[ North Wales Mineral Railway ] Twelve Autograph Letters by various parties (inc. one copy) and three small MS documents concerning opposition to the development of the North Wales Railway Project.

Twelve Autograph Letters by various parties involved in the Project, 8vo and 4to, with three additional MS documents, total 20pp, some battered and stained (but complete and readable), others mutilated by postal collectors with some loss of text. Subjects include: information about the Marquess of Westminster's land (which would be threatened); Timothy Tyrrell's emollient and detailed response; Lord Grosvenors's attitude to the Bill; Tyrrell's brief discussion of the impact on the Turnpike Road from Chester to Wrexham; Dyson Hll & Co. (agents?) approving a Petition from the Earl of Grosvnor and Marquis of Westminster; (Copy Letters) Earl of Grosvenor with his views and Timothy Tyrell's response (detailed); On beholf of Timothy Tyrell , a Thomas Layton tells Messrs Potts & Brown that a copy of their letter was sent to the Engineer of the County who will contact the County Surveyor; Dyson Hall & Co response to the Earl of Grosvenor's Draft Petition, mentioning a Petition on another matter; a J.R. Hall to Potts & Brown discussing the plan altered to suit the Marquis; Dyson Hall have received the Petition duly and will work out what's was requisite before a scheuled committeee meeting; Dyson Hall forward the Draft Petition to Potts and Brown. The additional documents include [Draft] Inst[uctio]ns for Petition of the North Wales Mineral Railway (already an excellent turnpike Road, etc).~120~AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT NORTH WALES MINERAL RAILWAY GROSVENOR~ ~0~OL59~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 22944~11/03/2020~False~Abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte, 1814; Church of England prayers; George Eyre and Andrew Strahan, King's printers, London~[Church of England prayers on abdication of Napoleon.] Printed pamphlet: 'A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty God; [...] For putting an End to the long, extended, and bloody Warfare in which we were engaged against France and her Allies.'~'By Special Command.' London: Printed by George Eyre and Andrew Strahan, Printers to the King's most Excellent Majesty. 1814~Full title: 'A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty God; | To be used | In all Churches and Chapels throughout those Parts of the United Kingdom called England and Ireland, on Thursday the Seventh Day of July 1814, being the Day appointed by Proclamation for a General Thanksgiving to Almighty God: | For putting an End to the long, extended, and bloody Warfare in which we were engaged against France and her Allies.' 15pp, small quarto. Side-stitched with white thread. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A nice artefact of the Napoleonic Wars. The prayers do not go into specifics, apart from 'The Prayer for The Prince Regent'. 'Bogey' is not mentioned by name. Now uncommon.~25~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH ABDICATION NAPOLEON BONAPARTE 1814 NAPOLEONIC WAR WARS EYRE STRAHAN KING'S PRINTERS LONDON CHURCH OF ENGLAND ANGLICAN PRAYERS THANKSGIVING~~0~OL59~~~0~~ 22945~11/03/2020~False~Battle of Waterloo, 1815; Church of England prayers; George Eyre and Andrew Strahan, King's printers, London~[Church of England prayers on the victory at the Battle of Waterloo.] Printed pamphlet: 'A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty God; For the Glorious Victory obtained over the French on Sunday the Eighteenth of June, at Waterloo [...]'.~London: Printed by George Eyre and Andrew Strahan, Printers to the King's most Excellent Majesty. 1815.~Full title: 'A Form of Prayer and Thanksgiving to Almighty God; For the Glorious Victory obtained over the French on Sunday the Eighteenth of June, at Waterloo, by the Allied Armies under the Command of Field Marshal the Most Noble Arthur Duke of Wellington and Field Marshal His Highness Prince Blucher. | To be used | At Morning and Evening Service, | After the General Thanksgiving, | Throughout the Cities of London and Westminster, and elsewhere within the Bills of Mortality, on Sunday the Second Day of July 1815; and in all Churches and Chapels throughout England and Wales on the Sunday after the Ministers thereof shall have received the same.' 4pp, small 4to. Bifolium on laid paper with watermark year '1813'. In good condition, lightly aged, with light creasing at foot and to one corner. A nice artefact of one of the most notable events in British history. The prayer asks God to 'accept our praise and thanksgiving for the signal victory which Thou has recently vouchsafed to the Allied Armies in Flanders', and asking that 'the result of this mighty battle, terrible in conflict, but glorious beyond example in success, may put an end to the miseries of Europe, and stanch the blood of Nations'. Now scarce.