Letters and Papers of Professor Sir John Knox Laughton, 1830-1915
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ZZZURXWOHGJHFRP PUBLICATIONS OF THE NAVY RECORDS SOCIETY V o l . 143 LETTERS AND PAPERS OF PROFESSOR SIR JOHN KNOX LAUGHTON, 1830-1915 The N a v y R e c o r d s S o c ie t y was established in 1893 for the purpose of printing unpublished manuscripts and rare works of naval interest. The Society is open to all who are interested in naval history, and any person wishing to become a member should apply to the Hon. Secretary, Department of War Studies, King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS. The annual subscription is £30, which entitles the member to receive one free copy of each work issued by the Society in that year, and to buy earlier issues at much reduced prices. S ubscriptions and orders for back volumes should be sent to the Membership Secretary, 5 Good- wood Close, Midhurst, West Sussex GU29 9JG. T h e C o u n c il o f t h e N a v y R e c o r d s S o c ie t y wish it to be clearly understood that they are not answerable for any opinions and observations which may appear in the Society’s publications. For these the editors of the several works are entirely responsible. Frontispiece: Sir John Knox Laughton, 1830-1915, as Professor of Modem History, King’s College, London. Reproduced with permission of King’s College Archive. LETTERS AND PAPERS OF PROFESSOR SIR JOHN KNOX LAUGHTON, 1830--1915 Edited by ANDREW LAMBERT M.A., Ph.D., F.R.Hist.S. PUBLISHED BY ROUTLEDGE FOR THE NAVY RECORDS SOCIETY 2002 First published 2002 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint ofthe Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Copyright© The Navy Records Society, 2002 Crown copyright material is reproduced by permission of Her Majesty's Stationery Office All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Laughton, John Knox, 1830--1915 Letters and papers of Professor Sir John Knox Laughton, 1830--1915. - (Publications of the Navy Records Society; no. 143) I. Laughton, John Knox, 1830--1915 2. Great Britain. Royal Navy - History 3. Naval historians - Great Britain - Correspondence 4. Great Britain - History, Naval - 19th century 5. Great Britain - History, Naval - 20th century I. Tttle II. Lambert, Andrew D. III. Navy Records Society 941'.081'092 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Laughton, John Knox, 1830--1915. Letters and papers of Professor Sir John Knox Laughton, 1830--1915 I edited by Andrew D. Lambert. p. cm. -- (Navy Records Society publications) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-7546-0822-0 (alk. paper) I. Laughton, John Knox, 1830--1915 - Correspondence. 2. Great Britain - History, Naval - Historiography. 3. Naval historians - Great Britain - Correspondence. 4. History, teachers - Great Britain - Correspondence. 5. Historians - Great Britain - Correspondence. I. Lambert, Andrew D. II. Tttle. III. Publications of the Navy Records Society. DA70 .Al 2002 [DA3.L38] 94 l.08'092-<lc21 2001053583 Typeset in Times by Manton Typesetters, Louth, Lincolnshire. ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-0822-6 (hbk) THE COUNCIL OF THE NAVY RECORDS SOCIETY 2002 PATRON H.R.H. THE PRINCE PHILIP, DUKE OF EDINBURGH, K.G., O.M., F.R.S. PRESIDENT Admiral o f the Fleet S ir B en jam in B a t h u r s t , G.C.B., D.L. VICE-PRESIDENTS Professor D.A. B a u g h H.U.A. La m b e r t , M.A. P. K. C r im m in , M.Phil., F.R.Hist.S., F.S.A. M.A. S im ps o n M.A., F.R.Hist.S. COUNCILLORS Professor D. M. L o a d e s , M.A., Ph.D., Captain S. Je r m y , R.N. Litt.D., F.S.A., F.R.Hist.S. Captain C. Pa g e , R.N. G. M. H ugh es Dr C. S. Kn i g h t o n , M.A., Ph.D., D.Phil. Dr H.W. D ic k i n s o n , M.A., Ph.D. Professor D. C a n n a d i n e , M.A., Ph.D. Captain A. B. S a i n s b u r y , V.R.D., J.P., Dr C. W il k in so n M.A., R.N.R. R. Gwil li am A. N. Rya n, M.A., F.R.Hist.S. Rear Admiral J.R. H ill Professor C. D a nd e k er Dr C. 1. H am il to n , M.A., Ph.D. Dr E. J. G ro ve , M.A., Ph.D. Dr M. D u f f y , M.A., D.Phil., F.R.Hist.S. B. Lave ry , M.A. C. White D.G. L aw , M.A., Dip.Lib., A.L.A. Lt-Commander L. Phill ips Lt-Commander A. G o r d o n , Ph.D. Dr S.P. R o s e , M.A., Ph.D. Professor N.A.M. R o d g e r , M.A., D.Phil., F.S.A., F.R.Hist.S. HON. SECRETARY Professor A.D. La m b e r t , M.A., Ph.D., F.R.Hist.S. HON TREASURER J.V. T y l e r , F.C.C.A. GENERAL EDITOR R.A. M o r r i s s , M.A., Ph.D. MEMBERSHIP SECRETARY Mrs A. G o u l d This volume is dedicated to the memory of Bryan Maclean Ranft (1917-2001), Professor of Naval History at the Royal Naval College, and at King’s College London. A scholar, gentleman and friend. CONTENTS Page Preface .................................................................................... xi Acknowledgements ................................................................ xiii List of Abbreviations .............................................................. xv Introduction ............................................................................ 1 1 ‘The Scientific Study of Naval History’, 1875-85 .......... 7 2 Professor of Modem History, 1885-90 ............................ 31 3 The Navy Records Society, 1891-95 ................................ 71 4 Fighting for Nelson, 1896-1900 ...................................... 120 5 Working to the End, 1901-15 .......................................... 195 6 Sir John Knox Laughton’s Unfinished Naval History of England.............................................................................. 263 Appendix 1 List of Documents Used in this Volume.......... 301 Appendix 2 List of Archives from which Documents are Derived ............................................................ 309 Appendix 3 The Published Works of Sir John Knox Laughton .......................................................... 311 Index........................................................................................ 319 IX PREFACE This volume of correspondence and related materials is drawn from a wide variety of sources. It reflects the broad range of Laughton’s inter- ests, and the width of his correspondence. The main body of surviving Laughton MSS was deposited at the National Maritime Museum, Green- wich, England in 1979, by his grandson. They remained uncatalogued and unsorted as MS79/067 until 2001. They are now catalogued under the call mark LGH, divided into 57 separate files, and contained in nine boxes, under which system they have been referred to in this volume. Folio numbers have been added to individual items where appropriate. The collection originally comprised six boxes, one of which was occupied by the subject of flags - a subject that I have not addressed in this volume. Another contained letters from Mahan, all of which have been reproduced here. The other four contained what can only have been a sample of Laughton’s incoming correspondence, together with draft lecture notes and other memoranda. There is also a separate collection consisting of Laughton’s notebooks, filed under his name in the existing MS catalogue. These were deposited in the 1950s by his son Leonard Carr Laughton, who had used them extensively. No mate- rial from this source has been used here. In addition to the Laughton archive a wide range of related collec- tions have supplied letters. At Greenwich the files of Cyprian A.G. Bridge, William Laird Clowes, Julian S. Corbett, Reginald N. Custance, Geoffrey T. R Hornby, Gerard H.U. Noel, Herbert W. Richmond and Charles Napier Robinson all yielded important material. In addition the archive of the Navy Records Society is held on deposit at the Museum. The early minute books contain much information on the nature of Laughton’s work, a few pieces of correspondence and memoranda. Laughton’s service record and correspondence as a Lecturer at the Royal Naval College is contained in the Admiralty collection at the Public Record Office, Kew. The archive of King’s College, London contains a Laughton file which relates to his appointment in 1885, together with other correspondence relating to his work at the College. The Naval Historical Branch, Whitehall, has a collection of his pam- phlets, which were bound by his friend the Admiralty Librarian W.G. xi xii PROFESSOR SIR JOHN KNOX LAUGHTON Perrin in 1916. At King’s College, Cambridge, the Oscar Browning and College MS provided important additional material. The Bodleian Li- brary, Oxford, holds the Sidney Lee MSS (including material belonging to Leslie Stephen) which explained Laughton’s role with the Diction- ary of National Biography. The University of London Paleography Room at Senate House holds the papers of the distinguished historians Sir John Seeley and Albert Frederick Pollard. In the British Library, Manuscript Division, the Althorp MSS, in particular the papers of the 5th Earl Spencer, were of particular importance.