Descriptive Summary
Access
Administrative Information
Biographical Note
Arrangement
Scope and Content
Indexing Terms
Descriptive Summary
Title: Harford Jones collection
Dates: 1783-1814
Collection Number: mssHJ
1-88
Creator OR Collector:
Jones, Harford, Sir,
1764-1847
Extent:
92 items
Repository: The Huntington Library,
Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Manuscripts
Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: Collection chiefly consists of
correspondence between Sir Harford Jones (1764-1847), Henry Dundas, first Viscount Melville (1742-1811), and
Robert Dundas, second Viscount Melville (1771-1851). The collection spans Jones's time in the
Persian court.
Language of Material: The records are in English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities.
The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with
the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. Harford Jones collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Provenance
The collection was purchased by the Library Collectors' Council from Maggs Bros.
of London, January 2014.
Biographical Note
Sir Harford Jones Brydges, first baronet (1764-1847), diplomat and author, was born
on January 12, 1764. On February 16, 1796 he married Sarah, eldest daughter of Sir
Henry Gott of Newland Park, Buckinghamshire; they had one son and two daughters. In
commemoration of his descent, through is material grandmother, from the family of
Brydges of Old Colwall, Herefordshire, he assumed, by royal signature, dated May 4,
1826, the additional name of Brydges. Early in life Jones entered the services of
the East India Company, working as assistant and factor at Basrah, 1783-1794, and
its president in Baghdad, 1798-1806. He acquired great proficiency in oriental
languages, and with the assistance of Robert Dundas's patronage he was appointed
envoy-extraordinary and minister-plenipotentiary to the court of Persia, where he
remained from 1807-1811. He was attached to the first Persian mission lead by Sir
John Malcolm (1801). He remained in Tehran from 1809 to 1810, in the service of the
Dundases. During this time his main achievement was the Preliminary Treaty of 1809
that effectively barred France from the route to India. In 1810, his authority in
Tehran was crucially undermined by the East India Company, through Lord Minto's
appointment of Sir John Malcolm as envoy while Jones represented the crown. Snubbed
by the Persians, he reacted furiously. Eventually Sir Gore Ouseley was appointed as
London's new ambassador to the Shah and on hearing the news Malcolm decided to leave
Persia for India, and Jones was recalled. In 1832 he was sworn of the privy council,
and in 1841 was appointed deputy lieutenant of the county of Herford. He died at his
seat at Boultibrook, near Presteigne, on March 17, 1847.
Henry Dundas, first Viscount Melville (1742-1811), politician, was born on April 28,
1742 in Edinburghshire, Scotland. He married Elizabeth (1751-1843), coheir of David
Rannie, merchant and shipbuilder. They had four children. In May 1775, Dundas became
lord advocate, and in 1782 he became treasurer of the navy. He was elected to
Parliament for Scotland in 1790. Dundas was close political ally of William Pitt,
the Younger. He became home secretary in 1791,President of the Board of Control in
1793, and secretary of state for war in July 1794. In 1805, Dundas was impeached
after a commission of inquiry uncovered accounting transgressions in naval records.
Dundas returned to Scotland. He died on May 27, 1811 in Edinburgh.
Robert Saunders Dundas, second Viscount Melville (1771-1851), politician was born in
Edinburgh on March 14, 1742, the only son of Henry Dundas and his wife Elizabeth.
Robert served as his father's private secretary from 1794, through thinking it also
useful for him to be in parliament: he was brought in as MP for Hastings in 1794,
Rye in 1796, and Midlothian in 1801. He married and heiress, Anne Saunders on August
29, 1796. The couple had four sons and two daughters. In 1807, after his father's
"retirement", he became President of the Board of Control for India. In 1811, he was
promoted firs lord of the Admiralty. In 1814, he was appointed a governor of the
Bank of Scotland, and he was elected chancellor of the University of St. Andrews,
and made a knight of the Thistle in 1821. He resigned his political offices in 1830,
over debates about the Reform Act, never to hold office again. He died on June 10,
1851 at Melville Castle.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged chronologically. It is housed in two boxes.
Scope and Content
This diplomatic archive spans Harford Jones's time at the Persian court; it consists
of correspondence and documents, most of which are written by Jones. The bulk of the
collection is comprised of 71 letters dating from September 1799 to January 1814,
all written to, or enclosures intended for, firstly Henry Dundas first Viscount
Melville and secondly Robert Dundas second Viscount Melville.
Indexing Terms
Personal Names
Dundas, Henry,
1741-1811
Jones, Harford, Sir,
1764-1847
Malcolm, John,
1769-1833
Melville, Robert
Saunders Dundas, Viscount, 1771-1851
Minto, Gilbert Eliot,
Earl of, 1751-1814
Perceval, Spencer,
1762-1812
Wellesley, Richard
Wellesley, Marquess, 1760-1842
Corporate Names
East India
Company
Subjects
Diplomats -- Correspondence
Geographic Areas
Great Britain -- Foreign
Relations -- Iran
Iran -- Foreign
Relations -- Great Britain
Great Britain -- Foreign
Relations -- Middle East
Middle East -- Foreign
Relations -- Great Britain
Genre
Documents -- 18th century
Documents -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- 18th
century
Letters (correspondence) -- 19th
century