LYTTELTON, General Sir Neville Gerald (1845-1931)

Personal papers of the Lyttelton family containing correspondence of Neville Lyttelton, Katherine Lyttelton and daughters Lucy Masterman, Hilda Grenfell and Hermione Hichens to and from family and friends, including photographs and ephemera, c.1782-1940.

Neville Lyttelton to family, 1852-1909, 1911-1924; Family to Neville Lyttelton, 1852-1930; Neville Lyttelton to his wife Katherine 1883-1926; Katherine Lyttleton to her family, 1867-1927; Family to Katherine Lyttelton 1886-1916; Katherine Lyttelton to her husband Neville 1883-1926; Friends to Katherine Lyttelton 1877-1940; Various correspondence with friends, predominantly with Katherine Lyttelton, but also Neville Lyttelton, 1888-1938, including Sir Edward Grey, Lady Dorothy Grey, Lady Pamela Grey, George Curzon, Lord Alfred Milner, Violet Gascoyne Cecil, Patrick Duncan, John Morley, Dorothy and Janet Ward, Alfred Lyall; Various family correspondence, c.1850-1937, including letters between Lucy Masterman and Katherine and Neville Lyttelton, Hilda Grenfell and Katherine and Neville Lyttelton, Arthur Grenfell to family, and Hermione Hichens and Katherine and Neville Lyttelton. Includes letters exchanged between Neville and Katherine Lyttleton during the Second Boer War, 1899-1902.

This collection also contains a sub-fonds with additional personal papers, photographs, documents and ephemera of the Grenfell and Lyttelton families, 1800s-1962. It includes many letters exchanged between family members during various wars including the Zulu War, 1879, Second Boer War, 1889-1902, First World War, 1914-1918, and Second World War, 1939-1945, and diary extracts written during the First World War.

General Sir Neville Lyttelton born the third son of the 4th Baron Lyttelton, of Hagley Hall in Worcestershire, 1845; his mother was sister-in-law of William Gladstone; educated at Eton College; entered Rifle Brigade, 1865; helped to suppress Fenian rising, Canada, 1866; Secretary, Oregon Boundary Dispute Commission, Canada, 1867; ADC to Viceroy of Ireland, 1868-1873; served in Jowaki Expedition, India, 1877, and in Egyptian Campaign, 1882; appointed private secretary to the Secretary of State for War in the Liberal Government, 1880; Military Secretary to Governor of Gibraltar, 1883-1885, and to Governor of Bombay, 1885-1890; 2nd in Command, 3 Bn, Rifle Bde, Jullundar, India, 1890-1893; Lt Col, 1892; commanded 2 Bn, Rifle Bde, Dublin, Ireland, 1893-1895; appointed Assistant Adjutant General War Office, 1895; Assistant Military Secretary, War Office, 1897-1898; commanded brigade during Nile Expedition, Sudan, 1898; commanded 2 Infantry Bde, Aldershot, 1899; commanded 4 Infantry Bde, 2 and 4 Divs, South Africa, 1899-1900; served in Natal, 1901-1902; Commander-in-Chief, South Africa, 1902-1904; Chief of General Staff and First Military Member of Army Council, 1904-1908; Commander-in-Chief, Ireland, 1908-1912; appointed Governor of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, 1912; published Eighty years: soldiering, politics, games (Hodder and Stoughton, London, 1927); died, 1931. He married Katherine Stuart-Wortley in 1883 and they had 3 daughters, of whom Lucy (1884-1977) a writer and poet, married Charles Masterman (1873-1927), the Liberal politician.

The collection is arranged as follows:

PP5/1-PP5/38: Papers of Neville Lyttelton and his family.

PP5/1-PP5/22: Letters of Neville, Katherine, Lucy, Hilda, Hermione, arranged by correspondent and then chronologically.

PP5/23-PP5/27: Family letters to Neville, Katherine, Lucy, Hilda, Hermione.

PP5/28-PP5/36: Friends letters to Neville, Katherine, Lucy, Hilda, Hermione.

PP5/37-PP5/38: Various other correspondence, memorabilia, photographs and ephemera.

PP5/GRE/ Additional papers of the Grenfell family (Arthur and Hilda Grenfell nee Lyttelton).

Open. The Archives are available for access in the Archives Reading Room located on the 2nd Floor of the Mile End Library. The Archives Reading Room is open Mondays to Fridays 9am-4pm by appointment only. Contact the Archives for more information: Archives, Main Library QMUL, 328 Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, telephone: 020 7882 3873, email: archives@qmul.ac.uk . For more information about the Archives see the website: library.qmul.ac.uk/archives

Placed with Westfield College by Hilda Grenfell, second daughter of Sir Neville Lyttelton, c1940, prior to her going to Australia; subsequently bequeathed by her to the College.

Catalogue of Lyttelton Family papers PP5/1-38 completed January 2015. Card index also available on request, microfilm of some letters sent from Neville Lyttelton to Katherine Lyttelton and family (in box 44). Additional Grenfell family papers (Accession M97) have not been catalologued, but a box list is available on request.

List placed with the National Register of Archives (NRA 35956); card catalogue and index available at the Archives. Archives catalogue

Catalogue completed December 2014 by Nicola Wood.

Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Special Collections and Western Manuscripts holds his diaries, 1874-1929 (Ref: MSS Eng hist e 379, f 35-82); 1878-80: Worcestershire Record Office holds correspondence; St Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, Wales, holds 10 letters to Henry Gladstone, 1873-1919 (Ref: Glynne-Gladstone MSS 911); Birmingham University Information Services, Special Collections Department holds letters to his daughter Lucy Masterman, 1887-1930, and correspondence during the Boer War, 1900-1901 (Ref: CFGM); Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, King's College London holds letters and copies of letters to his family, 1899-1904 (Ref: Lyttelton); British Library, Oriental and India Office Collections, holds letters to Governor of Bombay, 1885-1888 (Ref: MSS Eur F).

Photocopying at the discretion of the Archivist.