The Archives and Special Collections has considerable holdings. The material that chronicles significant political, military and social events consists of the typical formats that would be expected such as correspondence, volumes of minutes or reports, photographs, maps, plans. Yet like all Archives, the collections often contain associated items that are a little more unusual and in this week’s blog we bring some of these into the spotlight.
Locks of hair are something that are found in collections of family papers and the collections at Southampton are no exception. Hair as a keepsake and memento was something that peaked in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The Victorians had a particular fascination with hair as a memento of loved ones, but hair was also given as tokens of love and friendship. In the papers of Christopher Collins, the personal servant of the Duke of Wellington, we find locks of hair of both Princess Charlotte and the Duchess of Wellington.
Lock of hair of Princess Charlotte, 1799 [MS69/4/2]
The Broadlands Archives contain other examples such as hair of the baby Henry John Temple, later third Viscount Palmerston (MS62/BR/18/62) and a lock of hair of the baby Ruth Mary Ashley, the younger sister of Edwina, Lady Mountbatten, along with her birth certificate (MS62/MB/1/W/5).
The knitted objects that we hold are made of a variety of fabrics and materials, but there are not any that are knitted from hair. An altogether more unusual experiment, however, was to knit with spaghetti of which we have a few examples (MS332/53/3/1). There is no record of why or how this particular experiment was conducted, although the results of it are clear to see:
Amongst the administrative papers and associated collections relating to the history of the University are a variety of artefacts that add an additional dimension to this material. The gavel that was presented to the Hartley Institution in the 1870s represents the close connection between the Corporation of Southampton and the Institution in its early days. The bequest left by Henry Robinson Hartley to create an educational establishment was made to the Corporation for this purpose.
The ceremonial decorated gavel, made of ivory, donated to the Hartley Institution Council by Henry Joseph Buchan, JP and Mayor of Southampton, 1871-2 [MS1/1/31/15/2]
Other items that represent more formal ways of University life in the past are two silver sugar bowls and spoons, perhaps used when the Warden was entertaining at afternoon tea, that are part of material from Highfield Hall, a hall of residence formally opened by the future George VI in 1935.
Silver sugar pot and spoon [MS310/71/3/1]
We hold a small selection of university related clothing, including a blazer and scarves in university colours as well as cap badges. Amongst a collection of a student from the University from the 1980s is a lovely eye mask for the Southampton University Medical Society masked ball that she attended at Southampton Guildhall.
Handmade mask for masked ball at Southampton Guildhall, 1980s [MS416/22/A4338/1]
Dolls, and indeed dolls clothing, feature amongst the collections, including in the objects that form part of the Monste Stanley knitting collection (MS332), items that belonged to Basque child refugee Pilar Vasca (MS370/5) and in that of the Brian Raywid Romany Papers (MS443).
Peg making is one of the oldest Romany crafts. The pegs were made from a length of willow or hazelwood cut to the right length and with a V-shaped notch cut in the base end. A band of tin was then nailed into position at the top of the peg and the peg split with a sharp knife from the point of the V-notch to the tin band. The pegs were then pegged out to dry and allow the slit to set into its open shape. From these the peg dolls were made and pegs and dolls were often sold door to door.
Peg doll [MS443/13]
Whilst we might have recipes and other sources relating to food, food itself is not something that we would expect to come across in the Archives. However, we do have an exception for an Australian Military Forces emergency ration tin found amongst the Broadlands Archives. Dating from the Second World War it was presumably passed to Lord Mountbatten during his time as Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia. Details of this can be found in a Stories they tell blog from 2020.
The final two sets of items we will be looking in this brief tour could not be more contrasting – handcuffs and handmade shackles used by the pressure group the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry and the exquisitely engraved nautilus shell of the Duke of Wellington and St George and the Dragon.
The Women’s Campaign was creative and dramatic in some of the protests that it organised. Handcuffs were put to use to chain themselves to railings, while the handmade shackles were as part of a costume (possibly in conjunction with a pair of blue and white striped pyjamas that looked like a gulag uniform) worn by a protester.
Handcuffs used by the Women’s Campaign for Soviet Jewry [MS254/A980/5/4/3]
The Scrimshaw nautilus shell is the work of the prolific engraver of nautilus and turban shells Charles H. Wood., who was renowned for the fine work produced whilst engraving his shells with a simple penknife. In the 1850s, Wood produced shells commemorating Wellington and Nelson as well as ones engraved with Britannia.
Engraved nautilus shell of the Duke of Wellington, 1850s [MS351/6/A4170/28]
We hope that you have enjoyed this brief introduction to some of the more unusual objects in our care. But if you want to find out what else we hold do have look at the Archive Catalogue for details.
For those unable to come to the Hartley Library in person, we’re sharing – via our Blog – the exhibition which has just been mounted in the Level 4 Gallery Exhibition space. If you are on campus, please do come and see it in all its glory!
This exhibition is the third of several events and commemorationsplanned for 2023 to mark the 40th anniversary of the arrival of the Wellington Papers at the University of Southampton. We started with a #Wellington40 Twitter campaign @HartleySpecialC in April followed by a series of blogs inspired by the letters in the Duke’s surname. We’re hosting an in-person behind-the-scenes tour, tea and talk event on 7 July and, finally, an exhibition of Archives and Rare Books in the Special Collections Gallery which will open in October 2023.
In 1983 the government allocated the papers of Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, to the University of Southampton under national heritage legislation. The collection arrived on 17 March of that year. This brought to Southampton the University’s first major manuscript collection, leading to the creation of an Archives Department and the development of a major strand of activity within the University Library.
The Duke of Wellington examining a bound volume of Wellington documents at the official opening of the Wellington Suite Archives accommodation, 14 May 1983
This blog reflects on some of the highlights of this important collection, together with the curatorial and outreach work that has taken place to make it available over the last four decades.
Wellington Archive in the Archives strongroom, 2023
Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), was a long serving politician as well as the premier soldier of his generation. He became a public figure after the Battle of Waterloo and at his death in 1852 was treated as a national hero. His archive dates from the great age of government by correspondence. Composed of around 100,000 items, that cover the Duke’s career as a soldier, statesman and diplomat from 1790 to his death in 1852, the collection bears witness to great military, political and social events of the time. It is exceptional among the papers of nineteenth-century figures for its size and scope.
