Sir Francis Beaufort Papers: Finding Aid mssFB
Finding aid prepared by Huntington Library staff.
The Huntington Library
2016
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Business Number: (626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
Note
Finding aid last updated on February 11, 2022, by Maggie Hughes.
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Sir Francis Beaufort papers
Creator:
Beaufort, Francis, Sir, 1774-1857.
Identifier/Call Number: mssFB
Physical Description:
42 Linear Feet
(38 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Date (inclusive): 1710-1953
Date (bulk): 1780-1890
Abstract: This collection is comprised of three
sets of distinct papers concerning members of the Beaufort, Edgeworth, and Larpent families.
The bulk of the collection consists of the papers of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort
(1774-1857), hydrographer of the British Navy and member of the Royal Society, as well as
papers of other members of the Beaufort family. Subject matter includes naval operations of
the British Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars; geography and hydrography; Irish
affairs; the Royal Society and scientific affairs in England; and family affairs. In
addition there are also papers of Beaufort's daughter Lady Strangford, Emily Ann Smythe
(1826-1887), a travel writer and illustrator, and papers of English diplomat John James
Larpent (1783-1860) and his family.
Language of Material: Materials are in
English.
Conditions Governing Use
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]. Sir Francis Beaufort papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Provenance
Purchased from Francis N. Beaufort-Palmer, 1968-1973.
Processing Information
This collection was initially processed by Huntington Library staff, and cards for
individual items were created and filed in the chronological and alphabetical sections of
the Manuscripts Catalog. In 2000, the finding aid was encoded and revised by Xiuzhi Zhou. In
2016, Dorothy Auyong and Diann Benti updated and expanded the finding aid.
Conditions Governing Access
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at
the Huntington Library for more information.
Scope and Contents
This collection is comprised of three sets of distinct papers concerning members of the
Beaufort, Edgeworth, and Larpent families that were purchased from a shared descendant. The
bulk of the collection consists of the papers of British hydrologist and admiral Sir Francis
Beaufort and his family; in addition there are also papers of Beaufort's daughter Lady
Strangford, Emily Ann Smythe (1826-1887), a travel writer and illustrator, and papers of
English diplomat John James Larpent (1783-1860) and his family. Some organic material [dried
plant specimens] is contained in the collection.
Sir Francis Beaufort Papers (1,967 pieces in 35 boxes) The papers of Sir
Francis Beaufort, dating from 1710-1953 (bulk 1780-1890), consist of diaries, journals,
account books and correspondence of Beaufort and members of the Beaufort and Edgeworth
families including his father Daniel Augustus Beaufort, first wife Alicia Magdalena Wilson
Beaufort (died 1834). The collection includes information related to British naval history
(especially during the Napoleonic Wars), Irish affairs, hydrography, scientific research in
England in the early 19th century, and the Near East, including research for Sir Francis's
work
Karamania (1817).
Emily Smythe, Viscountess Strangford Papers (78 pieces in 1 box) The papers of
Emily Smythe, Viscountess Strangford, dating from 1836-1888, contain correspondence of Lady
Strangford and her husband, Percy Ellen Frederick William Smythe, as well as Lady
Strangford's travel journals (1876-1877) from Bulgaria, and various legal papers.
John James Larpent, Baron de Hochepied, Papers (98 pieces in 3 boxes) The
papers of John James Larpent, Baron de Hochepied papers, dating from 1814-1859 and
consisting of diplomatic correspondence accumulated by Larpent during his term as British
consul in Belgium. These items notably document diplomatic relationship between England and
Belgium, particularly at the time of the French Revolution of 1830. In addition, there are
letters from Larpent's sister-in-law Catherine Elizabeth Reeves, the diary (1853-1859) of
his daughter Clarissa de Hochepied Larpent James, and the journal (1860-1876) of his wife,
Georgiana Frances Reeves Larpent.
Material Cataloged Separately
-
Anna Margaretta Larpent diaries (mssHM 31201)
-
John Larpent papers (mssLA 1-2503)
Related Materials
- Beaufort, Francis, Sir.
