Correspondence of Prince Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn (1767-1820)

The correspondence consists of a copy of a letter to Jeffrey Amherst, Baron Amherst, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, 5 September 1794, and letters to Sir J. Wentworth about the defence of Nova Scotia, 1795, and including a certificate and statement about events in Nova Scotia, 1794-1795.

Edward Augustus was born on 2 November 1767 at Buckingham House (now Buckingham Palace). He was the fourth son of King George III and Queen Charlotte, and the younger brother of the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV. He was educated in England, Luneburg, Hanover, and Geneva - his time in continental Europe under military service. In 1790 he was sent to Gibraltar to command the 7th Foot Regiment, Royal Fusiliers, but proved to be unpopular with his men. In 1791 he was sent to Canada, and in 1793 to the West Indies operating against Martinique and St. Lucia. He returned to Britain in 1798. On 23 April 1799 Edward Augustus became Duke of Kent and Strathearn, and Earl of Dublin. In May 1799 he rose to the rank of General and on 17 May was made Commander-in-Chief of forces in British North America - in Canada. In autumn the following year he returned to Britain in ill-health. In 1802 he was appointed Governor of Gibraltar, and in 1805 he became a Field-Marshall. In 1818 he was married to Princess Victoria Mary Louisa (1786-1861), the young widow of Prince Emich Charles of Leiningen-Dachsburg-Hardenburg. The marriage took place at Coburg on 29 May 1818, and was repeated at Kew on 13 July. The following year on 24 May 1819 their only child - a girl - was born at Kensington Palace. Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, died at Sidmouth on 23 January 1820. He was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on 11 February 1820. His daughter, Alexandrina Victoria, ascended the throne as Queen Victoria in 1837.

Generally open for consultation to bona fide researchers, but please contact repository for details in advance.

The biographical/administrative history was compiled using the following material: (1) Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of national biography. Vol. 11. Kennett-Lluelyn. London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1909.

Compiled by Graeme D Eddie, Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections Division.

Important finding aids generally are: the alphabetical Index to Manuscripts held at Edinburgh University Library, Special Collections and Archives, consisting of typed slips in sheaf binders and to which additions were made until 1987; and the Index to Accessions Since 1987.

Check the local Indexes for details of any additions.

The UK National Register of Archives (NRA), updated by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, notes: deeds, financial and London estate papers, London Metropolitan Archives, Ref. 1028 NRA 14140 Weatherall; correspondence with Lord Camden, 1804-1805, Centre for Kentish Studies, Ref. U840/O215 NRA 8410 Pratt, and letters to William Knollys, 1813-1819, Ref. U1186 NRA 10889 Knollys; correspondence with Sir Alexander Cochrane, 1805-1814, National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts Division, Ref. MSS 2264-65, 2570-74; letters to Lord Cornwallis, 1794-1796, Public Record Office, Ref. PRO30/11 NRA 8658 Cornwallis, and letters (11) to William Pitt, Ref. PRO30/8 NRA 20658 Pitt; letters (8) to Lord Dartmouth, 1801-1805, Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service, Staffordshire Record Office, Ref. D742, 859, 1501, 1778, 3074, 3629, 4544; D(W)515 NRA 5197 Legge; letters (38) to William Edmeston, 1791-1803, University of New Brunswick Library, see Union list of MSS in Canadian repositories 1975; correspondence with Sir William Fremantle, 1802-1807, Centre for Buckinghamshire Studies, Ref. D/FR NRA 15283 Fremantle; letters to George III, Royal Archives, see Later Correspondence of George III, ed. A. Aspinall, 5 vols 1962-70; correspondence with Sir James Willoughby Gordon, 1800-1813, British Library, Manuscript Collections, Ref. ADD MSS 49475, and correspondence with Lord Grenville, 1799-1814, Ref. Add MS 58868, and correspondence with Lord Holland, 1816-1820, Ref. Add MS 51524, and correspondence with Prince Lieven, 1814-1819, Ref. Add MSS 47287-90, and correspondence with Earl of Liverpool, 1808-1818, Ref. Add MSS 38190, 38259-323, 38564 passim; correspondence with Earl Grey, 1806-1808, Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections, Palace Green Section, Ref. Grey of Howick collection NRA 6228 Grey; letters to Sir Alexander Hope, 1817-1820, National Archives of Scotland, Ref. GD364 NRA 10172 Hope see NRA(S)1021; letters to John Gaspard Le Marchant, 1805-1811, Royal Military Academy Library, NRA 184 Le Marchant; letters to Lord Moira, 1802-1809, Huntington Library, see HMC Hastings MSS III; letters (27) to Sir James Murray-Pulteney, Pierpoint Morgan Library, Ref. MA487,297,1260-90 NRA 30863 Murray-Pulteney; correspondence with Lord Sidmouth, 1801-1803, Devon Record Office, Ref. 152M NRA 8747 Addington; and, letters to J. G. Smyth, 1799-1820, Southampton Archives Office, Ref. D/C NRA 13153 Smyth.