Headed note paper containing a depiction of the Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner, London, on a letter from John Wilson Croker to Wellington, 24 November 1846 [MS61/WP2/150/61]
Cataloguing the collection
The arrival of the Wellington Archive in 1983 marked the beginning of Southampton’s long involvement in automated archive catalogues. The Wellington Papers Database, which used STATUS software, could claim to be one of, if not the earliest, online archive catalogue in the UK. The cataloguing was done ‘offline’ by the archivists on BBC microcomputers equipped with rudimentary word-processing packages – but no memory – and all text was saved onto floppy discs. It was subsequently transferred to an ICL mainframe computer for incorporation into the database by batch programme. This being the days prior to the World Wide Web, the initial database was made available by the Joint Academic Network (JANET) and the public switched telephone network. It was initially scheduled to be made available 156 hours a week, rising to 168.
A new catalogue for a new era
In 2023 the catalogue of the Archive can be accessed in the Epexio Archive Catalogue, a new system that Archives and Special Collections launched in November 2021. The cataloguing has been at an item level, producing rich and detailed descriptions of the individual letters in the collection. This enables researchers to follow a military campaign day-by-day, see the progress of the drafting of legislation, such as the Catholic emancipation bill of 1829, or read the correspondence from a wide cross section of society offering Wellington their views on a whole range of subjects, asking for patronage, promotion or assistance or even asking him to be the godfather of their children.
Conservation
The collection also came with a major conservation challenge – some ten per cent of the collection was so badly damaged it was unfit to handle and in a parlous state. Paper is susceptible to many hazards – water, mould, vermin have all made an impact on the collection. As early as 1815, part of the archive was damaged in a shipwreck on the Tagus. But most damage was the result of storage in a damp environment during the Second World War. Mould growth severely weakened and stained the papers, leaving some letters in a fragmentary state.
Extremely delicate documents being supported on a silk screen during washing
For the conservation of the Archive, Southampton adopted a technique known as leaf-casting. This creates new paper made from pulp similar in nature to the original paper. The result is a sympathetic repair, which strengthens the weakened area, without putting undue stress at the repair edge. The conservators began by working with the less severely damaged materials so that they were able to build up expertise in conserving this type of exceedingly fragile material before tackling the most fragmentary bundles.
As a result of the work undertaken, important material is now available for research, including for the Peninsular War, papers for 1822 (for the Congress of Verona) and for Wellington as Prime Minister in 1829. The badly degraded and mould-damaged bundles from 1832, significant as this was the time of the First Reform Act, are available for the first time since 1940.
Events and activities
Visitors at an ‘Explore Your Archive’ drop-in session
The last forty years also has seen a great deal of outreach and activity focused on the Archive. The Archives and Special Collections has arranged seven international Wellington congresses, the most recent in 2019. It has curated a number of exhibitions to showcase the collection, including for the bicentenary of Waterloo in 2015. In 2015 and 2017 Karen Robson and Professor Chris Woolgar presented a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) they had co-created relating to Wellington and Waterloo.
Join us in 2023as we continue toshare this amazing collection!
As we approach the final letter of Wellington, we thought it fitting to focus on Napoleon for N, seeing as we could, on this occasion, give him “the last word”!
Born on 15 August 1769 with the name Ajaccio, Napoleon was the son of a minor Corsican nobility and attended school in France. His education included attending the Ecole Militaire in Paris in 1784, after which he was appointed as an artillery officer in September 1785. He was elected Lieutenant Colonel in the Corsican National Guard in 1791and later re-joined the army in France and commanded the artillery at Toulon in December 1793.
Napoleon’s military successes included his spectacular victories over the Austrians in Italy during 1796-7 which led to the Peace of Campo Formio in October 1797. During his appointment as Commander of the Army of England, he persuaded the Directory that an attack in the Middle East would be more beneficial than an invasion across the channel.
In August 1799 he left his army in Egypt and returned to France, establishing, with the Coup of Brumaire in November 1799, the Consulate with himself as First Consul. In August 1802, he became Consul for life, Emperor of the French in May 1804, and King of Italy in March 1805. As Consul and then Emperor, Napoleon presided over a vast development of administrative, economic and legal changes.
Napoleon’s catastrophic Russian campaign of 1812 motivated his old enemies and several of his allies to form a new alliance against him and in spite of a fantastic operation in northern France, he was forced to abdicate in April 1814. The most that the allies were willing to accept he have, was his title of Emperor and the island of Elba.
Cartoon taken from the Library of Congress, published by J. Phillips, No. 32 Charles Street Hampstead Road, [London, 1814]
In 1815 Napoleon returned to France and troops sent to arrest him instead approached him, and the restored Bourbons bolted. He promised that the government on his return would be more progressive than the old empire, but military loss at Waterloo forced his second abdication.
The Wellington Papers contain fascinating correspondence informing Wellington of Napoleon’s actions in the run up to the Battle of Waterloo. A great example is a letter from Lord Castlereagh, Foreign Secretary at the time, to Wellington, reporting the ‘alarming’ reports from Paris and the necessity for European powers to assemble:
“The despatches received this morning from Paris, copies of which I inclose, your Gracewill observe give a most unfavourable account of the state of the King’s affairs. Although Paris and the country generally is tranquil, and the population not unfriendly to the government, the progress of Bonaparte appears to have been hitherto unchecked by any opposition from the army, whilst strong indications of disaffection have manifested themselves in particular corps, some of which have actually joined themselves to his standard. You will also use your own utmost influence to terminate amicably the existing differences between Austria and Bavaria, and to secure the effective aid of the latter power at this critical conjecture. Whatever differences of opinion may have prevailed under other circumstances, I trust that ever minor consideration will be buried in the common interest which all must feel, to preserve at least so far as concerns the existing boundaries of France, the glorious result of the late war.“
Letter from Lord Castlereagh to Wellington, regarding the ‘alarming’ reports from Paris and the necessity for the European powers to assemble, 16 Mar 1815 [MS61/WP1/452/18]
Another great example is a letter from Wellington to Castlereagh discussing the resolution of the European Sovereigns to unite their efforts against the ‘common enemy’, Napoleon Bonaparte:
” My lord. We received here on the 7th inst[ant] a dispatch from Lord Burghersh of the 1st
giving an account that Bonaparte had quitted the island of Elba with all his civil and military
officers and about 1200 troops on the 26th of February.