Karamania, or A brief description ... (1817).
Author's proof copy.
- Microfilm copies of diaries and journals of Cornelis, Daniel Augustus, Louisa
Catherine, Mary Waller Beaufort and correspondence of William Lewis are available in the
Library upon request. The microfilms were taken from originals at the Trinity College
Library, Dublin, and are not to be reproduced without the Trinity College Library's
permission.
-
Beaufort family [microform] : manuscripts (MSS MFilm 00688, reels
1-2)
-
Beaufort, Daniel Augustus, 1739-1821. Diaries and journals
[microform] : ca. 1808-1880 (MSS MFilm 00693)
The information file for this collection also includes the following relevant items:
- David, Andrew C. F.
A Description of the Surveys of Sir Francis Beaufort Held
in the Archives of the Hydrographic Department, Ministry of Defence, Taunton Somerset,
England.
1977 (19 pages)
- Ellison, C. C. "Remembering Dr. Beaufort." Published in the
Quarterly Bulletin
of the Irish Georgian Society. Jan.-Mar. 1975 (36 pages)
- Waller, M. W. B. Craig.
The History of Some of Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort's
Possessions, A Note by Commander M. W. B. Craig Waller, D.S.C., R.N.
1976. (6
pages)
- Waller, M. W. B. Craig.
Some Notes on De Hochpied and Larpent. Also notes from
a letter re the spelling of Emily Anne (Beaufort) Smythe, Viscountess
Strangford.
1976 (3 pages)
- Friendly, Alfred.
Solution to Sir Francis Beaufort's cipher. 1974 (1
page)
For a fuller description of the collection please see:
-
Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery. Guide to British
historical manuscripts in the Huntington Library.
Arrangement
Organized in the following series:
- Sir Francis Beaufort Papers (Boxes 1-34, 38)
- Emily Smythe, Viscountess Strangford papers (Box 35)
- John James Larpent, Baron de Hochepied papers (Boxes 36-37)
General
Individual call numbers included in the collection: mssFB 1-1920.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Consuls -- Great Britain -- Correspondence
Diplomats -- Great Britain -- Correspondence
Geographers -- Great Britain -- Archives
Hydrography -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century --
Sources
Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 -- Naval operations -- Sources
Russo-Turkish War, 1877-1878 -- Civilian relief -- Personal
narratives
Travelers' writings, English.
Women philanthropists -- Great Britain -- Archives
Women -- Great Britain -- Diaries.
Belgium -- History -- Insurrection, 1830 -- Sources.
Belgium -- History -- Revolution, 1830-1839 -- Sources.
Belgium -- Foreign relations -- 19th century.
Belgium -- Foreign relations -- Great Britain.
Bulgaria -- History -- Uprising, 1876 -- Civilian relief -- Personal
narratives
Egypt -- Description and travel
Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- 1800-1837 --
Sources.
Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- Belgium.
Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- Netherlands.
Great Britain -- History, Naval -- 19th century --
Sources.
Great Britain -- History -- 18th century -- Sources.
Great Britain -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Ireland -- History -- 1760-1820 -- Sources.
Netherlands -- Foreign relations -- 1815-
Netherlands -- Foreign relations -- Great Britain.
Turkey -- Description and travel
Mediterranean Coast (Egypt) -- Nautical charts.
Mediterranean Coast (Turkey) -- Nautical charts.
Account books -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain.
Diaries -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Ephemera -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Family papers -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Manuscripts -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Personal papers -- Great Britain.
Professional papers -- Great Britain.
Travel literature -- Great Britain -- 19th century
Aleksandŭr I, Prince of Bulgaria,
1857-1893 -- Correspondence.
Beaufort, Daniel Augustus,
1739-1821 -- Archives
Beaufort, Francis, Sir, 1774-1857
-- Archives
Beaufort, Alicia Magdalena Wilson,
-1834 -- Archives
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell,
1744-1817 -- Archives
Edgeworth, Maria, 1768-1849 --
Archives
Eliot, George, 1819-1880 --
Correspondence.
