Catalogue of the papers of Sir James Bland Burges, mainly 1772-1824, with papers of the Burges and Head families, 18th-20th cent.

Bodleian Library, University of Oxford

M. Clapinson

©1976

Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts
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Papers of Sir James Bland Burges, mainly 1772-1824, with papers of the Burges and Head families, 18th-20th cent.

Abstract:
Papers of Sir James Bland Burges (1752-1824), author, barrister, Member of Parliament and Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, with papers of the Burges and Head families, 18th-20th cent.

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 1-110

Extent: 110 shelfmarks

Biographical History

Sir James Bland Burges, as author, barrister, member of parliament and Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office corresponded with many men of note in literary and political circles. His family connections were wide. His mother was the daughter of James, 12th Lord Somerville. Through his first wife, Elizabeth Noel, daughter of Edward, 1st Viscount Wentworth, he was related to the Noel family. His second wife, Anne, was daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Montolieu, Baron de St. Hippolyte. His third marriage, to Lady Margaret Fordyce daughter of James, 5th Earl of Balcarres, connected him to the Lindsay family. Sir James's sister Frances married James Roper Head. Correspondence of Sir James with many members of these five families is described in section A.

In 1821 Burges acquired the estate of his friend John Lamb, and assumed the name of Sir James Lamb. A pedigree of the Burges family is in Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage (1925 edition, under Lamb).

Acquisition

These papers were deposited in the Bodleian Library, Oxford in 1958. Much help has been received in the preparation of this catalogue from Dr. Trevor Hope.

Preferred Form of Citation

Oxford, Bodleian Library [followed by shelfmark and folio or page reference, e.g. Dep. Bland Burges 1, fols. 1-2].

Family names (NCA Rules)

Burges family
Head family

Personal names (NCA Rules)

Burges | Sir | James Bland | 1752-1824 | Knight | politician
Lamb | Sir | James Bland | 1752-1824 | Knight | politician | see Burges

Corporate names (NCA Rules)

Great Britain and Ireland | Foreign Office

Subjects (LCSH)

Diplomatic and consular service, British

A    Burges family correspondence, c.1750-1824


Correspondence of Capt. George Burges, father of Sir James, c.1750-84
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 1
Extent: 203 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fol. 1) letters from Gen. Humphrey Bland, 1751-4, with (fol. 53) one draft reply, 1752
  • (fol. 73) letters from members of the Somerville family, 1759-76, (fol. 73) four from James, 12th Lord Somerville, 1760-2, (fol. 81) five from James, 13th Lord Somerville, 1759-70, and (fol. 91) ten from Col. George Somerville, 1763-73, two (fols. 100, 108) addressed to Anne Burges, 1766, 1776
  • (fol. 110) family correspondence, 1750-84, letters from George Burges to (fol. 110) his brother John, 1750, 1753, 1764, (fol. 116) his wife, Anne, n.d., and (fol. 118) his daughter, Mary Anne, 1773-84, with (fol. 177) letters from Frances Anne Burges to her parents, George and Anne, 1774, 1784
  • (fol. 185) miscellaneous letters to George and Anne Burges, 1762-78, arranged alphabetically by correspondent
  • (fol. 200) draft letters of George Burges to (fol. 200) the Duke of Grafton, 1768, and (fol. 202) John Rolt, 1767


Family correspondence of Sir James Bland Burges, 1772-90
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 2
Extent: 242 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fol. 1) correspondence with his parents, George and Anne, 1773-4, 1782, with (fols. 61, 64-70) letters from George Burges to James's second wife, Anne, 1780-5
  • (fol. 71) correspondence with his sister, Mary Anne Burges, 1772-4, 1783-90, with (fol. 77) one letter to Mary from her sister, Frances, 1774


Correspondence of Sir James with his sister, Mary Anne, 1791-5
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 3
Extent: 179 leaves

Correspondence of Sir James with his sister, Mary Anne, 1796-1806
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 4
Extent: 195 leaves

Correspondence of Sir James with his sister, Mary Anne, 1807-13, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 5
Extent: 142 leaves

Correspondence of Sir James with members of the Head family, 1773-1824
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 6
Extent: i + 152 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fol. 1) letters from his sister Frances Anne Head, 1773-4, 1786-1809, with (fol. 1) one letter to her from Sir James, 1773
  • (fol. 62) letters from James Roper Head, 1786-97, with (fols. 69, 82) two letters from Sir James, 1790, 1791
  • (fol. 85) letters from his niece, Mary Amelia Head, 1808-24, n.d.
  • (fol. 138) five letters from Mary Anne Burges to her sister, Frances, 1787, with (fol. 149) 'Brent - A Poem', inscribed to Frances, n.d.


