[ William Roupell, forger and fraudster. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W Roupell'), expressing thanks for support in his campaign to be re-elected Member of Parliament for Lambeth.

Author: 
William Roupell (1831-1909), forger and fraudster, Member of Parliament for Lambeth, 1857-1862, ruined in the Roupell Case
Publication details: 
Roupell Park, Brixton. 28 April 1859.
£120.00
SKU: 19838

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, on aged and worn paper. Possibly produced in court, as docketed at head: 'facsimile | printed 1st & 3rd' (the present item is not a facsimile). The male recipient is not identified. He wishes to reiterate his thanks 'for the hearty support and valuable assistance you have so kindly tendered in securing my Reelection as one of your Representatives for the Borough of Lambeth'. He will 'bear a pleasing recollection of those services', and hopes that his 'future course in Parliament may be such as fully to justify the confidence you have reposed in me'. Over a number of years, and to the tune of more than £100,000, Roupell plundered the estate of his father Richard Palmer Roupell (1782–1856), scrap-metal dealer and property developer. A committee was convened in the House of Commons to investigate irregularities in his parliamentary campaign in the 1857 general election.