Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Cadogan, Charles Sloane Cadogan, Earl, 1728-1807.
- Abstract:
- The core of this small collection consists of letters addressed to British politician Charles Sloane Cadogan (1728-1807), treasurer to Prince Edward Augustus (1739-1767), reporting or justifying various expenditures made during the Prince’s European travels between 1763 and 1767.
- Extent:
- 61 pieces in 1 box
- Language:
- English.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The core of this small collection consists of letters addressed to Cadogan reporting or justifying various expenditures made during the Prince’s European travels between 1763 and 1767. The chief correspondents are Edward Augustus himself (9 letters), his Groom of the Bedchamber Colonel (later General) Henry St. John of Rockley, Wiltshire (32 letters), his Master of the Horse Colonel Sir William Boothby, Baronet, of Ashbourne Hall, Derbyshire (10 letters), his equerry Colonel George Morrison (2 letters), and his younger brother Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester (1 letter only).
There are passing references to travel plans, people met, and social entertainments attended, but little descriptive or other substantive comment about the pasing countryside or individual cities. The overall impression given is one of a small, informal, extravagant, and pleasure-loving royal party, well entertained by social events given in their honor, by romantic encounters with local ladies, and in one instance at least (when dining with the Duc de Villars in 1767) by homosexual propositions. Only Morrison's two letters from September 1767 can be considered descriptive travel accounts in the conventional sense. St. John provides much detail about the Prince's final illness and death and the mourning ceremonies in Monaco. Boothby and the Prince occasionally send directions concerning horses in England. In most cases the amounts of reported expenditures are summary totals only, with very few specific expenses explained. The Prince and his attendants constantly complained of their limited allowance from King and Parliament and pressed Cadogan to obtain an increase in the royal stipend.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Charles Sloane Cadogan (1728-1807), son of the 2nd Baron Cadogan and Whig Member of Parliament for Cambridge, was appointed in 1756 to be Keeper of the Privy Purse and subsequently Treasurer to Prince Edward Augustus (1739-1767), Duke of York and Albany, the next younger brother of King George III. Based in London, Cadogan authorized disbursements made by and on behalf of the Prince and his attendants during their Italian tour in 1763-1764, during a trip to Hanover and to visit his sister the Princess Augusta, Duchess of Brunswick, in 1765, and on the Prince’s final, fatal trip to France and Monaco in 1767. (Edward Augustus died of a “miliary fever” in Monaco on September 17, 1767). In August 1766 the Prince, as Lieutenant of the Forest of Windsor, had appointed Cadogan to the office of Deputy Lieutenant. Cadogan succeeded his father as the 3rd Baron Cadogan in 1776 and was created Viscount Chelsea and Earl Cadogan in 1800.
- Acquisition information:
- Purchased from John Hart Rare Books of Binham, Norfolk, in November 2011.
- Arrangement:
-
The collection is arranged in chronological order.
- Rules or conventions:
- Finding aid prepared using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader Services.
- Location of this collection:
-
1151 Oxford RoadSan Marino, CA 91108, US
- Contact:
- (626) 405-2191