Letters to Sir James from members of the Head family, 1795-1824
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 7
Extent: 173 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes letters from

  • (fol. 1) Sophia Anne, 1795-1810, n.d.
  • (fol. 7) George, 1795-1824
  • (fol. 99) James, 1810-21, n.d.
  • (fol. 115) Francis Bond Head, 1811-22
  • (fol. 156) Henry Erskine Head, 1811, 1819
  • (fol. 161) Hugh Somerville Head, 1812-21
  • (fol. 171) Frances Anne, 1821
  • (fol. 172) Julia Valenzia Head, 1822


Correspondence of Sir James with his second wife, Anne, 1782-Jan.1789
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 8
Extent: 187 leaves

Correspondence of Sir James with his second wife, Anne, Feb.-Dec.1789, 1792
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 9
Extent: 198 leaves

Correspondence of Sir James with his second wife, Anne, 1793-5
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 10
Extent: 225 leaves

Correspondence, c.1795-1813
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 11
Extent: 221 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fol. 1) correspondence of Sir James with his second wife, Anne, 1799-1800, 1808-10
  • (fol. 112) correspondence of Lady Margaret Burges, his third wife, c.1795-1813, with (fol. 113) Sir James, c.1795, 1811-13 and (fol. 178) others, arranged alphabetically by correspondent, 1808-13


Correspondence of Sir James and Anne Burges with their son Charles, 1788-1813
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 12
Extent: 148 leaves

Scope and Content:

With (fol. 147) one letter to Charles from Lady Margaret Burges, c.1813.


Correspondence of Sir James with his older daughters, c.1804-21
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 13
Extent: 187 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fol. 1) Clara Maria, c.1804-17, n.d.
  • (fol. 140) Caroline Eliza Anne, c.1807-21, n.d.
  • (fol. 177) one letter from her brother Somerville to Caroline, 1821
  • (fol. 179) four letters from Caroline to 'Mr. Rattipon', n.d.


Correspondence of Sir James with his younger children, 1787-1824
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 14
Extent: 86 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fol. 1) two letters from Sir James to James George, 1787, with one to him from James George, 1789
  • (fol. 8) five letters to Sir James from Wentworth Noel, n.d.
  • (fol. 13) a letter from Sir James to five of his children, 1801
  • (fol. 15) thirty five letters from Somerville Waldemar, c.1803, 1815-22
  • (fol. 70) two letters from Sophia Anne, 1813, with a copy of one to her from Sir James, 1815
  • (fol. 76) four from Emily Charlotte, 1818-24
  • (fol. 84) two letters from Julia Octavia, 1818


Letters to Sir James from members of the Somerville, Burges and Noel families, c.1778-1818
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 15
Extent: 151 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes letters from

  • (fol. 1) Colonel Hugh Somerville and his wife Mary, c.1785-95, with one (fol. 14) from Col. Hugh Somerville to W. Digby, 1792
  • (fol. 15) James, 13th Lord Somerville, 1789-96;
  • (fol. 40) John Southey, 14th Lord Somerville, 1796-1818, n.d.
  • (fol. 83) Thomas Noel, 2nd Viscount Wentworth, 1789-1815, n.d.
  • (fol. 133) Judith and Sir Ralph Milbanke, 1789-1815
  • (fol. 140) Mary Noel, 1791-1800
  • (fol. 145) Nathaniel Curzon, 2nd Baron Scarsdale, 1812-15
  • (fol. 150) a letter from Thomas Noel to his brother Edward Noel, Lord Wentworth, 1756
with
  • (fol. 58) correspondence of Sir James with his cousins Dr. James and Anna Maria Burges, 1778-1821


Correspondence of Sir James with members of the Montolieu family and Lady Anne Barnard, 1789-1821
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 16
Extent: 183 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes letters from

  • (fol. 1) Lewis Montolieu, c.1794-1817, with (fols. 43, 51) letters to Montolieu from Sir James and Sir George Nayler, 1816
  • (fol. 56) Mary Clara, Lady Elibank, n.d., 1792
  • (fol. 58) Lord and Lady Cranstoun, 1795-6, n.d.
  • (fol. 68) Maria H. Montolieu, 1797, 1805
  • (fol. 72) Wriothesley Digby, 1789-1819
with
  • (fol. 103) correspondence between Sir James and Lady Anne Barnard, née Lindsay, c.1791-1821
  • (fol. 184) letters from others to Lady Anne, 1815, n.d.


Correspondence, 1790-1841, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 17
Extent: 246 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • letters to Sir James from other members of the Lindsay family, 1813-21, including letters from (fol. 1) Alexander, Earl of Balcarres, 1814-18, (fol. 6) Charles, Bishop of Kildare, 1814-18, (fol. 25) Elizabeth, Lady Hardwicke and her husband Philip, 1813-19, (fol. 51) Lieut.-General James, 1821 and (fol. 65) the Hon. Robert and his wife Elizabeth, 1814-17
  • correspondence of Charles Montolieu Burges, with (fol. 76) members of the Burges and Head families, 1790-1814, and (fol. 121) others, 1798-1841, n.d.

