Handlist 96 LEEDS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GLENESK-BATHURST PAPERS Deposited in the Brotherton Library By the Earl Bathurst Special Collections MS Dep 1990/1 INTRODUCTION These papers were most generously deposited in the Brotherton Library for the use of the scholarly community by the Earl Bathurst in 1990; we are extremely grateful both to Lord Bathurst and to Dr Keith M Wilson of the School of History in the University through whose good offices the material was brought from Cirencester to Leeds. The Glenesk-Bathurst papers revolve around the Morning Post, an influential Conservative newspaper which eventually merged with the Daily Telegraph, and relate mainly to the Edwardian period though the coverage extends back into the later years of Queen Victoria and forwards to the early 1920s. The Morning Post had been acquired by Algernon Borthwick in 1877 and for many years he was very active in its management besides sitting as Conservative MP for South Kensington from 1885 to 1895; he was knighted in 1880 and raised to the peerage as the first Baron Glenesk in 1895. In his later years much of the management of the paper, both business and editorial, devolved upon his son, Oliver (1873-1905) who tragically predeceased his father. Upon the death of Lord Glenesk in 1908 control of the paper passed to his daughter, Lilias, who had married Seymour Henry, 7th Earl Bathurst, in 1893. She was a formidably accomplished woman and the newspaper flourished for many years under her aegis, but after the First World War circumstances began to change and in 1924 Lord and Lady Bathurst sold the paper to a consortium headed by the Duke of Northumberland. Both Oliver Borthwick and Lady Bathurst being actively involved in running the paper, their respective correspondence casts light on a very wide range of contemporary political and social matters. It would be inappropriate to select too many highlights, but among Oliver's papers are Winston Churchill's despatches from the Sudan in 1898 and among hers are eye-witness accounts of the Russian Revolution of 1917 from Georgina Buchanan, wife of the British ambassador at St Petersburg. A long series of letters from H A Gwynne (1865-1950), editor of the Morning Post from 1911 to 1937, to Lady Bathurst comments freely on current politics and the fortunes of the newspaper. This handlist is divided into two parts, the first contains principally editorial and business papers relating to the Morning Post, the second having more family and social material; however, the division is not rigid and students should pursue their interests in both parts. The numeration of the archive is continuous. It should be noted that the collection contains no estate papers relating to Gloucestershire though there is a little about the refurbishment of `Franks’, a property occupied by 1 Handlist 96 Lord and Lady Bathurst in Kent; the main bulk of family and estate papers of the Bathursts of Cirencester is preserved in Gloucestershire County Record Office at Gloucester (ref. D 2525, D 2381 and D 4483). A section is devoted to the affairs of the Oliver Borthwick Memorial Home in south-east London, and another refers to the work of the British Legion of Help which organised relief for the devastated areas of northern France immediately after the First World War. The appended index indexes all personal names together with the subject matter of non-literary documents excluding letters; a more extensive subject-indexing was not possible in the circumstances. As with entries for them in both parts of the catalogue, peers are indexed under their surnames so that in every case members of a whole family might be brought together; wherever the title of a peer includes the surname, the title has been abbreviated. Access to the majority of the documents in this collection is not restricted but if extensive verbatim citation of any of them in a commercial publication is proposed, the matter should be referred to Lord Bathurst in advance. Moreover since copyright has not been vested in the Brotherton Library, researchers should make the appropriate enquiries before any such publication. At Lord Bathurst's request, letters written by members of the family who are still living, shall remain closed for the time being and access to them will only be permissible with the specific prior consent of their respective writers. Part I compiled March 1992 Part II (formerly Handlist 98) compiled August 1998 Digitised April 2004 2 Handlist 96 CONTENTS Part 1 – Business Papers I Morning Post business papers 1 – 807 II Morning Post miscellaneous editorial papers 808 –849 III Morning Post airship affair 850 – 866 IV Oliver Borthwick Memorial Home 867 – 987 V Miscellaneous family papers 988 – 998 VI Letters and papers of Algernon Borthwick, Lord Glenesk Political and social