[The Lord Mayor of London plans a ‘cockney expedition’: William Thompson, Lord Mayor of London, 1828-9.] Autograph Letter Signed to Theodore Hook, describing the itinerary of the three-day ‘excursion to the Medway’.

An excellent slice of Georgian London history. See his entry, and Hook’s, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Fifty-five lines of text. On bifolium. In fair condition, on discoloured and lightly-worn paper, with closed tear at foot of gutter. Also present is a typed transcript. The letter concerns a proposed three-day ‘excursion to the Medway’. Hook has engagements that will interefere, but Thompson undertakes to land him ‘safe at the Tower by seven o’clock on Saturday’. Thompson’s plan is ‘as follows, the city of London Steamer leaves the Tower Stairs a little before ten oClock on Thursday with my friends & as I have official business at Woolwich I shall go on board there, we stop near Southend at the boundary of the Lord Mayors jurisdiction, where we dine & I shall there be joined by the Lords of the Admiralty Mr. Croker [i.e. John Wilson Croker (1780-1857)] etc (but from there I fear they will return to town) We proceed to Wrights at Rochester where we sleep, Friday morning we shall visit Upnor Castle which is the boundary of my jurisdiction in the Medway & then proceed to Sheerness & view that great naval arsenal Admiral Blackwoods flag ship [Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Blackwood (1770-1832)] &c. at this place I give a boat to be sailed for by the Fishermen & after this engagement I return to Wrights where I entertain the Port Admiral & His Officers, the Corporation of Rochester & the nobility & gentry of the neighbourhood.’ He will return to town on the Saturday by steamer. Hook now has ‘a hasty sketch’ of Thompson’s plans, and he will ‘feel extremely obliged by whatever time you can give me during this cockney expedition’.