B   General correspondence of Sir James Bland Burges, 1773-1824


Scope and Content:

Letters to Sir James, with a few copies of his replies, arranged chronologically, 1773-1824. The principal correspondents are included in the index.


1773-90
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 18
Extent: 170 leaves

1791-4
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 19
Extent: 172 leaves

1795
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 20
Extent: 158 leaves

1796-7
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 21
Extent: 189 leaves

1798-1800
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 22
Extent: 154 leaves

1801-4
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 23
Extent: 167 leaves

1805-11
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 24
Extent: 197 leaves

1812-17
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 25
Extent: 202 leaves

1818-Mar. 1821
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 26
Extent: 239 leaves

Apr. 1821-1824
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 27
Extent: 184 leaves

undated
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 28
Extent: 252 leaves

List of private and official letters received, 1788-94, compiled by Sir James and arranged roughly alphabetically by correspondent, giving the date and summary of the contents of each letter
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 29
Extent: iii + 181 pages

C   Papers of Sir James Bland Burges as Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office, 1789-95

C.1   Letters to Sir James from envoys

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 30-44


Letters to Sir James from William, 1st Baron Auckland, ambassador extraordinary at The Hague, 1789-92
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 30
Extent: 199 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fols. 9, 11, 18) copies of his replies, 1789
  • (fol. 96) letter from Morton Eden to Lord Auckland, 1790
  • (fols. 112, 122) letters from Van der Spiegel to Lord Auckland, 1791


Letters to Sir James, 1791-5, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 31
Extent: 185 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-47) from Lord Auckland, 1793-5, n.d.
  • (fols. 48-97) from William D. Bradie at Malaga, 1793-5
  • (fols. 98-170) from John Brathwaite at Madras, 1791-4
  • (fols. 171-85) from Charles R. Broughton, 1792-3, n.d.


Letters to Sir James, 1783-96
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 32
Extent: 176 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-27) from F. Bukaty, a Pole resident in London, 1790-5, with (fols. 28-47) copy of a letter from Burges to Bukaty, on reforms in Poland, 1783
  • (fols. 48-84) from James Crauford, envoy at Copenhagen, 1794-5, with (fols. 69, 82) copies of his replies
  • (fols. 85-93) from John Crauford at Frankfurt, 1794-5
  • (fols. 94-173) from Francis Daniell at Constantinople, 1793-6


Letters to Sir James, 1789-95
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 33
Extent: 192 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-13) from de la Luzerne in Hamburg, 1792-3
  • (fols. 14-26) from the Marquis de la Rozière, 1790, 1795
  • fols. 27-77) from Jean André Deluc, 1791-4, with (fol. 29) one copy of a reply, 1791
  • (fols. 78-132) from the Chevalier de Roode, 1789-91, with (fols. 133-92) copies of other correspondence of de Roode, 1789-90


Letters to Sir James, 1788-95
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 34
Extent: 199 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-13) from Francis Drake in Copenhagen, 1790-1
  • (fols. 14-86) from James Duff in Cadiz, 1789-95
  • (fols. 87-94) from Henry Dundas, 1790, n.d.
  • (fols. 95-106) from William Eliot minister in The Hague and Brunswick, 1793-4
  • (fols. 107-27) from William Eton in St. Petersburg, 1795, with (fols. 128-33) letters from M. Koch to Eton, 1795, and (fols. 134-9) memorandum, signed by Eton, on the possibility of destroying the Turkish fleet at Constantinople, 1788
  • (fols. 140-78) from Joseph Ewart, envoy to Prussia, 1790-2, with (fol. 179) letter from his brother John Ewart to Burges, 1792
  • (fols. 181-99) from G.F. Freudenreich in Berne, 1791-5


Letters to Sir James, 1789-95
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 35
Extent: 168 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-50) from William Gardiner, envoy at Brussels and plenipotentiary at Warsaw, 1790-5, with (fols. 50-120) copies of letters from Gardiner to the Duke of Leeds, 1790
  • (fols. 121-53) from Lord Grenville, 1789-95, with (fols. 129, 146, 148) copies of Burges's replies, 1792, 1793, 1795
  • (fols. 154-68) from Sir William Hamilton, 1790, 1793-4, with (fol. 156) one copy of a reply, 1793