I immediately communicated this account to the Emperors of Austria and Russia and to
the King of Prussia and to the ministers of the different powers and I found among all one
prevailing sentiment, of a determination to unite their efforts to support the system established
by the Peace of Paris. As it was uncertain to what quarter Bonaparte had gone, whether he would
not return to Elba or could ever land on any part of the continent it was agreed that it was better
to postpone the adoption of any measure till his further progress [f.1v] should be ascertained and
we have since received accounts from Genoa stating that he had landed in France near Cannes on
the 1st of March, had attempted to get possession of Antibes, and had been repulsed, and that he
The Treaty of Chaumont demanded Napoleon to cease all conquests and so reinstate France to its pre-revolutionary borders in exchange for a truce. If Napoleon failed to do this, the Allies would continue the war. If Napoleon accepted the Treaty, he could continue to preside as Emperor of the French and to keep a dynasty. Napoleon rejected the treaty, thus ending his last opportunity for negotiated settlement.
There is a plentiful amount of material in the Wellington Papers that follow the progress of Napoleon and his campaign from his arrival in France to the Battle of Waterloo.
On 15 October 1815, Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena, a British territory in the South Atlantic, where he defended his actions to a variety of individuals, of which led to the publication of his memoirs. One of the most notable memoirs is the Mémorial de Sainte-Hélène (The Memorial of Saint Helena), written by Emmanuel-Augustin-Dieudonné-Joseph, comte de Las Cases. He served Napoleon under the Hundred Days and accompanied Napoleon with his son to St Helena. Acting as Napoleon’s secretary, Las Cases, carefully recorded all of his conversations with him which led to the publication of the memoir. Pages corrected in the hand of Napoleon can be found at Wisbech & Fenland Museum.
Wellington continued to have a great interest in Napoleon following his exile, which is reflected in his memorandums upon the French campaign of 1812 in Russia, where he critiques Napoleon’s campaign in Russia while riding to Russia to represent the British at the coronation of the Tsar:
“As for Napoleon, he ought to have been aware of his position and of all its consequences from the moment he arrived before the town and found that its inhabitants had quitted it. Moscow was not a military postion. The objects for which he had sought to obtain it were political, and these were lost when he obtained the military possession of the town, the inhabitants [f.39r] having fled from it. The military postion in Moscow was not improved by this flight of the inhabitants from Moscow; on the contrary, it was \ become / more dangerous, and it was obvious, was quite useless. Napoleon ought therefore, before he entered the war to have made all his arrangements for quitting it, to have considered the halt of his army there, as * only * a measure preparatory to retreat, and he should not have allowed a single officer or soldier to enter the town, excepting to obtain and bring from it what was necessary to enable * at * \ the army / to * make its * march.”
Memorandum by Wellington, upon the Comte de Segur’s account of Napoleon’s 1812 campaign in Russia, n.d. c. 1826 [MS61/WP1/873/2]
Napoleon died on the St Helena island on 5 May 1821 and his remains were removed from St. Helena and reinterred in the Hotel des Invalides in Paris.
Correspondence of interest relating to Napoleon received by Wellington after his death
Wellington received interesting correspondence after Napoleon’s death, with one letter enclosing a copy of a note written in French from Napoleon himself! On 14 Jul 1815 Captain Frederick L. Maitland explains to Wellington that he has received a request from Count Las Cases and General Allemond for them to receive Napoleon on their ship in order to deliver him to the Prince Regent to request mercy. The captain states that he has agreed to transport Napoleon to England, intending to dock at Torbay and await further commands. The letter from Napoleon was given to General Gorgand who was charged to present it to the Prince Regent. Written in French, the letter translated into English reads as follows:
“Your Royal Highness,
A victim to the factions which distract my country, and to the enmity of the greatest powers of Europe, I have terminated my political career, and I come, like Themistocles, to throw myself on the hospitality of the British people. I place myself under the protection of its laws, I claim from Your Royal Highness as the most powerful, the most constant and most generous of my enemies.“
A copy of the letter General Gorgand is charged with from Bonaparte to the Prince Regent requesting his mercy and safe passage to England, 14 Jul 1815 [MS61/WP1/473/95]
Wellington was even offered a jewel containing the hair of Napoleon and Marie Louise, formerly the property of the Duc de Bellune!
Letter from Gramain to Wellington offering a jewel containing the hair of Napoleon and Marie Louise, formerly the property of the Duc de Bellune, 1844 [MS61/WP2/122/81]
An item of great interest that we hold relating to Napoleon is the catalogue for the Waterloo Museum [Rare Books DC241 CAT], which refers to several Napoleonic artefacts, such as his coat and hat which he wore in Elba; a grand painting of him in his Coronation robes by Robert Lefevre of Paris; the Foot Board of his State Carriage; his state sword and saddle; his military saddle and holsters; his hunting sword and his favourite walking cane to name but a few!
We hope you have enjoyed our series of Wellington blogs running through each of the letters of the Duke’s name. Do visit our blog next week for our post on our level 4 gallery exhibition celebrating 40 years since the arrival of the Wellington Papers.
And so we have reached the letter T in our W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N series of blogs and for this we are going to look at T for Topography.
As a soldier the Duke would have understood the necessity of accurate maps and plans when undertaking a military campaign. But this extended to the civil sphere as well and there is material in the Wellington Archive relating to work of the Ordnance Survey, which represented the most comprehensive topographic mapping of the country.
Wellington’s appreciation of the value and maps and map-making is also shown in his purchase on behalf of the government, whilst Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1808, of maps produced by Neville Bath of various Irish counties. Ordnance Survey work had at this time not commenced in Ireland so Wellington took the opportunity to acquire what was then available instead.
Wellington acquired early Ordnance Survey maps of England and the Wellington Archive includes a letter from 1820 [MS61/WP1/649/9] in which he is thanked for presenting a set of Ordnance maps of England to the Royal Institution in London.
`The road at Irelands Eye shewing the situation of the proposed harbour for the accommodation of His Majesty’s ships of war’ at Howth, c.1807-9: the period when Wellington was Chief Secretary for Ireland [MS61/WP15/23]
When Wellington and the British army arrived in Spain and Portugal at the start of the Peninsular War they were greatly hampered by a lack of up-to-date maps. As Richard H. P. Smith has noted in his article on Peninsular War Cartography “Spain had not yet embarked on mapping the nation according to modern scientific principles, and although Portugal had begun such a survey, no maps were available.” The most recent were a series of maps by Tomas Lopez published in the latter part of the eighteenth century, a set of which can be found in the Wellington Archive.
