Robertson (Sara Anne Catherine Whinyates) letters and estate documents, 1806-1808

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Summary

Title:
Sara Anne Catherine Whinyates Robertson letters and estate documents
Dates:
1806-1808
Creators:
Robertson, Sara Anne Catherine Whinyates
Abstract:
The collection consists of 46 letters, written in India by Sara Anne Catherine Whinyates Robertson. The letters are primarily to her grandmother Lady Frankland, her aunt Harriet Frankland, and her brother Sir Edward Charles Whinyates. The letters describe social life and conditions in British Colonial India. In addition, there are two documents concerning her father's estate in India. The materials date from 1806 to 1808.
Extent:
0.4 linear feet (1 box)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sara Anne Catherine Whinyates Robertson letters and estate documents (Collection 2379). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

The collection consists of 46 letters, written in India by Sara Anne Catherine Whinyates Robertson. The letters are written to Robertson's grandmother Lady Frankland; her Aunt Harriet; her brother Sir Edward Charles Whinyates, British Army general, veteran of Waterloo; her uncle William Frankland; and her sisters Amy, Rachel, and Bella. In addition, there are two documents regarding her father's estate in India.

The letters describe social life and conditions in British Colonial India. The letters chronicle when Sara's parents die in Allahabad, India and leave behind two younger orphaned sisters and many debts. Sara sends her two younger sisters home to England so that they may be educated. The Robertsons are transferred from Calcutta to Allahabad after Mr. Robertson is promoted to Chief Engineer at that post. Mr. Robertson is sent into the field several times during various uprisings and insurgencies. Sara desired bringing her older sisters to India so they could "marry well" and be "settled."

Source: Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC. Invoice correspondence, November 15, 2019.

Biographical / historical:

Against her family's wishes, Sara Anne Catherine Whinyates married Lieutenant James Robertson of the Bengal Engineers in 1803. Her grandmother, Lady Frankland, her Aunt Harriet, and her brother Edward Charles were the only family that supported her and wrote to her. Sara and her husband initially resided at Fort William. Situated on the eastern banks of the River Hooghly, the major distributary of the River Ganges, Fort William was an important stronghold and the major trading hub for the East India Company. From the time of their marriage until 1805, British and Indian soldiers clashed in the Second Anglo-Maratha War – Britain's sixth conflict with India since 1766. British forces managed to maintain control of Fort William, but, by 1806, the region still experienced some violence.

Source: Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC. Invoice correspondence, November 15, 2019.

Acquisition information:
Purchased from Michael Brown Rare Books, LLC from the Manuscript Funds, 2019.
Custodial history:

Collection acquired by dealer at an auction in 2017.

Processing information:

Processed by Jasmine Larkin, 2019. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the seller.

Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.

We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Problematic Content and Description in UCLA's Library Collections and Archives.

Physical location:
Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Physical description:
The letters are generally in very good, clean, and legible condition, with some minor tears, and loss along folds.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:
Finding aid prepared by Jasmine Larkin, 2019.
Date Encoded:
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-03-22 15:59:29 -0700 .

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Sara Anne Catherine Whinyates Robertson letters and estate documents (Collection 2379). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
A1713 Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575, US
Contact:
(310) 825-4988
AskLSC@library.ucla.edu
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