Letters to Sir James, 1789-95
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 36
Extent: 170 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-52) from George Hammond, minister at Washington, 1789-95, with (fols. 16, 22) copies of his replies, 1792, 1793
  • (fols. 53-80) from Francis J. Jackson, secretary of the legation at Berlin, 1789-91
  • (fols. 81-92) from Sir Robert Murray Keith, ambassador at Vienna, 1790-3
  • (fols. 93-100) from George Frederic Koehler in Constantinople, 1791-3, with (fols. 101-2) copy of a reply, 1793, and (fols. 103-70) copy of Koehler's report on the military state of the Ottoman empire, 1792


Letters to Sir James, 1789-96
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 37
Extent: 197 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-38) from the Duke of Leeds, 1789-91, with (fol. 3) a copy of one reply, 1789
  • (fols. 39-66) from Lord Liverpool, 1789-92, with (fol. 42) letter from Lord Elcho to Lord Liverpool, 1789, (fols. 46, 50) copies of two letters from Sir James to Lord Liverpool, 1789 and (fols. 60-3) copies of letters from 'Mr. Jenkinson', at Coblenz, to Lord Liverpool, 1792
  • (fols. 67-90) from Count Danneskiold-Löwendal, 1794-6
  • (fols. 91-134) from Lord Malmesbury, 1793-5
  • (fols. 135-78) from George Monro, government agent in the Low Countries, 1792-5
  • (fols. 179-97) from the Marquis de Montolieu at Leghorn and Lausanne, 1793-4, with (fol. 189) letter from John Udny to Montolieu, 1794


Letters to Sir James, 1789-96
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 38
Extent: 191 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-35) from H. Power in Breda, 1791-2
  • (fols. 36-68) from Pierre-André Rigaud, in Geneva, 1791-2
  • (fols. 69-76) from George Rose, 1793-6
  • (fols. 77-109) from Paolo Rossi, 1790-5
  • (fols. 110-91) from Lord St. Helens, envoy at The Hague and ambassador at Madrid, 1789-95, with (fols. 121, 155, 162) copies of Burges's replies, 1790, 1794


Letters to Sir James, mainly from Baron Schmidt de Rossau, containing intelligence from Frankfurt, Jan. 1793-Aug. 1794
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 39
Extent: 149 leaves

Letters to Sir James, mainly from Baron Schmidt de Rossau, containing intelligence from Frankfurt, Sept. 1794-Feb. 1796
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 40
Extent: 143 leaves

Letters to Sir James, 1789-95
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 41
Extent: 203 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-38) from Sir Sidney Smith and his uncle General Edward Smith, 1792-3, with (fols. 38-84) Sir Sidney Smith's reports on the Ottoman empire, 1792-3
  • (fols. 85-136) from Capt. J. Sontag in Brussels, 1789-90
  • (fols. 137-52) from Lord Henry Spencer, envoy at The Hague, Stockholm and Berlin, 1793-5, with (fol. 141) one copy of a reply, 1793
  • (fols. 153-203) from Sundersberg in Brussels, Aug. 1789-Apr. 1790


Letters to Sir James from Sundersberg in Brussels, Ostend and Florence, May 1790-1793, 1798-1803, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 42
Extent: 242 leaves

Scope and Content:

With (fols. 41, 116) copies of his replies, 1790, 1791.


Letters to Sir James from Sir Herbert Taylor in Germany and the Low Countries, 1793-5
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 43
Extent: 188 leaves

Letters to Sir James, 1791-6
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 44
Extent: 204 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-87) from Sir Edward Thornton in Philadelphia and Baltimore, 1791-5, with (fol. 56) one copy of a reply, 1793
  • (fols. 88-117) from John Udny at Leghorn, 1791-5
  • (fols. 118-28) memoranda and one letter from Henri Vander Noot, 1792
  • (fols. 129-37) from Thomas Walpole, envoy to the court of Bavaria, 1792-3, 1795, enclosing (fols. 138-55) copies of letters of 1685-6 of Sir George Etherege at Ratisbon
  • (fols. 156-76) from Sir Charles Whitworth, envoy at St. Petersburg, 1794-5, with (fols. 158, 171) copies of replies, 1795
  • (fols. 117-204) from Comte S.C. Woronzow, 1793-6

C.2   General correspondence of Sir James as Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office, 1789-95

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 45-6


Scope and Content:


1789-Aug.1792
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 45
Extent: 183 leaves

Sept. 1792-1795
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 46
Extent: 190 leaves

C.3   Volumes of copies of Sir James's out-letters, 1790-3

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 47-8

Note: Each volume has an index of correspondents at p. v.

