ELECTION

Interesting items, casting light on the nitty-gritty of Victorian constituency politics. Both are signed 'W. S. Robson' and addressed to 'B. Piffard Esq'. Both in good condition, lightly aged, with the second a little spotted. Each on a bifolium. ONE (26 May 1885): 3pp, 12mo. He has been informed 'that it is now the wish of the Watford (or Divisional) Association that I should visit the Division & address meetings there.

An extraordinary letter, rubbing the nose of a pro-Asquith Liberal in the muck on the eve of his leader Lloyd George’s landslide Coalition victory in the 1918 ‘Coupon Election’. Guest, who was Winston Churchill’s cousin, is described in his entry in the Oxford DNB as a ‘highly controversial’ figure who ‘knew where all the bodies were buried’, a useful attribute for someone who served as the Coalition Chief Whip from 1917 to 1921. The recipient Willoughby Hyett Dickinson (1859-1943), later an influential proponent of the League of Nations, began his career a Liberal MP.

Two pages, folio, fold marks, a little grubby, some damage (by stamp vandal?) marginally affecting text, ow fair.. A. The covering letter by Tho. Phippard, sending the Bill in the Election, asking the recipient, E.Nicoletts, Bridport, to fill in the blanks with the average sums charged per diem by the other agents. I have not included many days [absent?] in the business. My bill will be higher than some agents as I was directed to proceed in canvassing my Division earlier in consequence of the proceedings of Ashleys [ie Later Lord Shaftesbury].

One page, 4to, fold marks, good condition. Judging by other correspondence accompanying this letter, Foot has probably been invited to address the Monmouth Town Branch of the League of Nations Union. Foot is sorry [he] cannot give a promise for November although I would very much like to come and be associated with your work. The imminence of an election has now to be taken into consideration.

Three pages, folio, fold marks, dusted, mainly good condition. See "historyofparliamentonline" for the background (one might say shenanigans) to this Subscription. It mentions the "two Tory matrons of Norwich, Mrs Berney and Mrs Charlotte Atkyns" who "who rode through the streets of Norwich holding a pole bearing the colours of Colonel Wodehouse" and who head this list of subscribers.

Between 1604 and 1868 the House of Commons exercised jurisdiction over controverted (disputed) elections, which were usually referred to its Committee of Privileges and Elections. The Parliamentary Archives hold the Controverted Elections Court Evidence minute books for the period between 1829 and 1906. The minute books contain transcripts of the evidence laid before the committee.

The first letter has the damaged signature 'William: Roupe', the second is signed 'W: Roupell'. ONE (March 1857): 1p., 8vo. Signed autograph draft of a circular Roupell made for his election agent at the time of his first parliamentary contest. On the reverse of a letterhead of 4 Wolsingham Place, Lambeth, which was the office of solicitor R. C. Barton, who was Roupell's election agent (see George Hill, 'Electoral History of the Borough of Lambeth', 1879). In poor condition, heavily worn, with loss to the outer edges and text, including the end of Roupell's signature.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. He asks her to say, 'in answer to the enquiries of Mr. Wiles that Lord Chandos comes forward as a Member of the Conservative party & a supporter of Lord Derby in opposition to the heterogenous combination found under Lord Palmerston'.

From the papers of Sir Edward Marshall Hall. The rosette, diameter 13cm., has a ruffled border of two layers of red silk, and a Conservative blue interior, diameter 7cm., with two 13 x 5.5cm. ribbons of red silk hanging down. Embroidered on the rosette in thick gold thread: 'EAST TOXTETH | M H'. Safety pin on reverse. In good condition, still bright, lightly aged and worn. Such items would have been produced by London military tailors like Gieves and Hawkes.

8pp., 12mo. Stitched pamphlet. Aged, and with central vertical fold. A call for 'political instructors who shall [...] impress the first principles of political morality on the minds of the newly-enfranchised masses'.

1p., 4to. On aged and worn paper. The letterhead features a photographic portrait of Dutt. Written the day after the General Election, in which Dutt came third in the Sparkbrook constituency, with fewer than two thousand votes. As Shields is leaving in the morning, he feels compelled to write to him 'to express what we all feel about the wonderful way you have handled the press job. It has been masterly, and every other constituency might well be jealous of us.' He ends with 'Millions of thanks, cheers and congratulations'. From the Jimmy Shields papers.

6pp., 4to. In fair condition, on aged paper with worn edges. It is not known whether the letter was sent or published. The Lynds settled at their celebrated London address of 5 Keats Grove (where James Joyce had his wedding reception) in 1924, but the letter was clearly written after the Second World War: 'Now that the Northern Ireland election is over, it may be worth considering whether the campaign against partition, if continued on its present lines, is likely to be effective in achieving its end.

1p., 4to. On bifolium. In good condtion, lightly aged. Addressed, with part of red wax seal, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Sir Robert Bateson Harvey Bt | Langley Park'. He is 'perfectly aware' of his 'having not the smallest pretention to apply' to Harvey, but is encouraged 'by the friendly support which you gave to Mr Macnaughten at the general election in the county of Antrim to beg a continuance of your support and assistance on the present occasion'. Previously represented Lisburn and Antrim in the 1770s. See Wikipedia for details of his political career (not revealing about 1806 though).

A total of 41pp., 4to. Complete run of ten issues (a second edition, expanded to 63pp., appeared in the same year). In black cloth binding, with manuscript note on front pastedown: 'George H M Ricketts - | Lent to Mr Blackman with a hope that he will read it & circulate it amongst his friends.' Eight of the ten numbers are of 4pp.; one (no.4) is of 6pp; and another (no.10) of 3pp. Uniform in design and all printed in blue ink.