Map of the province of Guipuzcoa by Tomas Lopez [MS61/15/31/22]
Responsibility for rectifying this dearth of adequate cartographic coverage was vested in the Quartermaster General Department, led in the Peninsula by Colonel George Murray. The focus of this map-making, which was only one of the numerous supply and logistical duties undertaken by Quartermasters, was military purposes, and their maps were not designed, as Murray noted in a letter to Lord Fitzroy Somerset in 1825, as a general survey of the Iberian peninsula [MS61/WP1/812/3].
Considerable material relating to cartography can be found in the Murray Papers at the National Library of Scotland. Southampton has the research papers of S. G. P. Ward, the author of the study of the administration of Wellington’s army Wellington’s Headquarters, which contains extensive notes from his research on the Murray papers.
The Wellington Archive contains a number of examples of topographical maps dating from the Peninsular War.
`Sketch of the heights near Arruda’, c.1809-13 [MS61/WP15/37]
Sketch map of the area close to Burgos, c.1809-13 [MS61/WP15/38]
Section MS61/WP15 within the Wellington Archive contains a series of maps, plans and drawings which had become separated from their context within the collection. They have been arranged by region and cover France, India and Burma, Ireland, Jamaica, Peninsula (Spain and Portugal), Russia and Scandinavia. Further maps and plans can be found scattered throughout the Wellington Archive. To find out the range and scope of these search for “map” in the Archive catalogue.
We hope that you will join us again next week when we have the penultimate blog in this series, which will be O for Oxford and Wellington’s appointment as Chancellor of the University there.
And so to the seventh blog in our W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N series; if you’ve been following our posts, you’ll know we have reached G. As we already have an excellent blog on Gurwood – perhaps the most obvious choice for this letter — we decided to have some fun and spent this week talking about the Duke and his love of grumbling!
Rory Muir, author of Wellington comments that “habitual grumbling…was one of Wellington’s most characteristic pleasures” and it was nothing new for him “to grumble in the most exaggerated language”. This is supported by Norman Gash who also remarks on “the customary vehemence he employed on matters important to him”.
We feel anyone who has spent time reading the Duke’s correspondence will reach the same conclusion. The Duke did seem to take pleasure in having something to grumble about. To start us off, there are some fine examples in a bundle of letters from Wellington to his close friend William Booth, a officer in the British Army Commissary. In November 1832, Wellington writes that has been contacted by a Mr Edward Taylor although does not know why:
“However one of the diseases of the day is a perpetual interference by everybody in the affairs of his neighbours”: Wellington to William Booth, 2 Nov 1832 [MS414/A4198/10]
Another source of irritation to the Duke was the constant stream of packages and parcels he received. His views are clearly laid out in a letter sent in 1824 to Mr Anstey from Barrow, near Bristol. Mr Anstey wished to send the Duke a volume of his musical work; for this to be received by the porter at Apsley House he requires “an order in His Grace’s handwriting.” Wellington replies:
The Duke is very much concerned for the trouble Mr Anstey has had abut his work; and he begs he will send it to him by the post or by any mode which he made think proper.
The Duke must observe however in apology for himself that a public man is this county, particularly one of any note, stands in a very disagreeable situation. Every person who thinks proper to publish anything calls upon him for what is called his patronage; and with or without consent sends him a copy or copies of work. His table is loaded, as the Duke’s is, with every description of publication, and his time is occupied in giving complimentary answers to those who think proper thus to honour him.
It is not astonishing that a man who has really other matters to attend to, should be anxious to avoid this troublesome intrusion and should give orders to his servants not to receive packages containing works of this description without his directions.
And he concludes the letter:
“The Duke is very sorry if Mr Anstey has suffered any inconvenience from the state of things, but he assures him that any inconvenience he may have experienced does not equal one tenth of that to which the Duke is daily exposed from this description of enthusiasm” [MS61/WP1/798/2]
A few years later, in 1837, Wellington was still feeling bombarded by packages and parcels. He writes to Booth to confirm he has received the plans [which related to his Belgium property]. Fortunately Sir John sent these plans to the porter for which the Duke comments he was much obliged.
“The truth is that my home is made a sort of depot of works of every description whether in manuscript or in print; or otherwise. I have been under the necessity therefore of giving orders to my porter to receive nothing that he has not orders to receive” [MS414/A4198/25]
As editor of his Dispatches, Colonel Gurwood worked closely with Wellington for many years. There were endless difficulties which proved to be an excessive drain on the Duke’s time. At this point of proceedings, Gurwood had sent to Lord Clarendon (through Lord Fiztroy Somerset) the “slips with Your Grace’s corrections.” Gurwood had hoped this would prevent further trouble by showing the pains Wellington took in his corrections but it appears the matter was not resolved:
“My Dear Colonel, Everybody feels an interest in everything, till it will put him to the most trifling inconvenience. The truth of history and everything else must disappear to prevent that evil. There is no end to these little trifling difficulties. I have not time to enter into them” [MS61/WP2/40/17]
Our research for this blog has brought to our attention some wonderful words, now mostly obsolete: we really must make the effort to add them to our vocabulary. So, do you ever find you have a case of “the grumbles” (ill-humour, vented in grumbling, used jocularly, as if the name of a malady)? At times, do you find yourself “grumblous”, “grumbly” or “grumblesome”? If this is the case, it may be having a negative impact on your health. When we complain – says weorganizeu.com – we release the stress hormone cortisol. When cortisol levels rise, our immune system is compromised, blood pressure goes up, we gain weight and there is an increased risk of heart disease. Serious stuff! The Duke of Wellington, of course, lived to the ripe old age of 83…but maybe he’s the exception that proves the rule?
There’s only three posts in our W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N series left – don’t miss next week’s. I wonder what we will be inspired to talk about for ‘T’…?!
The fifth instalment in our W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N series is ‘I for India’.
Special Collections are home to many archives with connections to the sub-continent and the Wellington Papers are no exception.
Wellington served in India between 1797 and 1805, largely in Mysore and nearby places. He fought in the campaign against Tipu Sultan, also known as ‘The Tiger of Mysore’, during the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798-9), the fourth and final conflict of the Anglo-Mysore Wars. This war was fought in South India between the Kingdom of Mysore against the British East India Company and the Hyderabad Deccan and culminated in the British capture of the capital of Mysore, Srirangapatna, when Tipu Sultan was killed in the battle. Britain then took indirect control of Mysore, restoring the Wadiyar dynasty to the Mysore throne (with a British commissioner to ‘advise’ him on all issues). Tipu Sultan’s young heir, Fateh Ali, was sent into exile. The Kingdom of Mysore became a princely state in a subsidiary alliance with British India covering parts of present Kerala–Karnataka and ceded Coimbatore, Dakshina Kannada and Uttara Kannada to the British.