Hillyar, James, 1769-1843 --
Correspondence.
Larpent, John James de Hochepied,
Baron, active 1825-1837 -- Correspondence.
Lear, Edward, 1812-1888 --
Correspondence.
Strangford, Emily Anne Beaufort
Smythe, Viscountess, -1887 -- Archives
Victoria, Queen of Great Britain,
1819-1901 -- Correspondence.
Great Britain. Royal Navy --
History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Great Britain. Hydrographic
Department -- History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Royal Society (Great Britain) --
History -- 19th century -- Sources.
Aleksandŭr I, Prince of Bulgaria,
1857-1893
Beaufort, Daniel Augustus, 1739-1821
Beaufort, Alicia Magdalena Wilson,
-1834
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, 1744-1817
Edgeworth, Maria, 1768-1849
Eliot, George, 1819-1880
James, Clarissa Larpent de Hochepied.
Larpent, Georgiana Frances Reeves de
Hochepied.
Reeves, Catherine Elizabeth.
Lear, Edward, 1812-1888
Sir Francis Beaufort Papers.
1710-1953
Biographical Note of Sir Francis Beaufort
Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857) was the son of Daniel Augustus Beaufort (1739-1821),
rector of Collon, Co. Louth, Ireland, and a geographer, and Mary Waller Beaufort. His
grandfather, Daniel Cornelius de Beaufort, had been a Huguenot refugee from France who
established a ministry in London, and his family's consciousness of its religious
heritage was very strong.
He was first sent to sea in 1789 on the Vansittart, commanded by Lestock Wilson, to
whose family he became very close, and whose daughter, Alicia Magdalena, became his
first wife in 1813. Subsequently, he entered the British navy, and from 1790-1800 served
successively on the Latona, the Aquilon, and the Phaeton; the latter's commander (Sir)
Robert Stopford became a close professional acquaintance. During these years his closest
confidant was his older brother, William Lewis Beaufort, who took orders and served
under Thomas St. Lawrence, Dean of Cork (marrying the Dean's daughter in 1805).
Active in the sea war against France, in particular Cornwallis's retreat (1795),
Beaufort became Lieutenant in 1796, and, following a near-fatal wounding in a battle
with the Spanish, November, 1800, he was promoted Commander. He was not given a command,
however, and, invalided home, he lived with his family. He became close to Richard
Lovell Edge-worth, inventor and landowner, father of the novelist Maria Edgeworth, and
husband (after 1798) of Francis's sister, Frances (Fanny). Beaufort and Edgeworth worked
on projects including the Dublin-Galway semaphore telegraph (1803-04), until 1805, when
he was named commander of the storeship H.M.S. Woolwich. Only in 1809, after much
frustrations over his eventless command (although in 1807 he did his first major
hydrographical work, surveying the Rio de la Plata), did he get an active command, that
of the H.M.S. Blossom. Soon after his return on the Blossom from a mission to Quebec, in
1810, Beaufort was given post rank, and assigned command of the frigate, H.M.S.
Frederiksteen. From his base on Malta, during 1810-1812 Beaufort conducted surveys
geographical and hydrographical of the eastern Mediterranean, particularly Karamania
(the south Turkish coast). He was again grievously wounded in June, 1812, and returned
home, marrying Alicia, living quietly, and writing his widely acclaimed book
Karamania, or a Brief Description of the South Coast of Asia Minor...
(1817), based on his survey. His researches and book earned him membership in the Royal
Society, in which he was active throughout his life, and access to the scientific
circles of England, which included such luminaries as Sir Humphry Davy. He was much
involved in plans for the establishment of mining and other industries in Ireland, and
with his father's revisions of his map of Ireland and financial troubles, until Daniel's
death in 1821.