1p., 12mo. Cheaply printed in small print. A frail survival: aged and worn. In the 1885 General Election Brown was soundly defeated in the North Down constituency by the Conservative candidate Thomas Waring. The present item is headed 'The Burial of the Radical Cause in the Glassmoss. (By Robert Todd, Comber.)' The poem is 32 lines long, divided into eight four-line stanzas.

All three items in fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. ONE: Handbill. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. First page headed 'The Electors and Examiners', listing the names of six individuals, including the schools headmaster Dr Goodford, and 'The Rev. Edward Henry Rogers, M.A., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge; | C. Waterfield, Esq., M.A., Fellow of King's College, Cambridge'. Second page listing the names of twenty pupils from 'Maude' to 'Wace', under heading 'Election of King's Scholars, Eton, | August 1st, 1860'.

1p., 12mo. Good, on aged paper. The letter reads: 'The Dowr. Lady Sligo presents her Compliments to Mr. Shewell, & begs earnestly to solicit his Votes for Henry Jennings at the Election for the Idiot Asylum in April, 1854 - | Lady Sligo can recommend Henry Jennings as a member of a very poor & industrious family -'.

Letter and address are on a foolscap 8vo bifolium, with the address covering the first three pages, and the letter the reverse of the second leaf, which also carries the address ('Mrs Hyde | 31, Henrietta Street, | Bath', forwarded to Kew and then 10 New Street, Margate) with ten postmarks and a red wax seal. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with a few nicks and short closed tears along folds. LETTER: 1p., foolscap 8vo. Addressed to 'My dear Elizabeth'.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Headed 'To the Independent Electors of the Borough of King's Lynn' and beginning: 'Gentlemen, | I have canvassed the constituency of your Town as an Independent candidate who as your representative supported in the last Parliament the measures of Sir Robert Peel's administration.' He thanks 'the Electors at large' for 'the courtesy with which I have been invariably received' and also 'that overwhelming majority of their body who have honored me with promises of support'.

16pp., folio. In fair condition, on aged and worn newsprint with short closed tear at spine. Spoof articles ('The Secrecy of the Ballot', 'What the Villagers might make of the Parish Councils. By A Villager', 'What the Bishops tried to make of the Parish Councils', 'The Great Liberal Budget and the Wail of the Landlords', and others), with caricatures by Gould featuring Rosebery, Gladstone, Salisbury, the Archbishop of Canterbury and others. Also two full-page cartoons by Gould, titled 'The Tory Village.

4pp., 4to. 75 lines of neatly-written text. On creased aged paper, with a few closed tears (one of them 11cm long). He begins by praising Bonham-Carters 'objective & informed comments on American opinion' ('I hope you will feel encouraged to publish more of your findings'). 'But gratitude & a thirst for information & about American politics are not my only reason [sic] for writing. I wish you were in England, for I would very much enjoy an exchange of views with you about the position of the Party.

Following the 1951 General Election, Morrision was proposed as Speaker by the victorious Conservative Party, against convention. An election among MPs followed, with Morrision winning against the Labour candidate Major James Milner. 2pp., 4to. Fair, on aged and lightly-creased paper. At the head of the first page Chorley has written the words 'not used'. The first paragraph reads: 'There are a number of reasons why Mr. W. S.

1828: 2pp., 4to. 'Dalmahoy nr Edinburgh | March 3d 1828'. Signed 'Morton'. In fair condition, lightly-aged and with a short closed tear along one fold.

Folio, 1 p. On paper watermarked 'J WHATMAN | 1818'.

All texts clear and complete, and good, on lightly-aged and worn paper. Several annotated in pencil, one extensively. Letter One: 27 January 1936; on letterhead of County Hall, London. 4to, 1 p. '[...] if it be the case that under a given government the finances are really getting into difficulty but that the Chancellor will not be frank with his colleagues and insist upon action, the civil servants concerned are put in somewhat of a difficulty.' Letter Two: 21 May 1943; on letterhead of the Home Secretary, Whitehall. 4to, 2 pp.

Broadsheet, c.24 x 40cm, fold marks, light foxing, mainly good condition. He sets out his principles in the usual high-flown manner, not identifying with any party.

Lithograph. Landscape, 51 x 76 cm. In fair condition and worthy of framing, although aged and with a few small holes. John Bull, in a watchman's hut with a flag on his knees, dozes before the fire of Free Trade, while Uncle Sam and a jolly Chinaman remove a stretcher bearing a heavy load of 'BRITISH CAPITAL' from the factory gates of 'BRITISH INDUSTRIES', closely followed by a Soviet with a swag bag. Presumably produced in the build-up to the British General Election of 1910.

Printed on one side of a piece of green paper, 28 x 21.5 cm, with vertical perforated line 6.5 cm in from the left-hand margin, dividing the paper into stub (28 x 6.5 cm) and paper (28 x 15 cm). Clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged and creased paper, with slight wear to extremities. Part of blank reverse laid down on leaf removed from album. From the collection of William Done Bushell (1838-1917), who received his B.A. from St John's in 1861 (later assistant master and honorary chaplain at Harrow School).

8vo: 1 p. 7 lines of text. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper, with the address on the reverse of the second leaf of the bifolium, to which Verney's red wax seal adheres. A graceful letter of thanks. 'It gives me no small satisfaction to think that my general Conduct has hitherto merited your approbation.' Informs Tonyn of the date of the general election. Verney would lose his seat, and with it his immunity from prosecution for debt, forcing him to flee to France.

4to bifolium (leaf dimensions 26 x 20.5 cm). The notification certificate is on the recto of the first leaf, and Highton's letter is on the recto of the second. Versos of both leaves blank. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper, with 5 cm closed tear to margin of second leaf caused by removal of letter from stub, traces of which still adhere to the verso of the second leaf. The certificate is tastefully printed in black, with the Society's crest in red in the top left-hand corner.