The immediate context of this conflict was the emerging alliance between Tipu Sultan of Mysore and Napoleon Bonaparte, who promised the Sultan freedom from ‘the iron yoke of England’ and whose armies had reached Egypt, potentially threatening British power in India.
Detail from a coloured pen, ink wash plan of Seringapatam at the time of its capture by Wellington, n.d. early nineteenth century [MS61/WP15/6]
“[…] I have often heard of Sir D. Baird’s dissatisfaction on my appointment to take the command at Seringapatam when he had commanded the successful storm of the town, on which I was not even employed having been appointed to command the reserve in the trenches. Of course I had nothing, I could have nothing to say to the selection of myself as I was in the trenches, or rather in the town, when I received the order to take the command of it and instructions to endeavour to restore order.
Baird was a gallant, hard headed, lion hearted officer, but he had no talent, no tact, had strong prejudices against the natives and he was peculiarly disqualified from his manners, habits, etc., and it was supposed his temper, for the management of them. He had been Tippoo’s [Tipu Sultan] prisoner for years. He had a strong feeling of the bad usage which he had received during his captivity and it is not impossible that the knowledge of this feeling might have induced Lord Harris and those who advised his lordship to lay him aside.
However, of course I never enquired the reason for my appointment or of Baird’s being laid aside. There were many other candidates besides Baird and myself, all senior to me, some to Baird. But I must say that I was the fit person to be selected. I had commanded the Nizam’s army during the campaign and had given universal satisfaction. I was liked by the natives.
It is certainly true that this command afforded me the opportunities for distinction and thus opened the road to fame, which poor Baird always thought was by the same act closed upon him. Notwithstanding this he and I were always on the best terms and I don’t believe that there was any man who rejoiced more sincerely than he did in my success.”
Copy of a letter from Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, to J.W. Croker, explaining his appointment in 1799 as Governor of Seringapatam, 24 January 1831: contemporary copy [MS61/WP1/1174/7]
A few years later Wellington was involved in the Second Anglo-Maratha War of 1803-5, where he won notable victories at Assaye and Argaum, bringing about the submission of Sindhia and of the Raja of Berar.
Wellington may have later described his victory at Assaye, fought on 23rd September 1803 and his first major victory in war, as his finest achievement on the battlefield. A combined British and Indian force, commanded by then Major General Arthur Wellesley, defeated a larger Maratha force, the casualties ran into the thousands. The day after the battle Wellington issued a General Order congratulating his troops.
“Camp, Assay, 24th September 1803
G.O. [General Order] by the Hon’ble Major General Wellesley
Major General Wellesley returned his thanks to the troops for their conduct in the action of yesterday, the result of which is so honourable to them and likely to be so advantageous to the British interests, he requests that Lieut. Colonel Harness & Lieut. Colonel Wallace, in Parliament, will accept his acknowledgements for the manner in which they conducted their respective Brigades.
Major General Wellesley also has every reason to applaud the conduct of the Cavalry, particularly that of the 19th Dragoons, and to express the deep regret he feels at the loss of Lieut. Colonel Maxwell who lead them.
A Royal Salute to be fired in camp this afternoon upon the occasion of the victory gained over the enemy’s army yesterday, and a Royal Salute to be fired on the same occasion on the receipt of this order in each of the Detachments, and in each of the garrisons under the commands of Major General Wellesley in the territories of the Company, the Subah of the Dechan [Deccan], the Peishwah [Peshwah], and the Rajah lands, Gwalior.
Signed R.S. Barclay [Major Robert Barclay (1774-1811)]
D.A.G. [Deputy Adjutant General] in Mysore
A true copy”
Copy of Arthur Wellesley’s General Order, Camp, at Assaye, thanking his troops for the victory there the previous day, 24 Sep 1803:, copy c.1804 [MS308/A1066/26]
Detail of a pen and ink sketch of Assaye, from a letter by Lieutenant J.E. Alexander to the Duke of Wellington on a snuff box made from the tree found on the battlefield of Assaye, 3 May 1829 [MS61/WP1/1015/17]
Wellington’s military career in India was inextricably linked with the expansion of British power in that sub-continent, the legacy of which is highly contested to this day. Wellington’s own brother, Richard Wellesley, first Marquis Wellesley, was in fact the Governor-General. He had sailed for India in November 1797 and his time as the Governor-General (1798-1805) was a decisive phase in the consolidation of British control over the Indian subcontinent.
Wellington’s relations with his brother were not always warm, however, as explored by historians Iris Butler and Rory Muir*. Although Wellington had apparently been delighted at his brother’s appointment to Governor-General, when he met with his older brother in Bengal, he took several hours to come aboard his ship; this was deemed disrespectful by his older brother who later wrote that it had ‘caused a coldness to come between us which I am afraid will last all our lives’.
And so we reach the second letter L in our W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N series of blogs, which is L for legislation.
Throughout his long career in politics, which stretched back to the 1790s when he held the seat of Member of Parliament for Trim, the Duke of Wellington had witnessed the passing of a range of legislative measures as well as acting as the advocate of important legislation.
Volume of parliamentary bills from the Wellington Deposit of parliamentary papers formerly owned by the first Duke
His first government of 1828-30 was to be the advocate of important measures that would begin the process of transforming the Anglican settlement, a settlement that dated back to the Restoration of Charles II in 1660.
The first of these two pieces of legislation was the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts in 1828, which Rory Muir in his biography of Wellington suggests could claim to be one of the more important events in the first months of the Duke’s government. The Corporation Act of 1661 excluded membership of town corporations to those who would not take the sacrament according to the rites of the Anglican church. The Test Act of 1673 imposed the same test on those who held civil or military office. This is effect excluded Catholics, Jews and Protestants who were not members of the Church of England (such as Unitarians, Methodists or Society of Friends) from holding public office. Lord John Russell had introduced the bill to repeal this act in 1827 but withdrew it June vowing to introduce it again in 1828 which he did in February. Robert Peel supported it on the government’s behalf in the House of Commons, whilst Wellington acted in the House of Lords.