In 1829, after years of petitioning for reactivation in the Navy, Beaufort was named
Hydrographer to the Navy. Until his retirement in 1854, this position was his constant
concern. He expanded its staff and physical facilities, established surveys over the
entire globe, and served on many naval commissions. Deeply affected by his wife's tragic
death in 1834, he found support in closeness to his children: Daniel Augustus, Francis
Lestock, William Morris, Emily Anne Sophia, and Rosalind Elizabeth. In 1839 he
remarried, his new wife being Honora, daughter of Richard Lovell Edgeworth. In 1846 he
was named Rear Admiral (ret.), and knighted in 1848. His retirement was accompanied by
unfortunate and painful quarrels over the amount of his annuity.
Sir Francis had spent his early married life at Lestock Wilson's house at Epping,
Surrey. As hydrographer, he lived on Manchester St., London; he passed his last days at
Brighton. At his death on December 17, 1857, he was survived by all six of his
children.
Scope and Contents
This collection contains the papers of British admiral and hydrographer Sir Francis
Beaufort and members of the Beaufort and Edgeworth families dating from 1710-1953 (bulk
1780-1890) and consisting of diaries, journals, account books and correspondence.
Subject matter includes the Beaufort and Edgeworth families; British naval history of
the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in particular the period of the Napoleonic Wars;
geography and hydrography, particularly of the Eastern Mediterranean; Irish affair of
the late 18th and early 19th centuries, particularly related to economic and commercial
issues; and the Royal Society and scientific affairs in England in the early 19th
century.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of the papers of Sir Francis and includes
journals of his naval service (1791-1812); journals, notes, and working papers for his
survey of Karamania (or Caramania), along the southern coast of Turkey (1813-1817); his
professional diaries as hydrographer to the British Navy (1840-1857); and 854 letters by
Sir Francis.
Notable topics included in the correspondence of Sir Francis includes a letter-journal
of his first sea-voyage, to Indonesia (1789, July 24); a description of the Battle of
San Joseph, in which he was critically wounded (1800, Oct. 28); letters to Richard
Lovell Edgeworth detailing the construction of the Dublin-Galway telegraph (1803) and
later discussing various projects for navigation mensuration (1808, May 5); commentary
at length on the death of Lord Nelson (1805, Nov. 9); a voyage to Cape of Good Hope
(1806, May 16-22); Malta (1808, Oct. 21); Quebec and French Canada (1809, Oct.-Nov.);
and an explanation of a naval cause celebre in which he opposed the Admiralty by
asserting that an escaped slave that had served 2 years on his ship was by definition
enfranchised (1814, Feb. 3); a visit with Sir Walter Scott (1821, Apr. 23); the
intellectual community in Paris (Laplace, Cuvier, etc.) (1825, Nov. 4); an eyewitness
description of the Coronation of William IV (1831, Sep. 9); Sir Francis's knighthood
ceremony (1848, May 7); and attempts to locate Sir John Franklin by balloon (1850, Jan.
9).
Notable correspondence about science written to Beaufort includes:
- Brinkley, John. Letters describing astronomical research 1824-1829.
- Dalrymple, Alexander. Series of letters concerning activities of the
Hydrographical office, etc. 1805-1808.
- Franklin, Sir John. Two letters from northern Canada describing his explorations.
1825, Apr. 21; 1826, Feb. 6
- Hall, Basil. Series of letters to Sir Francis Beaufort describing efforts to
salvage the Royal George using a diving bell. 1839, Sep.-Oct.
- Herschel, Sir John Frederick William. Letter discussing his career, his election
as president of the Royal Society, and issues facing the Society. 1830, Nov.
26.
- Parry, Sir William. Letter from Davis Strait describing problems of mensuration in
polar regions. 1824, July 1.
- Ussher, Henry. Letter discussing astronomical research. 1789, Nov. 6.