~25~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH BATTLE OF WATERLOO 1815 DUKE OF WELLINGTON NAPOLEON PRAYERS THANKSGIVING GEORGIAN MILITARY HISTORY NAPOLEONIC WARS NAPOLEON BONAPARTE EYRE STRAHAN LONDON KING'S PRINTERS~~0~OL59~~~0~~ 22943~11/03/2020~False~Dillwyn Knox (Dilly) [Alfred Dillwyn Dilly Knox, CMG (1884 –1943), codebreaker (Bletchley Park, etc), classics scholar and papyrologist at King's College, Cambridge~[ Dillwyn Knox ] Autograph Letter Signed Dillwyn (with single curled l representing the double ll) to Teddy [family nickname for Edmund Valpy Knox], otherwise spelt Teddie~No place, 31 August 1942.~One page, 12mo, good condition. My dear Teddy, | Very many thanks indeed & I wish I had had your letter a day earlier. Unfortunately we have booked rooms at Newton Ferrers on the Yealm & I had already sent a deposit. The idea sounds lob=vely if [underlined] there were retainers to the Cottage; otherwise Olive would miss her holiday. | Thanks you ever so much; I will keep your letter in case the point arises again. Appaently a very scarce autograph.~400~AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT CRYPtOGRAPHY BLETCHLEY PARK ALAN TURING~ ~0~Shared file 41~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 22946~11/03/2020~False~John Forster (1812-1876), man of letters, friend and biographer of Charles Dickens [William Vokins, art dealer, of London firm J. & W. Vokins]~[John Forster, friend and biographer of Charles Dickens.] Autograph Letter Signed ('John Forster') to the London art dealer William Vokins, thanking him with reference to a name which flashed before him before receiving Vokins' letter.~21 June 1870. 'Palace Gate House | Kensington W.' [London]~1p, 16mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In mourning envelope, with Penny Red stamp and postmark, addressed to 'Wm Vokins Esq | 14 & 16 Gt. Portland Street | Oxford Street | W.' Letter and envelope in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Letter folded once, and envelope, with flap cut open, annotated. Forster's hand is not entirely clear. The letter reads: 'Dear Sir | I thank you very much for your note. It is strange that the name [Gad?] flashed before me just before I received it. But I am not the less obliged by your kind [Compliance?] with my request'.~56~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH JOHN FORSTER CHARLES DICKENS VICTORIAN NINETEENTH CENTURY MAN OF LETTERS BIOGRAPHER WILLIAM VOKINS LONDON ART DEALER~~0~OL59; chris~~~0~~ 22947~11/03/2020~False~Sir Thomas Wade [Sir Thomas Francis Wade] (1818-1895), diplomat and sinologist; Sir Garnet Wolseley [Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley] (1833-1913), British Army officer~[War with China 1886; Lord Wolseley, as Adjutant-General, enquires and Sir Thomas Wade expounds his views.] Autograph Letter Signed from Wolseley asking for Wade's views on line of conduct to be adopted, and Wade's 27pp of 'observations' in reply.~Wolseley's letter: 2 February 1886. On letterhead of the War Office [Whitehall, London]. Wade's 'observations': 27 April 1886. On letterheads of the Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, S.W. [London].~See the entries for Wolseley and Wade in the Oxford DNB. Two interesting items, dating from a period of increased tension between Britain and China over what the learned and well-informed Wade calls - in his long unpublished document - 'the Burmese frontier question'. Having defeated King Mindon of Upper Burma in the two-week Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885, the British had set about incorporating the new colony of Upper Burma into the Burma Province. This would be done on 26 February 1886, a little more than three weeks after the writing of Wolseley's letter. Relations between the two countries would improve later in the year with the signing of the Burmah Convention, by which the Chinese agreed to recognise Britain's occupation of Upper Burmah, as long as Britain continued to pay a tribute to China every ten years. At the time of writing Wolseley was Adjutant-General to the Forces, and Wade was in London, having retired in 1882, after antagonising diplomatic colleagues and foreign counterparts alike. In 1888 he would be made the first professor of Chnese at Cambridge University. The two items offered here are in the remains of an envelope, annotated in an unknown contemporary hand: 'Letter from Ld. Wolseley asking plan of campaign in case of war with China | T. F. W's answer, advocating occupying position on Yang tis Kia[ng]'. Both items are on lightly-aged paper, and both are affected by damp. While Wolseley's letter only has some staining at the head of the gutter; the damage to Wade's document is more serious: each of its seven bifoliums has damp damage and loss along its central horizontal fold. In five of the bifoliums (making up twenty of the total of twenty-seven pages) this has resulted in loss of some words of text. ONE: ALS from Wolseley to Wade. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Signed 'Wolseley'. The letter begins: 'My dear Wade | I should be very much obliged if you would give me your views on the line of conduct we should adopt if at any time China forced us into a war. I think you told me more than once that in your opinion you could bring the Pekin [sic] Government to reason by occupying some position on the Yangtsi-Kiang. Is this so?' & if so where is the position & how would it's [sic] occupation effect that object? & what do you think should be the force to occupy it'. He hopes that 'like a good fellow' Wade will give him 'the benefit' of his 'long experience in China on this subject', and his 'intimate acquaintance with the geography, people and military resources of that land of flowers'. He ends by noting that he has not seen Wade 'for some long time'. TWO: Wade's 'observations', headed 'China'. Signed and dated 'T. Wade | 27th. April 1886'. 