Papers of Dr. Edward Rigby

This material is held atBodleian Library, University of Oxford

  • Reference
    • GB 161 Dep. c. 115, e. 43
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1789-1805
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • English.
  • Physical Description
    • 2 shelfmarks

Scope and Content

The papers comprise:

  • holograph letters of Dr. Edward Rigby to his wife and daughters, 3 July - 31 Aug. 1789, written in France. The letters describe events in Paris at this time, and touch on the French peasantry and their agricultural practices amongst other subjects
  • a printed poem to Edward Rigby, esq., 1805, and a poetical epistle to him as mayor of Norwich about his dissent from proposed celebrations of Trafalgar
  • Rigby's diary, 3 July-7 Aug. 1789, describing his journey through France to Turin.

Administrative / Biographical History

Dr. Edward Rigby (1747-1821) was a physician. Rigby's daughter, Lady Eastlake, describes him as a 'practical and enthusiastic farmer' who wrote on agriculture, and translated the works of others on the subject. He also held several offices in Norwich; he was a member of the corporation of guardians, 1783-4, alderman of Norwich, 1802, the city's sheriff, 1803, and mayor of Norwich in 1805. See the Dictionary of National Biography for further details.

Access Information

Entry to read in the Library is permitted only on presentation of a valid reader's card (for admissions procedures see http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk).

Acquisition Information

Deposited in the Library in 1952.

Note

Collection level description created by Susan Thomas, Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts.

Other Finding Aids

A description is available in the Library, where there is also a card index to unpublished catalogues.

Bibliography

The letters were edited by Edward Rigby's daughter, Elizabeth, Lady Eastlake, in 1880. See Dr Rigby's letters from France &c. in 1789, ed. by Lady Eastlake (London: 1800).