July 1790-June 1792
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 47
Extent: xxvii + 549 pages

July 1792-Apr. 1793
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 48
Extent: xxix + 517 pages, 219-517 blank

C.4   Copies of correspondence with envoys, 1791

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 49


Copies of correspondence of Sir James with envoys abroad, Mar.-Apr. 1791
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 49
Extent: 46 leaves

C.5   Miscellaneous official papers, 1706, 1749-95

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 50-2


Miscellaneous official papers, 1749-88
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 50
Extent: 192 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fols. 1-90) copies of letters from Benjamin Keene in Madrid, 1749-54
  • (fols. 93-101) copies of letters from James Harris in Berlin, 1775
  • (fols. 119-45) copy of a report on shipping, from Lord Hawkesbury to the king, 1788
  • (fols. 151-80) decyphered copies of letters from the Comte de Bruhl to General Stutterheim, 1788
  • (fols. 181-92) copies of correspondence of Baron Nagell, 1788, 1791


Miscellaneous official papers, 1789-92
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 51
Extent: 171 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fols. 1-3) copy of a translation of the Chinese dispatch sent to Russia, 21 Jan. 1789
  • (fols. 5-8) copy of a paper by Lord Thurlow on insolvency, 1789
  • (fols. 9-10) draft of proposed message to Spain on the capture of British ships at Nootka Sound, [1789]
  • (fols. 12-40) papers relating to Richard C. Etches, Russian Commissary General of Marine, 1789-90
  • (fols. 49-54) paper on Polish commerce, c.1789
  • (fols. 60-6) copy of letter from Lord Hervey, ambassador in Florence, to the Duke of Leeds, 1790
  • (fols. 71-89) copy of a letter from Edmund Burke on the state of France, Jan. 1791
  • (fols. 93-7) copies of letters concerning Robert Adair's visit to Russia, 1791
  • (fols. 113-17) letters concerning Japan, 1792
  • (fols. 132-61) copy by Sir James of a letter from Robert Liston, minister plenipotentiary in Stockholm, to Lord Grenville, 1792


Miscellaneous papers, 1706, 1789-95, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 52
Extent: 158 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fols. 1-3) account of the diplomatic corps at the court of Warsaw, 1793
  • (fols. 49-51) memorandum on an alliance between England and Malta, Apr.1795
  • (fols. 53-4) receipt signed by John Topham for treaties deposited by Sir James in the State Paper Office, May 1795
  • (fols. 57-9) remarks on the state of Denmark, n.d.
  • (fols. 60-6) papers probably concerning R.C. Etches, n.d.
  • (fols. 84-8) explanation of a diplomatic cypher, n.d.
  • (fols. 94-8) memorandum on the Northern Convention and its relations with England, n.d.
  • (fols. 100v-1) plan of standard fortifications, 1706
  • (fols. 102v-3) printed plan of Mainz, showing the position of the French and German armies, n.d.
  • (fols. 104v-5) plan of the Dardanelles by George Monro, c.1793
  • (fol. 106) chart of the sea of Marmora, 1791
  • (fol. 107) letters patent of Catherine II, Empress of Russia to Richard Cadman Etches, commissary of marine, 1789
  • (fol. 109) commission to David Williams, lieutenant of the warship 'Kridner', signed by Illarion Afanasevich Povalishin, commander of the Russian squadron at Copenhagen, 1789
  • (fols. 111-58) copies by Sir James of papers concerning meetings of the cabinet, 1789-95

C.6   Four notebooks concerning the activities of R.C. Etches, Russian Commissary General of Marine, [c.1789]

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 53-6


Scope and Content:


Draft plan submitted to Count Woronzow by Etches, and mainly in his hand, for an expedition in the Red Sea and Persia, [ 1789]
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 53-4
Extent: 44 and iii + 43 leaves

Fair copy of the same plan, with an estimate of the men and equipment necessary, [ 1789]
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 55-6
Extent: iv + 35 and ii + 40 leaves
Note: A note (Dep. Bland Burges 55, fol. i) by Sir James explains how the papers came into his hands, 1790.

C.7   Account of mission to the Vendée in 1793

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 57


Account by Colonel de St. Angely of his mission to the army in the Vendée in 1793, n.d., watermark 1819
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 57
Extent: xx + 318 pages

Scope and Content:

With (p.xviii) a letter from the Baron de Nantiat to Sir James, 1804

Note: See Dep. Bland Burges 68 for another copy of this account

C.8   Fifteen notebooks, containing copies, mainly by Sir James, of official papers.

