Correspondence of Robert Potts

The letters relate to two contested elections at Cambridge in 1847, the first for the chancellorship of the university, in which Prince Albert (supported by Potts and many other reformers) defeated the conservative Earl of Powis; and the second for the university seats in the general election, at which the sitting members, Henry Goulburn and C.E. Law, survived challenges from Viscount Feilding and J.G. Shaw-Lefevre.

Robert Potts entered Trinity College. Cambridge in 1827, graduated BA in 1832, and proceeded MA in 1835. He settled in Cambridge as a private tutor, and was a strong supporter of reform within the University. He published a highly-regarded edition of Euclid's Elements (1845) and other mathematical treatises, as well as works on theology and the University of Cambridge. He died in Cambridge on 4 August 1885.

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

These letters were presented by Robert Potts to Cambridge University Library in 1872

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

The Library also holds Potts' correspondence and papers respecting three collections of books made at Cambridge for the use of the library of Trinity College at La Tour in Piedmont, 1838-46 (MS Add.2612); and his collection of material generated by the debate on the celibacy of fellows of colleges, 1853-70 (MS Add.725).