Part of Wellington’s speech in the House of Lords at the second reading of the act 17 April 1828:
Can you suppose, my Lords, that the repeal of laws so inoperative as these can afford any serious obstacle to the perfect security of the Church, and the permanent union of that establishment with the State? The fact is, the existing laws have not only failed completely in answering their intended purpose, but are anomalous and absurd; anomalous in their origin, absurd in their operation. If a man were asked the question, at his election to any corporate office, whether he had received the sacrament of the Church of England, and if he said ‘No,’ he lost every vote that had been tendered on his behalf, and there was an end of his election; but if, on the contrary, by accident or design, he got in without the question relative to the sacrament being put to him, then the votes tendered for him were held good, and his election valid, so that no power could remove him from the office which he held.
[The Speeches of the Duke of Wellington in Parliament collected and arranged by the late Colonel Gurwood (London, 1854)]
Wellington Pamphlet 946/7
There is relatively little material in the Wellington Archive on this subject, which is something that cannot be said for the other piece of major legislation that Peel and Wellington introduced the following year – the Roman Catholic Relief Act, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act of 1829. Passing this act was a hard-won victory achieved in the face of considerable opposition, not least from George IV who only acceded with reluctance as a last option. Both Peel and Wellington were criticised by those most vehemently opposed to the bill, none more so than Lord Winchilsea, whose criticisms so stung the Duke that he challenged him to a duel.
Alongside considerable correspondence relating to the issue of Catholic emancipation, as politicians and others shared their opinion with Wellington, are the drafts of the bill drawn up by Wellington and Peel as they steered the measure through Parliament.
First page of a draft of a memorandum by the Duke of Wellington on the arrangements proposed for the introduction of Roman Catholic emancipation, 7 August 1828 [MS61/WP1/983/4/3]
Amongst the Duke’s collections of pamphlets, there are over two hundred on the subject of Catholic emancipation. Pamphlets were one of the important print media sources that shaped public opinion. And the historian Peter Jupp noted that Catholic emancipation was one of “five topics that generated significant pamphlet skirmishes”.
Handwritten list at the front of a volume of 20 pamphlets sent to the Duke of Wellington and bound together into the volume relating to Catholic emancipation [Wellington Pamphlet 946]
Parliamentary reform was another issue that created a great deal of debate and discussion and for which there is considerable material both within the Wellington Archive and the Duke’s pamphlet collection. By the end of 1830 Wellington was out of government and was in opposition both in parliament and to the measure of reform being put forward by Lord Grey’s government.
Wellington Pamphlet 992/3 relating to the reform debate and presented to Wellington by the author
The Representation of the People Act 1832, also known as the first Reform Act, was given royal assent in June 1832. It had first been introduced into the House of Commons in March 1831 where it passed, but then failed to pass in the House of Lords. This happened again when an amended version was passed from the Commons to the House of Lords in October 1831. Wellington was one of the resolute opponents of reform, which he felt would “destroy the country”. Certainly Wellington’s stance led to the destruction of windows at Apsley House as angry mobs attacking his London home.
First page of MS61/WP1/1207/15/1 a draft paper setting out Wellington’s opposition to parliamentary reform
The Wellington Archive and the Duke’s pamphlet collection contain material on a range of other legislation, including correspondence about a Licence Amendment Bill in 1807, combating smoke nuisance and the Smoke Prohibition Bill, 1849, the preparation of the Slave Abolition Act 1833 and the Corn Laws. To explore the Wellington Archive further go to the Archive Catalogue.
And so to L; the first of two in our W-E-L-L-I-N-G-T-O-N series of blogs. This week we’ll be looking at literature. But were works of prose and poetry significant in the life of the victor of Waterloo?
Christopher Hibbert comments that the young Arthur had a serious side and “read a great deal.” This view is supported by the fact that when the young Colonel Arthur Wellesley travelled to India in 1796 he took with him a trunk-load of volumes including Voltaire, Rousseau and Jonathan Swift. Elizabeth Longford, in her 1967 article “The Duke of Wellington’s Books”, comments that the 27 year old Colonel had spent £50 – not an insignificant amount at that time – on books. Longford also notes, however that Wellington knew little Latin and less Greek. He revealed this information when he was ask to be Chancellor for Oxford University in 1833 and suggested they should try and find someone suitable with a university education.
Whether or not the Duke enjoyed literature, many people wrote to him unsolicited, sending their poems, or asking to dedicate their works to him. They include some well-known names including Sir Walter Scott who sent a copy of his Life of Bonaparte in 1827. Not literature – Scott was a historian as well as novelist, poet and playwright – but it was still an influential biography for the period.
Letter from Sir Walter Scott to Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, sending a copy of his life of Bonaparte, 24 June 1827 [MS61/WP1/891/14]
Another familiar name will be Benjamin Disraeli, at this point more author than politician, who wished to dedicate his epic poem The Revolutionary Epick to the Duke in 1834.
Letter from B.Disraeli to Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington, asking if he can dedicate his epic poem to Wellington, 3 March 1834 [MS61/WP2/9/7]
The Duke replied, as he always did, that he was very flattered by Disraeli’s request but had decided many years ago that he would never give formal permission for any work to be dedicated to him.
It’s hard to know for certain how much the Duke appreciated the varied literary efforts that were sent to him. Sir Gilbert Flesher, a song writer and artist of Towcester, Northamptonshire, claimed to have distributed 800,00 “loyal songs” in his life including “Of Triumph” to celebrate the Battle of Waterloo. Flesher had complained he’d had to pay the postal charge to receive his most recent reply; the Duke’s response implies he did not hold poetry in high regard:
He has the power of franking only a limited number of letters. He franks what it is necessary that he should write. Those upon poetry, and which it necessary that he should write only from motives of courtesy, he does not frank.
MS61/WP1/1193/12
But maybe the Duke was having an off-day. At the time of their correspondence, August 1831, he was likely distracted by the state if near-insurrection in Britain following Tory opposition to the Reform Act, the windows of Aspley House smashed just a couple of months later.
And not all works Wellington received were complimentary! William Augustus Kentish, for example, sends his efforts in 1831 stating that the Duke’s position makes him the legitimate subject of criticism. He appears to be slighted by the fact that when he approached the Duke for employment he chose instead to appoint those known to him.
Wellington’s horsemanship
Our mighty Captain on the ground!
The ridicule of all around!
How humbled thy high vanity, & pride
Was it a drunken freak, or worse?
Or had thou not yet learn’d to sit a horse?
A Jackass-boy could greatly better ride.
What! The great conqueror at Waterloo,
The laugh + crack-a-joke at a review!…
For god’s sake, never get again astraddle,
Or else get strapped securely in the saddle!
MS61/WP1/1205/13
The Duke docketed this letter “More impudence.”