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 58-72

Binding: The notebooks all have brown leather covers

Copies of papers, 1762-92
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 58
Extent: ii + 90 pages

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (pp. 1-43) report by William Lindsay, resident at Venice, on the Black Sea, 1791
  • (pp. 45-59) observations by Joseph Ewart on Anglo-Russian relations, 1791
  • pp. 61-72) account of the revolt in Russia on 12 July 1762, by Robert Keith
  • (pp. 73-5) extract from letter of the Baron de Nagell, 1792, comparing the state of France in 1788 with that of England in 1792
  • (pp. 77-87) statement by Pitt of the finances of England, Jan. 1792


Copies of papers, 1775-90
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 59
Extent: ii + 90 pages, 37-90 blank

Scope and Content:

  • (pp. 1-10) character of the Prince Royal of Prussia, by Sir James Harris, 1775
  • (pp. 11-14) character of the Grand Duke of Russia, by Charles Whitworth, envoy to Russia, 1789
  • (pp. 15-21) character of the Prince of Wales, by Count Bruhl, 1789
  • (pp. 22-5) Gustavus III's justification of his conduct, 1790
  • (pp. 26-36) letter from Alleyne Fitzherbert in Madrid to the Duke of Leeds, 1790


Copies of papers, 1777-95
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 60
Extent: 92 pages, 58-92 blank

Scope and Content:

  • (pp. 2-33) account of Louis XVI's escape from Paris, 1791
  • (pp. 35-7) letter from Lord Stormont, ambassador in Paris, to Lord Weymouth, 1777
  • (pp. 39-49) letter from J. Whittaker to Mr. Chalmers of the Council for Trade, 1792
  • (pp. 51-7) letters from Lord Grenville to the Prince of Wales, 1795


Copies of papers, 1782-91
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 61
Extent: ii + 90 pages, 43-90 blank

Scope and Content:

  • (pp. 1-23) memorandum by Lord Hawkesbury on the Spanish alliance, 1791
  • (pp. 25-33) account by F.J. Jackson of the state of parties in the court of Berlin, 1791
  • (pp. 35-9) letters from Charles James Fox to Count Lusi, Prussian minister in London, 1782
  • (pp. 41-2) abstract of the treaty of Pilnitz, 1791


Copies of papers, 1788-91
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 62
Extent: ii + 81 pages, 50-81 blank

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (pp. 1-18) letters from Robert Adair in St. Petersburg, 1791
  • (pp. 31-49) secret articles annexed to the treaty of alliance between England and Prussia, 1788


Copies of papers, 1789
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 63
Extent: 46 leaves, 30-46 blank

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 2-4) letter from William Gardiner in Paris to the Duke of Dorset, 1789
  • (fols. 4v-12, 16-29) duplicate copies of documents described elsewhere
  • (fol. 14v) letter about the debts of the Prince of Wales, 1789


Copies of letters concerning the rebellion of slaves in Hispaniola, 1791
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 64
Extent: ii + 90 pages, 12-90 blank

Copy of Lord Hawkesbury's memorandum on the proposed commercial treaty with Holland, 1791
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 65-6
Extent: ii + 90 pages, i + 44 leaves

Memorandum by George Monro on the Turks in Europe, 1793
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 67
Extent: ii + 76 pages

Copies of papers, 1793
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 68
Extent: ii + 92 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (pp. 1-15) letter from Capt. Edward Cooke in Toulon to his father-in-law General Edward Smith, 1793
  • (pp. 16-92) account by Colonel de St. Angely of his mission to the Vendée, 1793
    Note: See Dep. Bland Burges 57 for another copy of this account


Copy of report by the Baron de Nantiat on his mission to the Vendée, 1794
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 69
Extent: ii + 90 pages

Copies of papers, 1793, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 70
Extent: ii + 90 pages

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (pp. 1-35) an account in French of the king of Poland, n.d.
  • (pp. 36-64) journal, by M. de la Roberie, of events in the Vendée, 1793


Copies of papers, 1794, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 71
Extent: ii + 90 pages, 35-90 blank

Scope and Content:

  • (pp. 1-4) letter from Lord Malmesbury, envoy in Berlin, 1794
  • (pp. 5-15) account of the isle of Noirmoutier, n.d.
  • (pp. 17-34) account of the Danish court, n.d.


Unfinished work entitled 'La Paix et le bonheur du siècle prochain', an appeal for the liberation of Spanish colonies, possibly by Paolo Rossi, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 72
Extent: ii + 46 leaves, 11-46 blank

D   Personal and literary papers of Sir James Bland Burges


Account of political events of December 1783
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 73
Extent: i + 92 leaves

Scope and Content:

Written by Sir James in 1818 in the form of letters, lacking fols. 2-9.


Notes by Sir James for his memoirs, 1752-1806
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 74
Extent: 34 leaves

Scope and Content:

Arranged under years, with

  • (fol. 1) a brief account of his family
  • (fol. 29v) character sketches of George III, Queen Charlotte, William Pitt and Lord Thurlow, early 19th cent.


Volume containing 'Memoirs of my own life'
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 75
Extent: iv + 255 leaves, 215-45 blank
Binding: contemporary vellum binding, many loose leaves

Scope and Content:

By Sir James, (fol. ivv) 'written in 1788 and the following years', preceded by an account of his family from 1725, with (fol. 246v) a list of contents.


