Johnson Letters to Dundas and Cornwallis

Letters, copies and drafts of letters from Richard Johnson to the Hon. Henry Dundas and Lord Cornwallis.

Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville (1742-1811), served as Home Secretary (1791-1794) and Secretary for War (1794-1801). He was Treasurer of the Admiralty between 1782 and 1800. 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.

Charles Cornwallis, first Marquess Cornwallis (1738-1805) was Governor-General of India from 1786 to 1794. He served in the Seven Years War and was an MP from 1760 before serving in America from 1776 to 1781. In 1786 he became the Governor-General of India, where he reformed the civil service and the judiciary and distinguished himself in the campaigns against Tippoo Sahib of Mysore. He was created a marquess in 1792 and returned to England in 1794, later being appointed Viceroy and Commander in Chief in Ireland. In 1805 he was again appointed Governor-General of India, but he died two months after his arrival there.

Phillipps manuscript no. 33378.