On a related theme, the English novelist and historical writer George Payne Rainsford James, The Shubbery, Walmer: draws attention to foreign piracy of English literature, and the largescale import of pirated editions into England.
Docket in the hand of Arthur Wellesley, first Duke of Wellington [MS61/WP1/1193/12]
He had served for a short period in the army and was wounded in a small action following the Battle of Waterloo. He also lived, at the time of writing at “The Shrubbery”, Walmer, and was a sometime guest of the Duke’s.
But a system of Foreign piracy has been organised against which we have no defence. Within three days or four at the most after the work of a popular author has reached Paris, it is printed verbatim and sold at one sixth of the price… The loss to British authors in enourmous.
MS61/WP2/80/59-61
The letter is docketed with another stock reply: Duke is not in office and so declines to help.
And so we conclude our little jaunt spotlighting literature in the life of the Duke of Wellington. While the jury is still out on the significance of literature in his life we’ve had fun looking at the examples. Do join us next week when our second ‘L’ will focus on legislature.
This week, we are on the letter E of Wellington, and for this we are going to focus on elections.
The Wellington Papers hold a variety of papers in relation to elections, such as poll results, updates on the state of general elections, and congratulatory letters on general election progress like the one below. We will begin this blog by taking you through Wellington’s elections journey as a political figure, and will then discuss the types of sources we hold on elections within the Wellington Papers.
Letter from the Duke of Rutland to Wellington congratulating him on the progress of the general election, 2 Jul 1841 [MS61/WP2/77/63]
As a result of Wellington’s political positions as Chief Secretary of Ireland, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Foreign Secretary under Robert Peel, minister without portfolio, and Tory Leader in the House of Lords, Wellington had seen significant election events take place, such as the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Bill, opposition to the Reform Bill in the 1830s, and elections that signified the last flicker of Wellington’s previous unpopularity.
Wellington becomes an MP
Shortly before the 1789 general election, Wellington was set on his first political task. He was asked to make a political speech in support of Henry Grattan to avoid him being made a freeman. Following the election of 30 April 1790, Wellington was duly elected, even though he was underage at the time. He spoke in parliament sending the address from the throne, criticising the imprisonment of Louis XVI and the French Invasion of the Netherlands and congratulating the government on its liberal attitude to Catholics. He continued to represent the constituency until 1797 when he left to go to India.
In 1807 Wellington found himself elected as MP for Mitchell in Cornwall, Newport on the Isle of Wight and for Tralee in County Kerry. He chose Newport. Concurrently he was appointed as Chief Secretary for Ireland by the Duke of Portland and worked with Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond, who was the Lord-Lieutenant.
Wellington becomes Prime Minister
After Lord Liverpool became seriously ill in 1827; Canning’s death; and Goderich being forced to resign after, amongst many disasters, the failing to steer reform of the Corn Laws through the Lords in the face of opposition; Wellington was invited to form a government in January 1828. This invitation by King George IV was accompanied by the strict instruction that Catholic emancipation be excluded from his programme. Given that Daniel O’Connell, founder of the Catholic Association, was inevitably going to stand for election, and that Ireland was on the brink of war, Wellington had no choice but to guide the emancipation bill into the Commons with Home Secretary, Robert Peel. The passing of the Roman Catholic Relief Act on 13 April 1829 meant that Catholics were able to take a seat in the Parliament at Westminster, and that Daniel O’Connell, who had won the by-election in Clare in 1828, was now able to take his seat as MP. Wellington had therefore helped create a monumental change in the elections process for Members of Parliament as Prime Minister.
Wellington’s opposition towards the 1832 Reform Bill
Despite changing his opinion on Catholic emancipation, Wellington’s views on the 1832 Reform Bill remained heavily opposed. This bill included significant changes to the electoral system of England and Wales, such as giving representation to cities and abolishing small districts; giving the vote to small landowners, shopkeepers, tenant farmers and householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more, and some lodgers.
Wellington reveals his thoughts on the 1832 Reform Bill in a letter to Ernest Augustus, first Duke of Cumberland, dated 24 September 1832 [MS61/WP1/1234/7]:
“I believe that from Scotland and Ireland principally, in proportion to the amount of representation, and from England, there will be on the whole so many radicals returned to the next Parliament as to render the government of the country nearly impracticable. This, and the enormous expense of the elections, which will very soon drive the [f.1v] gentry of the country out of Parliament, are the principal changes effected at present by the reform acts.”
Copy of a letter from Wellington to the Duke of Cumberland discussing the effect of the reform act on the parliamentary elections, 24 September 1832 [MS61/WP1/1234/7]
Wellington’s anti-reform position led to a high degree of personal and political unpopularity. The same year saw the Swing Riots, centred in many areas on the economic difficulties of agricultural labourers, with machine-breaking and rural unrest. The fictitious Captain Swing also expressed general discontent with the Wellington government and lack of progress with the popular cause of reform. The Wellington papers contain a series of letters attributed to Swing in which the Duke is threatened.
On 15 November 1830, Wellington was forced to resign after he was defeated in a motion of no confidence. He was replaced by Earl Grey, leading a Whig government, and continued to fight reform in opposition before finally consenting to the Great Reform Bill in 1832.
Although it took time for Wellington’s role in the resistance to the 1832 Act to be forgiven, in 1834 he was summoned by King William IV to form an administration. The government only last 23 days, but it contributed to the restoration of the Duke’s authority.
Elections correspondence
Perusing Wellington’s correspondence that relates to elections reveals how Wellington often received updates about the progress of general elections. In one letter from the Earl of Roden, Wellington is updated on the 1837 election results in Ireland, of which the Earl comments “our defeat in Belfast was very unexpected but I am told that we shall recover it by petition”.
