IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0096 AL48
Held at: Senate House Library, University of London
Title: Eden, William (Lord Auckland): letter (1800)
Date(s): 1800
Level of description: Collection
Extent: 2 leaves
Name of creator(s): Eden | William | 1744-1814 | 1st Baron Auckland | penal reformer and diplomatist x Auckland | 1st Baron
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
William Eden was born in 1744. He was educated at Christ Church, Oxford, and subsequently trained as a lawyer; he was called to the bar in 1768. He had a strong interest in the philosophy of jurisprudence and believed firmly in legal reform. In the 1770s, as an under-secretary of state and later MP for New Woodstock, he was able to effect some changes to the legal and penal system. He also published several legal and political works. In the 1880s and early 1890s Eden was a diplomat in France and Spain. He was given an Irish peerage in 1789 and a British peerage in 1793.
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Letter from William Eden of Farm, [Beckenham, Kent] to the Marquess of Buckingham, 22 Sep 1800. Discussing the possibility of a penny post.: 'I cannot pospone my thanks for your letter of the 14th. With respect to that part of it which relates to the Post Office I hope to obtain good information ... on the practicability of establishing a "sort of penny-post from all the great Towns to the Villages, etc" - We already have a regular penny post at Bath, Liverpool, Manchester, and, I believe, at Birmingham, for those palces and for their suburbs. And it is every year more productive to the Revenue, which is the surest proof of its being an accomodation to the Public. I am well satisfied ... that such a system would be useful; and even that it might be expedient to give a very general extension to it.' Much of the remainder of the letter concerns crops. Autograph, with signature.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English
System of arrangement:
See hard copy catalogue.
Conditions governing access:
Access to this collection is unrestricted for the purpose of private study and personal research within the supervised environment and restrictions of the Library's Palaeography Room. Please contact the University Archivist for details. 24 hours notice is required for research visits.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Copies may be made, subject to the condition of the original. Copying must be undertaken by the Palaeography Room staff, who will need a minimum of 24 hours to process requests.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Catalogue of the manuscripts and autograph letters in the University Library at the central building of the University of London (1921). A copy is available in the Library's Palaeography Room.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
See archivist
Immediate source of acquisition:
Bought from Tregaskis in 1912, about 2 months after Ludlow's books were sold at Hodgson's.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
On negative microfilm - reference: MIC 242/2.
Related material:
Publication note:
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Compiled by Anya Turner.
Date(s) of descriptions: Aug 2008