27pp, folio. On seven bifoliums, each with letterhead of the Athenaeum Club, London. The first three pages contain a number of emendations, including an entire paragraph (on the response of 'The Court' to the occupation of 'the Valley' by a 'foreign force') which has been deleted and rewritten in purple pencil. Under the heading 'China' the document begins: 'The following observations have been suggested by a question as to whether I had not once expressed an opinion that [last eight words deleted] in the event of a War between England and China, the Chinese government [could] not in my opn. be most speedily brought to crisis by our occupation of the great River Yang-tzu? | I am not sure that this wd. be so. [replacing 'I do not think so.'] The Valley of the Yang-tzu, it is true, is but another expression for all that is most valuable in the Empire.' He explains that he speaks 'of the Valley dealing somewhat liberally with the geography of the region so described', listing the provinces which it 'traverses or bounds'. The rewritten passage on the reaction of 'The Court' to the occupation of 'the Valley' follows. As the document proceeds there are repeated references to to 'the operations of 1842' and 'our expedition of 1860'. Wade begins his exposition of his position: 'I am assuming that, as usual, we should desire to see our differences ended with the least possible delay. If so, an advance on the capital would be undoubtedly indispensable. But the case might be otherwise. Our decision would depend more or less upon the nature of our quarrel with China, and although more probably we might be in favor of summary reparation for the offence that had provoked us, we might, on the other hand, consider a prolonged occupation of territory advisable.' He suggests a course of action supposing 'the Burmese frontier question' has 'become a bone of contention'. He discusses the 'loss or detention of the Grain supply', contrasting the present situation with that in 1842: 'Except at Canton, where a limited number of native brokers and servant had limited intercourse with the foreigner, no Chinese had ever seen a steamer before the war began; nor even a musket. The small arms of the Chinese soldiery were matchlocks, or guigalls infamously made, and in their batteries they had nothing but rude iron guns. They had still faith in bows and arrows. They are now familiar enough with foreign arms to regard them no longer as the apparatus of the magician; their theory in 1842.' He discourses knowledgeably on the suitability of various Chinese locations for warfare, and states: 'I do not hesitate to say that unless our preparations were such as to ensure success in a coup de main, we should have to abandon the projected campaign altogether. Towards the end he discusses 'The Musketeer Battalions, stationed in and around Tientsin and Ta-ku, numbering some 40 000 men'. These are 'immediately superior to any Chinese force that we have had to deal with in times gone by', although they were, 'when I left China in 1882, utterly inexperienced in field evolutions on a grand scale'. He would expect 'a foreign column of 10 000 men to give a very good account of four or five times that number in the open field', although 'Li Hung-Chang's Musketeers have become excellent marksmen', as have his artillery. He concludes: 'In a word, if, having made up our minds to fight, we set about it with alacrity, I believe in the success of a dash upon Peking. A delay on the other hand, although of no very great duration, might suffice to checkmate us in the [matter?]. Our alternative would then be occupation of the Yang-tzu Valley, which is wealthy enough to stand any [?] requisitions that might be imposed upon its inhabitants, and our occupation would thus be self-supporting. But in addition to the disastrous possibility of a subversion of the reigning family, which I have dwelt upon above, there is also not to be ignored the too great possibility of complications with other Treaty Powers, whose nationals are interested in the commerce of this, the most commercial division of the Empire.'~3500~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH CHINA CHINESE NINETEENTH CENTURY BRITISH EMPIRE BURMA UPPER LORD WOLSELEY SIR GARNET THOMAS FRANCIS WADE SINOLOGIST CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY NINETEENTH CENTURY VICTORIAN MILITARY~~0~OL59; chris~~~0~~ 22948~11/03/2020~False~Sir Vincent Eyre (1811-1881), East India Company Major General, relieved the Siege of Arrah in the Indian Mutiny [Sir James Outram (1803-1863), 'The Bayard of India'; Charles Rathbone Low (1837-1918)]~[Sir Vincent Eyre: his reminiscences of his friend Sir James Outram, 'The Bayard of India'.] Long Autograph Letter Signed ('Vincent Eyre') to C. R. Low, giving 'reminiscences of Outram', a British hero of the Indian Mutiny.