Letters from the Duke of Wellington, with related material

This material is held atUniversity of Leeds Special Collections

Reference
- GB 206 Brotherton Collection MS Misc. Letters 2 Wellington
Dates of Creation
- 1828-1890
Name of Creator
- Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of, 1769-1852
Language of Material
- English
Physical Description
- 8 letters (10 ff. with 8 ff. conjoined in 4 pairs), 3 envelopes, 1 autograph, 1 print, 2 photographs, 5 portraits, 1 pamphlet, 1 printed card, and 5 press-cuttings, all held in 2 envelopes, manuscript, photographs, and printed material. The material was formerly bound into a volume containing also transcripts of two of the letters, which is now shelved in a separate author/alphabetical sequence following the main sequence of Miscellaneous Letters.

Scope and Content

Comprises: (1) 8 letters, including 4 from the 1st Duke of Wellington, 1 to George Greathead undated, 1 to Lady Lincoln dated 12 May 1845, with a note by Henry Bicknell attached (for both of which there are transcripts), and 2 to unnamed recipients dated 19 December 1842 and 27 February 1848; 1 from the 2nd Duke of Wellington to Rev. T.R. Ross dated 9 December 1852; 1 from Lady Victoria Lucy Wellesley to Messrs. Dawson and Warren dated 13 August [1881]; 1 from Colonel Lascelles to the 1st Duke of Wellington incompletely dated 1 August, but with a stamped-addressed envelope pasted on to its verso from the 1st Duke to Mr G. Nash dated 20 March 1836; and 1 from Colonel J. Gurwood to Colonel North dated 18 July 1845; (2) 2 stamped-addressed envelopes, including 1 from the 1st Duke to Benjamin Wyatt postmarked 11 September 1828, and 1 from the 2nd Duke to Rev. T.R. Ross dated 1852, probably to enclose the letter mentioned above; (3) 1 autograph of the 1st Duke of Wellington undated; (4) 1 engraved print of 'Strathfieldsaye, the seat of his Grace, the Duke of Wellington'; (5) 2 small portrait photographs of the 1st Duke of Wellington as an elderly gentleman; (6) 5 portraits, including 3 of the 1st Duke at various ages and times ranging from 1839 to 1845, and 2 of the 2nd Duke at differing ages and times ranging from 1835 to 1881; (7) 1 printed pamphlet, being a sermon preached in Trinity Church, Ipswich, on 21 November 1852, the Sunday after the funeral of the late Duke of Wellington by the Rev. Francis H. Maude; (8) 1 small printed card relating to a dinner given by the Duke of Wellington (unspecified) for Colonel Boldero on Sunday 3 August (year unspecified); (9) 5 press-cuttings, including a printed portrait of the 1st Duke at Plymouth, another depicting the last moments of the 1st Duke with commentary below it, a further ornate portrait of him engraved from an original portrait painted by Salter extracted from the press on 13 November 1852, a fourth set of portraits accompanying an extended obituary on him extracted from The Illustrated London News for the same date, and a final extract on 'The Waterloo Monument at Brussels' dated 26 August [1890].

Administrative / Biographical History

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), the field-marshal and statesman. For fuller details of his life and achievements see the Dictionary of National Biography.