq. | Captain | in the Association of the Town of Pwlhelly and it's [sic] neighbourhood'. The actual document, on the recto of the first leaf is a printed form completed in manuscript. The king's bold signature 'George R.' is at the top left, while the Duke's ('Portland') is appended 'By His Majesty's Command' at the end.