~No date, but part quoted in Low's 1880 'Soldiers of the Victorian Age'. From 'Hotel Metropole. Geneva.'~See the entries Eyre and Outram in the Oxford DNB. 10pp, 12mo. On two bifoliums and one loose leaf. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. A large part of this letter is quoted, as coming from 'Sir Vincent Eyre, the friend and companion in arms of Sir James Outram', on pp.168-170 of the second volume of Low's 1880 'Soldiers of the Victorian Age'. The opening of the actual letter, which is not quoted, reads: 'My dear Low. | You expressed a wish for any reminiscences of Outram I might be able to furnish. Unfortunately all my memoranda of those times are far away, so I have but little to offer offhand. Just as I was leaving India in April 1863 I wrote an obituary notice of him for the Friend of India, which was published as a leading article early in that month. You may be able to find it in the files of that paper at Guindlay's. My friend Mr. Low (a partner there) will let you search for it if you use my name. It might help you a little - as it was written fresh from the heart on hearing of his death.' Eyre deals with the following topics: Outram's 'protest' against 'the Amalgamation' ('it served at the time only to incense the Court & Horseguards party against him'); Eyre's work in establishing the 'Outram Institute' at Dum Dum; Outram's generosity to the men of Indian regiments; his character as 'Commander int he field', containing 'a rare and most valuable combination of Pluck and Caution'; 'his charge at Mungulwar' and 'prolonged occupation of the Alumbagh plain'; the relief of Lucknow; the thwarting of the desire of the Volunteer Cavalray to have him awarded the Victoria Cross, by which his 'generous & senstive spirit felt wounded in his tenderest point'; the resemblance between his head and that of Cromwell. There are a number of omissions in the published version. These include the following passage on the Lucknow campaign: 'Doubtless this their premier pas under the leading of the Indian Bayard gave a chivalrous impetus, not only to the young Volunteers immediately concerned, but to every officer and man in the force to which they belonged - It should be remembered, however, that on that memorable advance from Cawnpore to Lucknow Outram had, pro tem. voluntarily sunk his superior military rank in favour of Havelock, and was therefore at full liberty to win his spurs afresh as opportunity might offer as a leader of Volunteers.' Elsewhere Eyre refers to documents 'at Guindlay's or at the E. I. Club 14 St. James's Square', which 'might Eyre throw valuable light on his character as the Soldier's [sic] Friend - for such he was pre-eminently'. He also suggests that Lord Napier might help Lock 'materially' in locating 'plans of the Alambagh position'.~500~AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT SIR VINCENT EYRE EAST INDIA COMPANY INDIAN MUTINY SIEGE OF ARRAH JAMES OUTRAM BAYARDOF CHARLES RATHBONE LOW BRITISH THE RAJ SEPOY REBELLION 1857~~0~OL59; chris~~~0~~ 22949~11/03/2020~False~Squadron Leader Nigel Rose (1918-2017), Spitfire Pilot with No. 602 (City of Glasgow) Royal Air Force Squadron during the Second World War Battle of Britain [Bentley Priory, Stanmore]~[Squadron Leader Nigel Rose, Spitfire pilot during the Battle of Britain.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Nigel') to Martin Corden, expressing amazement at the 'cult' of the Spitfire, and discussing the sale of Bentley Priory.~22 October 2007. With label carrying his Essex address.~2pp, folio. In envelope with stamp and postmark, addressed to Corden's Mill Hill address. Letter folded twice, and letter and envelope in good condition. He begins by thanking him for sending 'the inscribed copy of Ken Delve's Story of the Spitfire - a truly excellent book just jam-packed with detail, - he must have done a prodigious amount of research to put it all together'. He is 'bowled over by the extent of [Corden's] munificence'. Rose finds it 'a continuing source of amazement that such a cult has developed over everything to do with the Spitfire, but it does reinforce the conviction that it was completely unique, and a real lady!' He laments the 'dwindling' of 'the number of aircrew' at 'the annual re-union of B. of B. survivors at Bentley Priory, Stanmore': 'about 40 this year, but of course there are still a few abroad and also several who are unable to travel'. He reports that the Ministry of Defence 'has sold the Priory and its magnificent parkland surroundings, (for a tidy sum, I believe,) but with a reservation that the centre part of the Georgian building will be kept to commemorate Dowding's management of the RAF during the battle, - (could be used as a museum, for reunion of survivors, for cadet training etc. -)'. He ends with renewed thanks for the gift, and in the hope that they may 'meet one day - but it'll have to be fairly soon, as I shall be 90 next June!'~250~MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH SQUADRON LEADER ROYAL AIR FORCE BATTLE OF BRITAIN SPITFIRE NIGEL ROSE NO. 602 CITY OF GLASGOW SQUADRON SECOND WORLD WAR THE BLITZ~~0~OL59; chris~~~0~~