Bonhams 1793 : HISTORY, ROYALTY and LITERATURE. Papers of Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Taylor, partly relating to his service as confidential agent or secretary to British sovereigns and other members of the Royal Family between 1805 and 1837

19 Mar 2013 14:00 GMT London, Knightsbridge
Books, Maps, Manuscripts & Historical Photographs
Back to auction 20751

HISTORY, ROYALTY and LITERATURE

Papers of Lieutenant-General Sir Herbert Taylor, partly relating to his service as confidential agent or secretary to British sovereigns and other members of the Royal Family between 1805 and 1837, including an autograph letter by Lord Chancellor Thurlow to George III, docketed as written in 1783 [but possibly written during preliminary peace negotiations with America] ("...Believing I should serve Your Majesty more effectually by conversing with Lord Shelburne on all the points He was disposed to open Himself upon, I have ventured to trespass upon Your Majesty's Commands to attend Your Majesty at three o'clock, by staying with Him till this minute. I am now therefore to beg Your Majesty's permission to wait upon Your Majesty at any hour in the Evening..."), and autograph letters etc., by Spencer Perceval (to the Duke of York), the third Earl of Liverpool, Robert Peel ("...respecting the appointment of Constable of Windsor Castle..."), plus the Archbishop of Canterbury and other distinguished persons, largely concerning military appointments ("...been in South America aid de camp to General Bolivar..."); with a group of letters by Lord Conyngham acting for George IV ("...You need not send any Infantry to Brighton for the present..."), a family memorandum identified as by Nathaniel Taylor, afterwards Clerk of the Commonwealth and acquaintance of John Bunyan, begun in 1646, as well as scholarly notes on Nathaniel and others of the family by Ernest Taylor, an album of free fronts, and a indenture for the purchase of Bifrons, the family seat, in 1696

Sold for £1,375 inc. premium

Footnotes

Sir Herbert Taylor (1775-1839) began his career in the Foreign Office before joining the staff of the future Commander-in-Chief, the Duke of York, to whom he was always to remain close. He saw active service and rose to the rank of lieutenant-general. In 1805 he was appointed Private Secretary to George III: 'His position was one of great delicacy, but his straightforwardness secured the good opinion of all. On the establishment of the regency he continued in the same office to the queen, who was appointed by act of parliament guardian of the king's person' (R. H. Vetch, DNB). He later served as Private Secretary to William IV and confidential agent to George IV. Other posts included Military Secretary at the Horse Guards and to the Duke of Wellington, Deputy Secretary at War, Surveyor General of the Ordnance, Adjutant General of the Forces, ADC to Queen Victoria, and MP for Windsor.

Included in the lot is a wrapper addressed by Lord Byron to John Hay (a member of his Pisan circle), and a blank paper commission signed by James II, counter-signed by Lord Melfort, for a cornet in a troop of horse, issued at St Germains, 20 June 1692: for a well-known cache of similar examples, see the Standish Plot Papers, held by the Wigan Archives Service (these were discovered behind a garden wall in 1757 and our example might well have suffered a like fate, being somewhat worn by damp with paper-losses to the margins).