In addition to the papers of Sir Francis, the collection also includes the papers of
other members of the Beaufort family including thirty-seven letters and four diaries of
Sir Francis's father, Daniel Augustus Beaufort; seventeen letters and a journal of
family history by Sir Francis's first wife, Alicia Magdalena Wilson Beaufort (d. 1834);
a volume of original botanical watercolor paintings by Frances Anne Beaufort Edgeworth
(1769-1865); and correspondence with and about writer Maria Edgeworth, including a
series of letters from her to Sir Francis discussing literary maters and the Society for
the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, dating from 1814-1827. There are also two letters by
Sir Francis describing in detail the critical response to Maria Edgeworth's
Patronage (1814, Feb. 3), and a letter discussing details of the
publication of Edgeworth's novel
Ormond (1817, June 12). Additional
family correspondents include: William Lewis Beaufort (21 letters); Frances Anne
Beaufort Edgeworth (3 letters); and Richard Lovell Edgeworth (7 letters). The oldest
item in the collection is a grant of nobility to Francis de Beaufort (Sir Francis's
ancestor) from Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I Hapsburg, dated March 4, 1710.
Some interesting or important items include:
- Allott, Anna Maria. Memoirs of Edward Gibbon's residence in Switzerland
[fragment]. c. 1794.
- Beaufort, Emily Anne and Beaufort, Rosalind Elizabeth. Manuscript entitled
Anecdotes of Captain Beaufort, R.N., compiled by his daughters. 1840-42.
- Blennerhasset, Jeanne. Series of letters giving fascinating insight into the early
life of Daniel Augustus Beaufort. 1764-1775.
- Hillyar, Mary Taylor. Letter describing last days of Sir James Hillyar. 1843, Oct.
29. Accompanied by three letters of Sir James Hillyar.
- Lennon, Maria. Series of letters chronicling her dramatic rescue by Sir Francis
Beaufort and her loyalty to his memory decades afterwards. 1809-1843.
- Melville, Sir Peter Melville (also spelled Melvill). Series of letters describing
his travels from India to Egypt, Turkey, Vienna. 1832, Jan. 5-Aug. 23.
Some additional significant persons represented in the collection include: Sir Thomas
Dyke Acland (2 letters); Thomas Arnold (7 letters); Sir Joseph Banks (3 letters); Sir
John Barrow (9 letters); William Bligh (1 letter); Robert Cadell (3 letters); Stratford
Canning (7 letters); Charles Robert Cockerell (4 letters); Cuthbert Collingwood (2
letters); John Wilson Croker (12 letters); Sir Roger Curtis (2 letters); Sir Humphrey
Davy (1 letter); James Gambier, Baron Gambier (1 letter); Davies Gilbert (5 letters);
Sir Charles Hamilton (4 letters); Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1 letter); Sir John
Frederick William Herschel (1 letter); John Jervis, Earl of St. Vincent (1 letter);
Alicia Le Fanu (1 letter); Edward Hawke Locker (2 letters); Sir Thomas Erskine May (2
letters); Sir James Nicoll Morris (2 letters); Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1 letter);
Horatio Nelson (1 letter); Sir William Edward Parry (2 letters); Sir Edward Pellew (7
letters); Lady Jane Spencer-Wilson Perceval (2 letters); Sir Henry Prescott (2 letters);
James Rennell (29 letters); George Cecil Renouard (4 letters); Elisabeth-Paul-Edouard,
Chevalier de Rossel (3 letters); Sir James South (4 letters); Thomas Spring-Rice (1
letter); Leslie Stephen (1 letter); Sir Robert Stopford (4 letters); Victoria, Queen of
Great Britain (2 letters); Robert Walpole (7 letters); Sir John Borlase Warren (2
letters); John Washington (4 letters); William Wellesley-Pole, 1st Baron Maryborough (2
letters); Joseph Blanco White (1 letter); Lestock Wilson (12 letters).
Diaries, journals, account books, etc.
Beaufort, Alicia Magdalena (Wilson)
Box 1
Journal of Family History. FB 1
1780-1804
Beaufort, Daniel Augustus
Diary. FB 2
1776 January 1-1781 August
13
Travel diary. FB 3
1779 October 5-1780 May 1
Travel diary in England. FB 4
1792 August 31-1795 April
8
Diary. FB 5
1796 March 22-1798 April
3
Box 2
Diaries (1798-1821) and Calendar of Correspondence.
