Letters from Henry Dundas to Pitt

Miscellaneous (autograph) letters from Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, to Pitt (with very few exceptions, including two to My dear Lord and one to Sir William Scott), dealing mostly with various matters of State (naval affairs, West Indies, Indian affairs, etc.); no. 19 is a letter protesting against the view that details of the defence of the country could be discussed in Cabinet (31 May 1790, 16pp.) and no. 28 a memorandum on Egypt (19 September 1800). A number of enclosures include letters from Sir George Thomas concerning the Governorship of the Leeward Islands (5), David Scott, East India Company Director (15), Lord Kenyon (16), the Prince of Orange (25), and Lord Keith (40).

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811), served as Home Secretary (1791-1794) and Secretary for War (1794-1801). In 1766 he was appointed solicitor-general for Scotland and also entered parliament and gained the seat of Edinburghshire (Midlothian). By 1784 Pitt had a firm ally in Dundas; at a division in March 1784 they lost by a single vote. Although this election only brought Dundas modest gains, it was a great success for Pitt. Dundas's role was recognized in 1791 when he became Home Secretary. He remained in the cabinet until 1801. Dundas became Secretary of State for War in July 1794. He was raised to the peerage at the end of 1802 as Viscount Melville and Baron Dunira and by 1804 had become First Lord of the Admiralty. However, his financial management of the Admiralty was called into question, and the report of the commission of inquiry resulted in his impeachment for the misappropriation of public money. He was eventually acquitted, but never again held office.

Source: Michael Fry, 'Dundas, Henry, first Viscount Melville (1742-1811)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. By permission of Oxford University Press - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/8250.

From the papers of George Pretyman Tomline.

The JRUL also holds correspondence and papers of Henry Dundas within the Melville Papers  (ref.: GB 133 MEL ).