Eden, William (Lord Auckland): letter (1800)

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 0096 AL48
Held at	: Senate House Library, University of London   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk/our-collections ›
Full title	: Eden, William (Lord Auckland): letter (1800)
Date(s)	: 1800
Level of description	: fonds
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 & 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.

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

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

Related material:

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Anya Turner.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Aug 2008