Diary. FB 6
1798, 1801-1804
Diary. FB 7
1805 January 3-1805 November
14
Diary. FB 8
1812 September 21-1814
February 28
Diary. FB 9
1820 December 2-1821 May
6
Calendar of Correspondence. FB 10
1794-1797
Journal. FB 11
1791 October 5-1793 October
15
Scope and Contents
Written aboard HMS Aquilon.
Journal. FB 12
1794 January-May 31
Scope and Contents
Written aboard HMS Aquilon.
Journal. FB 13
1795 July 17-1796 March
11
Scope and Contents
Written aboard HMS Phaeton, off Spain.
Journal. FB 14
1805 June 5-1806 May
31
Scope and Contents
Written aboard HMS Woolwich.
Journal. FB 15
1811 July 14-1812 March
21
Scope and Contents
Written aboard the HMS Frederickstein in the Mediterranean; the basis for his
Karamania.
Box 4
Journals (1812; 1821-1822)
Journal. FB 16
1812 April-June
Scope and Contents
Written aboard the HMS Frederickstein in the Mediterranean.
Journal. FB 17
1812 June
Scope and Contents
Written aboard the HMS Frederickstein in the Mediterranean.
Box 5
Pocket diaries (1835-1850)
Box 6
Pocket diaries (1851-1857); hydrographic diaries; sketchbooks and
notebooks
Hydrographic diary. FB 42
1847
Hydrographic diary. FB 43
1848
Hydrographic diary. FB 44
1849
Hydrographic diary. FB 45
1850
Hydrographic diary. FB 46
1851
Hydrographic diary. FB 47
1852
Hydrographic diary. FB 48
1853
Hydrographic diary. FB 49
1854
Hydrographic diary. FB 50
1855
[Watercolor Topographical sketches of Mediterranean sites with
commentary].
FB 51
[1810-1812]
[Notebook on Karamania]. FB 52
[before 1817]
Originals of Karamania. FB 52a
Scope and Contents
Volume with 14 engravings used as illustrations Beaufort's book,
Karamania, or a Brief Description of the South Coast of Asia
Minor...
(1817).
[Sketchbook]. FB 53
1828-1832
Commonplace book. FB 54
1806-1825
Account book. FB 55
1812-1824
Account book. FB 56
1825-1830
Account book. FB 57
1831-1841
Beaufort, Louisa Catherine
Box 12
Papers.
1804-1805 September
Box 13
Papers.
1805 October-1806
Box 16
Papers.
1810-1811 October
Box 17
Papers.
1811 November-1813 June
Box 20
Papers.
1816,
and undated before 1817
Box 23
Papers.
1821-1822, and undated before 1821
Edgeworth, Frances Anne (Beaufort). Drawings of flowers [colored botanical
illustrations].
FB 59
1798-1807.
Physical Description: 1
Volumes
Photographs, drawings and illustrations of churches and buildings at Navan
and Collon, Ireland.
Physical Description: 10
Items
Articles by and about Sir Francis Beaufort (including
obituaries).
Physical Description: Approximately 30
pieces
Scope and Contents
Includes a small printed envelope with a folded chart for "Cryptography. A System
of Secret Writing, by the late Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort."
Obituaries of Daniel Augustus Beaufort.
1821
Physical Description: 9
Items
Obituaries of William Morris Beaufort.
1908-1909
Physical Description: 3
Items
Miscellaneous obituaries including Frances Beaufort Edgeworth and John
Beaufort.
Physical Description: 3
Items
Miscellaneous printed material.
Physical Description: 6
Items
Scope and Contents
Includes two pamphlets about the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1865) and a
pamphlet
Barony and Viscountcy of De L'Isle.
Unidentified manuscript fragments.