Two notebooks containing Ann Burges's transcript of the memoirs of her grandfather, David Montolieu, Baron de St. Hippolyte, early 19th cent.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 76/1-2
Extent: ii + 44, i + 45 leaves

Scope and Content:

Chiefly an account of the campaigns of the Duke of Savoy in Piedmont, 1704-11.

Custodial History: Bookplate of the French Protestant Hospital Library

Notebook containing Ann Burges's transcript of the 'Memoires pour mes Enfans' of her grandmother, Marie Molinier, Baronne de St. Hippolyte, early 19th cent.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 76/3
Extent: ii + 44 leaves, 24-44 blank
Note: Printed in the Proceedings of the Huguenot Society of London, x (1912), 156-75.
Custodial History: Bookplate of the French Protestant Hospital Library

Notebook containing 'Clare Castle', a play by Sir James, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 77
Extent: 54 leaves

Reviews by Sir James, 1808, n.d.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 78
Extent: 108 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fol. 1) The Alchemist
  • (fol. 17) 'The Fatal Curiosity', with a note by Burges 'written in 1808, to aid Mr. Cumberland in his engagement with a bookseller, to supply him with preliminary criticisms of our most popular Dramas'
  • (fol. 33) 'Love for Love'
  • (fol. 45) 'A new way to pay old debts'
  • (fol. 59) 'The Plain Dealer'
  • (fol. 73) 'The School for Scandal'
  • (fol. 92) 'The Spanish Friar'


Literary and miscellaneous papers of Sir James, late 18th-early 19th cent.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 79
Extent: i + 167 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fol. 1) nos.1-9, 13-14, 16-17 of his 'Letters of the Man in the Moon'
  • (fol. 53) five of his 'Letters from Pentarven Hall'
  • (fol. 77) reviews of 'Rule a Wife and Have a Wife' and 'The Way of the World'
  • (fol. 88) miscellaneous verse
  • (fol. 107) paper on education
  • (fol. 115) draft and printed proof of letter to the Christian Advocate, n.d.
  • (fol. 119) prayers by members of the Burges family
  • (fol. 129) notice and bill concerning the marriage settlement of Wriothesley Digby, 1816, 1837
  • (fol. 133) copy of speech on the monetary crisis, n.d.
  • (fol. 142) biographical account of Lord Thurlow
  • (fol. 145) list of instances of proceedings against judges from the 10th to the18th cent.
  • (fol. 149) copy of orders and rules of practice for the court of the King's Palace of Westminster in 1675
  • (fol. 156) decision in case concerning the precedence of the knight marshal of the household, n.d.
  • (fol. 161) no. 17173 of The London Gazette, 15 Sept. 1816
  • (fol. 166) printed appeal for subscriptions for a national monument to George III, 1821


Verse and prose works, late 18th-early 19th cent.
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 80
Extent: 249 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fol. 1) anonymous verses, late 18th cent.
  • (fol. 92) 'Occasional poems, translations etc., vol. II', by William Somerville
  • (fol. 120) copies of verses by Charles Fox, 1761-3
  • (fol. 125) poem on 'The Mercy of God'
  • (fol. 143) verse letter from Charles Jenner to the Hon. Mrs. Stratford, 1771
  • (fol. 145) 'Remonstrance of the Common Parlour to the Earl of Denbigh', by Charles Jenner, 1773
  • (fol. 146) 'To the Right Hon. Lord A', verses by the Duke of Leeds, 1789
  • (fol. 148) 'Lines spoken by Mr. Fitzgerald on the Queen's presenting the Colours to the Military School at Blackwater, August 12 1813'
  • (fol. 163) 'An Appeal to... the Working Classes, by a Lay Member of the Church of England', n.d.
  • (fol. 188) list of goods sent by Sir Robert Ainslie from Constantinople, 26 Jan. 1789
  • (fol. 222) miscellaneous letters, 1734-1821

E   Transcripts of papers of Sir James Bland Burges


Scope and Content:

Transcripts of Sir James Bland Burges's papers, late 19th cent., prepared for use in James Hutton, Selections from the Letters and Correspondence of Sir James Bland Burges, Bart. (1885).

E.1   Transcripts of selected correspondence of Sir James, late 19th cent.

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 81-92

Arrangement: The original arrangement as shown in a contemporary list at 81, fols. i-ii, has been retained.