papers 999 – 1079 Letters to his father 1080 – 1173 Letters to his wife 1174 - 1185 Letters to his daughter, Lilias, countess Bathurst 1186 - 1320 Draft or copy letters to others 1320a - 1350 Unidentified out-letters 1351 – 1356 Letters to him 1357 – 1598 VII Letters and papers of Lady Glenesk 1599 - 1609 VII Letters and papers of Oliver Borthwick Student papers 1610 - 1630 Documents relating to his patents 1631 - 1650 Miscellaneous 1651 - 1656 Letters to his father 1657 - 1677 Draft or copy letters to others 1678 - 1696 Letters from his father 1697 - 1740 Letters from his mother 1741 - 1758 Letters from others 1759 - 2030 IX Letters and papers of Lilias, countess Bathurst British League of Help 2031 - 2051 Morning Post business papers 2052 -2063 Papers on current affairs 2064 - 2111 Literary pieces: verse 2112 - 2124 Literary pieces: prose 2125 – 2127 Miscellaneous 2128 – 2153 Letters from H A Gwynne 2154 – 2604 Letters from others 2605 – 4070 Draft of copy out-letters 4071 – 4104 X Letters and papers of Seymour Henry, 7th Earl Bathurst Printed political papers 4105 – 4111 Other political papers 4112 – 4114 Letters from H E Peacock 4115 – 4839 Letters from others 4840 – 4993 Miscellaneous 4994 – 4999 Letters and papers on financial matters including sale of the Morning Post 5000 – 5052 Draft or copy out-letters 5053 – 5060 XI Letters and papers of others in addition to any material included above Allen Algernon, Lord Apsley 5061 – 5065 Evelyn, dowager countess Bathurst 5066 Lancelot J Bathurst 5067 – 5070 3 Handlist 96 J N Dunn 5071 – 5097 H A Gwynne 5098 – 5123 E E Peacock 5124 – 5136 H E Peacock 5137 – 5150 Fabian Ware 5151 – 5156 Spenser Wilkinson 5157 – 5163 Others 5164 – 5190 Part II – Family and Social Papers I Additional letters and papers of Algernon Borthwick, Lord Glenesk 5191 - 5194 II Additional papers of Lady Glenesk 5195 -5212 III Additional letters of Oliver Borthwick Draft or copy out-letters 5213 -5215 Letters to him 5216 - 5221 IV Additional letters and papers of Lilias, Countess Bathurst Miscellaneous papers 5222 -5251 Letters to her 5252 -5644 V Additional letters and papers of Seymour Henry, 7th earl Bathurst Miscellaneous papers 5645 -5650 Draft or copy out-letters 5651 -5654 Letters to him 5655 -5773 VI Additional letters of Allen Algernon, Lord Apsley 5774 - 5775 VII Additional letters and papers of Howell A Gwynne 5776- 5794 VIII Miscellaneous letters between others 5795 -5804 IX Miscellaneous literary pieces by various hands 5805 -5820 X Papers relating to the Gordon Memorial College and statue 5821 -5827 XI Papers relating to the Morning Post Field Force Fund 5828 -5837 XII Papers relating to the publication of the Farington diary 5838 -5849 XIII Miscellaneous items relating to David Garrick 5850 -5853 XIV Miscellaneous letters from William and Henry William Wilberforce 5854 -5862 XV Miscellaneous 5863 -5899 XVI Miscellaneous printed items 5900- 5908 INDEX 4 Handlist 96 ABBREVIATIONS The following special abbreviations have been used; others follow normal convention ABG Algernon Borthwick, 1st baron Glenesk BLH British League of Help EEP Edward E Peacock, business manager of Morning Post HAG H A Gwynne, editor of Morning Post HEP Henry E Peacock, business manager of Morning Post LB Lilias, countess Bathurst, née Borthwick, daughter of ABG OB Oliver Borthwick, son of ABG P&F Messrs Preston and Foster, solicitors SHB Seymour Henry, 7th Earl Bathurst, husband of LB 5 Handlist 96 CATALOGUE Part 1 – Business Papers I – Morning Post business papers 1-7. Weekly returns for part of November and for December 1906. 8-53. Weekly returns, 1907. 54-99 1908 (except week ending 31 October). 100-150. 1909. (Item 109 contains a note on advertising. Missing: week ended 1 May 1909) 151-203. 1910. 204-253. 1911. 254. A loose-leaf ledger containing weekly returns, 1912-1914. 158 ff. 255-306. Weekly returns, 1915. 307-326. 1916 (up to 13 May). 327-373. 1917 (from 28 January). 374-425. 1918. 426-477. 1919. 478-529. 1920. 530-583. 1921. 584-634. 1922. 635-686. 1923. 687-701. 1924 (up to 12 April). 702-705. Quarterly financial statements, 1911 706-709. 1912. 710-713. 1913. 714-717. 1914. 718-717. 1915. 722-723. 1916 (1st and 4th quarters only). 724-727. 1917. 728-730. 1918 (lacks 4th quarter). 731. dated ‘March 1919’, but presumably 4th quarter of 1918. 732-735. 1919 736-738. 1920 (lacks 2nd quarter) 739-742. 1921. 743-746. 1922. 747. 2nd quarter 1923. 748. Miscellaneous statistics relating to Morning Post for period 1852-1876. c.1876. 2 ff. 749. Note to ABG relating to execution of documents. [no date] 750. Heads of agreement between William Rideout and ABG, relating to Morning Post [no date] 4 ff. 751. Memorandum by ABG relating to purchase of Morning Post 1876. 752. Financial statement: ABG in account with G M Saunders relating to purchase of Morning Post 1877. 2 ff.