Physical Description: 21
Items
Folder Oversize 1
Maps FB 974
between 1828 and
1843
Physical Description: 5
Items(1 folder)
Scope and Contents
13 printed maps with Francis Beaufort's annotations intended for publication by the
Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK). The Society formed the Map
Committee in November 1828, and Beaufort undertook the editing and annotation of the
series for the next 15 years. Maps depict various areas of Great Britain, Europe,
India and the Caribbean. 8 maps are missing as of April 2016. Available maps are
identified below.
The Punjab with part of Afghanistan, Kashimeer, Sinde, etc. (No.
5)
Germany (III) Baden, Wuntenberg, Bavaria, Tyrol & Switzerland (No.
8)
Gallica Cisalpina (No. 13)
Bokhara, Cabool, Beloochistan.
Emily Smythe, Viscountess Strangford papers.
1836-1888
Physical Description: 78
Items(1 box)
Biographical Note of Emily Smythe
Emily Anne Beaufort Smythe, Viscountess of Strangford: philanthropist, youngest
daughter of Sir Francis Beaufort (1774-1857) and wife of Percy Ellen Frederick William
Smythe, the 8th Viscount Strangford and 3rd Baron of Penshurst (1826-1869). Upon her
husband's death, she went through four years of training in a hospital, and devoted
herself to nursing, founding the National Society for Providing Trained Nurses for the
Poor. In 1876, following the suppression of the April Uprising in Bulgaria, she
organized the Bulgarian Peasant Relief and traveled to Bulgaria to oversee the relief
works. She also established temporary hospitals and helped political prisoners. During
the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878 she organized hospitals in Adrianople and Sophia. She
died in 1887, on her way to Port Said where she was to open a hospital for British
seamen.
Scope and Contents
Consists of correspondence, documents, and various legal papers of Lady Strangford and
her husband, Percy Ellen Frederick William Smythe, the 8th Viscount Strangford, as well
as three travel journals kept by Lady Strangford from October 1876 to March 1877
documenting her life and travels in Bulgaria during the Turko-Bulgarian war, and her
efforts in establishing military hospitals. Some items in the collection are in French
and Arabic.
Correspondence includes two letters from Mary Ann Evans Cross (George Eliot), dated
1874; a letter from Edward Lear, discussing his literary activities in Italy, etc. in
June 1886; a June 9, 1867, letter from Harriet Martineau containing long discussion and
analysis of Maria Edgeworth and her edition of Richard Lovell Edgeworth's autobiography;
and an April 28, 1871, letter from Anna Eliot Ticknor discussing her life with George
Ticknor. Alexander I, King of Bulgaria (1 letter); Frederick Temple Blackwood, 1st
Marquis of Dufferin (6 letters); Sir Stafford Northcote (1 letter); and William Henry
Smith (2 letters). There is also a November 17, 1886, letter from Alexander of
Battenberg, Prince of Bulgaria, and an invitation to the May 8, 1838, coronation of
Queen Victoria.
John James Larpent, Baron de Hochepied papers.
1814-1859
Physical Description: 98
Items(3 boxes)
Biographical Note of John James Larpent
John James Larpent (1783-1860) was the son of John Larpent (1741-1824) and Anna
Margaretta Porter (1758-1832). In 1819, he and his brother George Gerard Larpent
(1785-1855) added the name de Hochepied to their names, and in 1828 John James succeeded
his mother's brother as seventh Baron de Hochepied. From 1825 to 1837 he served as
British council in Antwerp.
Scope and Contents
Includes 52 letters by John James Larpent, chiefly consisting of diplomatic
correspondence accumulated by Larpent during his term as British consul in Belgium. The
letters cover diplomatic relations between Great Britain, Netherlands, and Belgium,
particularly at the time of the Insurrection of 1830 that brought Belgium its
independence. Among the documents are letters between Larpent and Henry John Temple, 3rd
Viscount Palmerston, from the 1830s.
There are also letters from Larpent's sister-in-law Catherine Elizabeth Reeves, the
diary (1853-1859) of his daughter Clarissa de Hochepied Larpent James, and the journal
(1860-1876) of his wife Georgiana Frances Reeves Larpent.