08. British History

The collection consists of two letters to John Houlton of Farley Castle, Bath. Also included is a letter (April 12, 1850) from Arthur Houlton.

This collection contains a letter by William Stewart Rose, British poet and translator, to Mr. Sotheby at his auction rooms near Waterloo bridge, complaining that not only was the sale of his books to take place in Whitsun but that the Stokes Park Library was being sold at the same time. He requests that catalogues be sent to various people, including Lady Caroline Lamb and Mr. Murray.

This collection contains a letter by Sir Joseph Banks to an unnamed correspondent, sending thanks for four plates and a drawing, and then discussing eleven botanical specimens. There is also a reference to the Royal Society, of which Banks was President for forty-two years.

The holding consists of an Indentured Servant Contract between the Duke of Chandos and one George Harvey, a parchment document, approximately 23 x 29 inches in size, in English and dated 1761, setting forth the terms of the indenture.

This collection consists of a 161-page handwritten logbook, penned (probably) by William Ward, whose name appears on the front pastedown endpaper. The majority of entries are Orders of the Day, letters, memoranda, and accounts of expenditures. Each entry is initialed by at least three officers; some are initialed by as many as eight officers.

This is a 38-page handwritten logbook containing dozens of general memos signed by proxy for various British Navy and Marine officers during the time period 1807-1809.

The volume contains the productions of the Sisterhood of the Gossip Society of Gloucester, England. The author is unknown, but goes by the nom de plume “Penelope Placid.” The entire work is purportedly a product of these women’s meetings; more likely, it is the work of one woman satirizing the situation of elderly spinsters whom society considered to be gossips in nineteenth century England.

This collection consists of a sketchbook and a minute book, both authored by Sir James Hawkins Whitshed, an officer in the British Navy. The sketchbook contains numerous depictions of naval ships and a self-caricature of Whitshed himself. The minute book contains a careful list of letters received and sent by Whitshed, plus a summary of the day’s events during the years 1821-1822.

Correspondence from Sydney Smith to, primarily, Archdeacon Francis Wrangham. Other noted correspondent includes George Lamb. Two portraits of Sydney Smith (engraving and lithograph) are included in the collection.

The papers of Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith contain letters concerning Smith's brother, John Spencer Smith, who was British ambassador to the Porte at Constantinople in the early 1790s. Correspondents include Robert Liston, British Minister to the United States. Also included is a genealogy of the Smith family, a battle order issued by Smith aboard HMS Tigre during the siege at Acre in 1799, and an invitation to the funeral of the Duke of Wellington.