Letter from Earl of Roden, Glenarm Castle to Wellington, commenting on election results in Ireland. 12 Aug 1837 [MS61/WP2/47/40]
Wellington even received details of polls in some cases:
State of polls for the 1830 general election as part of letter from J.Planta to Wellington, reporting on the general election, 12 August 1830 [MS61/WP1/1134/6]
Wellington also received letters from correspondents reassuring him that they would support his government, as well as proposals for schemes of voting, such as by proportional representation in Irish Municipal Elections:
“The object of my proposition is to secure to the municipal constituencies about to be formed in Ireland, a positive and certain means of preventing an exclusive election of the Town Council by one party. The mode by which I propose to do this, recommends itself by being a most liberal extension of the Franchise as it is at present proposed to be conceded. I propose to relieve them from the obligation of voting for so many persons [list of 12-16/20 candidates] and to confer upon them the privilege of distributing their 12 – 16 – or -20 votes to 6 – 3 – or 4 of the candidates – or all their votes to the candidate”
Letter from Lord Burghersh: a proposed scheme of voting by proportional representation in Irish Municipal Elections, n.d. [endorsed May 1840] [MS61/WP2/68/135-6]
Letter from Lord Burghersh: a proposed scheme of voting by proportional representation in Irish Municipal Elections, n.d. [endorsed May 1840] MS61/WP2/68/135
As well as sending lists of candidates for the Scottish representative peerage as one of his duties, Wellington was also requested to provide military assistance to address threats of violence in parliamentary elections:
“Mr. Hawthorne called on Major Swan and asked him why he came to town, or something to this effect. Swan said, not to interfere in the election, but to preserve peace. Mr. Hawthorne then said, did Swan intend to patrol the town with the military force ? Swan replied, by no means, unless outrages should require that interference, and that the force would then be used indiscriminately for public protection…On the whole, this appears to Croker the most dangerous bullying he ever saw, but it will fail with him. But he owns that he thinks the government should enquire into this circumstance, where a placeman dares to tell a magistrate, especially sent to preserve the peace, that he will call out the King’s volunteers against the King’s soldiers…He supposes that Major Swan will have written, but at all events he begs that either extraordinary powers or a troop of dragoons be immediately ordered to Swan…The violence of the disappointed and, he hopes, defeated party would surprise Wellesley”
Letter from J.W.Croker to Wellington, reporting the threat of violence in the parliamentary election in Downpatrick, and requesting military assistance, 18 May 1807 [MS61/WP1/168/5]
Letter from J.W.Croker to Wellington, reporting the threat of violence in the parliamentary election in Downpatrick, and requesting military assistance, 18 May 1807 [MS61/WP1/168/5]
Look out for next Wellington 40 blog post, where we will be on the first letter L in Wellington!
In 1975, eight years before the arrival of the Wellington Papers, the eighth Duke of Wellington deposited the Wellington Pamphlets at the University Library. Consisting of over 3,000 pamphlets collected by or presented to the first Duke, the collection reflects the key issues of public debate during the first forty years of the 19th century.
Bookplate of the Duke of Wellington
Throughout this period, pamphlets were used by individuals, organisations and campaigners to publicise their views and to attract support for their causes. Prominent figures would circulate texts of speeches or engage in debate with other pamphleteers, but many writers were little-known outside their immediate circle and others chose to remain anonymous. Often printed in small numbers and on poor quality paper, pamphlets might be a few pages long or at over a hundred pages, difficult to distinguish from books. To ensure a wide circulation many were distributed freely but others were published for sale, sometimes as a means of raising funds.
Wellington Pamphlets
Given Wellington’s stature as a military commander and a politician, it is not surprising that so many people sought his support or to influence his views by presenting him with with copies of their pamphlets – in some cases these were simply folded and sent to him. Once added to the collection the pamphlets were bound, individually at first but later in groups of ten or twelve. Although some pamphlets were grouped by subject this was not generally the case and two indexes, neither of which survive, were used to locate material.
A Short Letter from a Friend to the Agricultural Electors of North Northamptonshire [1832] addressed to Wellington Rare Books Well. Pamph. 924
Many of the Wellington Pamphlets were written by people of a High Church, Tory outlook who wanted to preserve the existing institutions and ways of life, although on most of the subjects covered in the collection differing opinions are included. The issues of Catholic Emancipation and Parliamentary Reform loom large. Most of the pamphlets on Catholic Emancipation date from Daniel O’Connell’s election at County Clare in 1828 to the passing of the Act in 1829 and although some are supportive, others show the fears of papal supremacy and subversion of rights which Wellington had to overcome. More than half of the pamphlets on political issues deal with Parliamentary Reform and were published after Wellington’s declaration against it in November 1830 and before the Reform Act was passed in 1832. There are pamphlets by proponents of moderate reform, who feared the effects of too extreme a change in the voting system, others suggesting removing the worst abuses but with no extension of the vote, and many pamphlets opposing it altogether.
John Wilson Croker Objections to the Reform (England) Bill (1832) Rare Books Well. Pamph. 986/9
The causes of the many social and economic problems facing the country were a popular subject for pamphlet writers, as was suggesting solutions to the problems. The agricultural depression of the 1820 brought calls for reform of the currency, taxation and the poor law and a series of pamphlets from the 1820s to the 1840s discusses the Corn Laws and the differing opinions on free trade and protectionism. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, generated further controversy and many pamphlets.
John Symmons The Causes of the Present Distressful State of the Country Investigated (1822) Rare Books Well. Pamph. 942/3
On international affairs, Wellington’s role as Commander in Chief and Ambassador to France from 1814 to 1818 accounts for the French pamphlets on the restoration of the monarchy, the Assembly, French finances, the freedom of the press and, more surprisingly, mineral teeth. Slavery was the main topic of debate in the pamphlets on colonial affairs, and these include discussion of its economic aspects and attempts to improve the conditions of slaves. On the question of abolition, some pamphleteers demanded that this should happen immediately, some called for gradual emancipation and others defended the system.
Joseph Phillips West India Question (1833) Rare Books Well. Pamph. 934/6
As well as the pamphlets on well-known aspects of 19th-century life, others on a variety of subjects found their way to Wellington. There are reports from various charities, including several hospitals, pamphlets concerned with the adulteration of bread and biscuits, the quality of London’s water supply, the improvement of public clocks, the use of cast-iron pipes to heat the Houses of Parliament and Marc Brunel’s proposal for a tunnel under the Thames.
From: Marc Isambard Brunel A New Plan of Tunnelling, Calculated for Opening a Roadway under the Thames [1824] Rare Books Well. Pamph. 1094
Although pamphlets were intended to have an immediate impact and not necessarily to be of long term interest, they were collected by societies and prominent individuals, especially politicians. The pamphlet collections of Arthur Mills (1816-1898), M.P. for Taunton and Exeter and Lord Bolton of Hackwood, are also to be found in Special Collections.
A number of pamphlet collections have been donated to university libraries, including the Earl Grey Pamphlets at Durham, the Hume Tracts at University College London and the Earls of Derby‘s Knowsley Pamphlets at Liverpool. A JISC project saw the contents of over 49 pamphlet collections in university libraries (including the Wellington Pamphlets) catalogued on Library Hub Discover and digitised copies of 26,000 titles are available online.
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University of Southampton Special Collections 