1751-Sept. 1789
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 81
Extent: iii + 515 leaves

Oct. 1789-Jan. 1790
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 82
Extent: i + 193 leaves

Jan.-July 1790
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 83
Extent: 159 leaves

Aug. 1790-Oct. 1791
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 84
Extent: i + 410 leaves

Nov. 1791-Sept. 1792
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 85
Extent: i + 116 leaves

Sept. 1792-June 1793
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 86
Extent: i + 319 leaves

July-Dec. 1793
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 87
Extent: i + 114 leaves

Dec. 1793-Aug. 1794
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 88
Extent: i + 161 leaves

Aug. 1794-Jan. 1795
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 89
Extent: i + 147 leaves

Jan. 1795-Sept. 1796
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 90
Extent: i + 198 leaves

Sept. 1796-Dec. 1806
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 91
Extent: i + 166 leaves

Jan. 1807-Dec. 1821
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 92
Extent: i + 255 leaves

E.2   Transcripts of an account of political events, and memoirs

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 93


Transcripts
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 93
Extent: 333 leaves

Scope and Content:

  • (fols. 1-117) a letter written by Sir James in 1818, an account of political events of Dec. 1783 (now Dep. Bland Burges 73)
  • (fols. 118-333) 'Memoirs of My own Life' by Sir James (now Dep. Bland Burges 74)

E.3   Transcripts of Sir James's papers as Under-Secretary of State at the Foreign Office, late 19th cent.

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 94-7


1747-91
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 94
Extent: 284 leaves

1791
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 95
Extent: 228 leaves

1792
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 96
Extent: i + 252 leaves

1793-5
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 97
Extent: i + 201 leaves

E.4   Printed papers


Printer's copy of James Hutton's Selections from the Letters..., chapters I-XV
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 98
Extent: 350 leaves

Printer's copy of James Hutton's Selections from the Letters..., chapters XVI-XXIV and appendices
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 99
Extent: 369 leaves

Scope and Content:

With

  • (fols. 220-36) discarded pages of Hutton's draft
  • (fols. 237-69) discarded transcripts of Burges's papers


James Hutton, Selections from the Letters and Correspondence of Sir James Bland Burges, Bart. (London, 1885), annotated by Sir Francis Somerville Head
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 100

F   Correspondence and papers of the Head family, 19th-20th cent.

Note: For a pedigree, see Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, under 'Head of Rochester'

F.1   Letters to Francis Somerville Head, mainly from members of his family, 1830-72

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 101-4

Note: See also Dep. Bland Burges 105 below

1830-6
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 101
Extent: 169 leaves

1837-40
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 102
Extent: 164 leaves

1841-54
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 103
Extent: 221 leaves

1855-72
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 104
Extent: 191 leaves

F.2   Letters from F.S. Head, mainly to his parents, 1827-52

Shelfmarks: Dep. Bland Burges 105-7


1827-33
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 105
Extent: 167 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes (fols. 1-94) undated letters to Head from members of his family (see Dep. Bland Burges 101-4 above).


1834-6
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 106
Extent: 146 leaves

1837-52
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 107
Extent: 221 leaves

F.3   Miscellaneous correspondence and papers, 19th-20th cent.


Correspondence of other members of the Head family, 1804-92
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 108
Extent: 335 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fols. 1-20) letters to Julia Valenzia Head, 1804-44
  • (fols. 21-31) letters to Mary Amelia Dalrymple, née Head, 1809-36
  • (fols. 32-42) letters from Francis B. Head to his father, James Roper Head, 1813
  • (fols. 42-93) letters to Frances Anne Head, mainly from her brother F.B. Head, 1815-42
  • (fols. 94-185) letters to Francis Bond Head, 1819-57
  • (fols. 186-208) letters to Cecilia Head, 1835-8
  • (fols. 209-30) letters to George Head, 1840-69, with (fol. 229) a note of his purchase of a horse in 1892
  • (fols. 231-2) letter from H.B. Head to his sister Julia, 1841
  • (fols. 233-319) letters to Robert G. Head, mainly from his grandfather F.B. Head, 1846-82
  • (fols. 320-4) letters to Mary Jane Head, 1865-9
  • (fols. 325-35) letters to Henry Bond Head, 1868


Miscellaneous papers of the Head and Lamb families, 1835-1962
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 109
Extent: 103 leaves

Scope and Content:

Includes

  • (fols. 9-14) copy of a letter of Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1852
  • (fols. 18-26) letters from Alexander Lindsay, Earl of Crawford and Balcarres to Frances, Lady Lamb, 1878
  • fol. 37-71) various lists of the correspondence of Sir James Bland Burges, some of which is no longer with the collection, late 19th cent.; with a wallet and cap of F.S. Head, 1835


Typescript biography of Sir Francis Bond Head by Sydney Anfield-Jackman, n.d. ( mid-20th cent.)
Shelfmark: Dep. Bland Burges 110

Index


Transformation from XML to HTML by Lawrence Mielniczuk
11 August 2006