THE BLENHEIM PAPERS

J. p. HUDSON

T H E papers of John, ist Duke of Marlborough, his wife, Sarah, and his son-in-law,Charles 3rd Earl of Sunderland, as well as of other members of the Spencer, Churchill,and related families, formerly kept at Blenheim Palace, were acquired by the BritishLibrary in 1978. They were originally offered to the Treasury in part payment of dutyon the estate of the ioth Duke of Marlborough (d. 11 March 1972) late in 1973. Thepresent writer spent two long week-ends inspecting the collection in the MunimentRoom at Blenheim in January and March 1974, and made a list and valuations basedon the original manuscript list, in three volumes, made at the end of the nineteenthcentury by J. Stuart Reid, which was itself based on the arrangement made by ArchdeaconWilliam Coxe at the beginning of the century. Staff of the Department of Manuscriptscollected the papers from Blenheim in mid-November 1976, and the papers were storedin the Department pending their allocation to an institution. The Department ofEducation and Science advertised the collection in mid-March 1977, and the decisionto allocate the papers to the British Library was announced in Parliament on 25 January

1978.Save in a single instance, the arrangement of the papers at Blenheim into lettered

series, further subdivided into numbered bundles, bore little or no resemblance to anyoriginal arrangement which may have existed before Archdeacon Coxe arranged thecollection early in the nineteenth century. Such little evidence as there is seems toindicate that Coxe disregarded any earlier arrangement that there may have been. Atsome point, many enclosures were removed from their original context, and severalhundred enclosures have been replaced in their proper places in the course of therearrangement. Letter-books and other bound items made up sixty-five volumes in thecollection, but the bulk of the archive comprised loose papers which have been arrangedinto 545 volumes of some 200 folios, the standard size employed by the Departmentfor the binding of loose papers. The process of arranging the collection has beendescribed in greater detail elsewhere by the present writer.^

In the present arrangement, the papers of John, ist Duke of Marlborough, are placedfirst, as being the largest single part of the collection, as relating to the most importantindividual represented, and as being, with some inconsiderable exceptions, earliest indate. The British section of his correspondence (Add. MSS. 6iioi-66) begins with

royalty, continues with Secretaries of State and other politicians, then diplomatists,and ends with naval and military commanders. To an extent, inevitably, some of thesecategories overlap. The foreign section (Add. MSS. 61167-263) begins with publicbodies. Field Deputies, and commanders in the United Provinces, continues with similarcategories for the Southern Netherlands, followed by Emperors and Imperial diplomatsand generals, with similar correspondence for Prussia, Hanover, the Palatinate, otherAllied or neutral German states, and Savoy and Lorraine. The papers which followrelating to the Camisards are the subject of a detailed article later in this issue by Mr.Peter Jones. The remaining section of this category of the papers relate to the NorthernPowers and Portugal, and, lastly, to enemy powers. Correspondence and papers relatingto prisoners of war, mostly French, are preceded by newsletters, with copies of interceptedcorrespondence, and treaties, and followed by requests for passports (Add. MSS.61264-82). The last volume in an extensive series of petitions (Add. MSS. 61283-305)is an original file of sixty-seven petitions, about half of which have been restored tothe file from elsewhere in the papers, with the aid of an original accompanying listand numbered endorsements in a single hand. At the time of writing, all save one havebeen found and returned to their proper places, and the detailed indexing which is inprogress will in due course find the remaining stray, if it still survives in the collection.

Military general correspondence, mainly operational, precedes military papers, whichalso include a collection of nineteen maps (Add. MSS. 61306-43). Amongst thesemilitary papers are receipts and accounts for Colonel John Hales's Regiment of Foot,which was raised in 1689, but lasted a mere eight years, being disbanded in 1697. Themaps include a plan of the battle of Glenshiel on 10 June 1719 (Add. MS. 6i343G),^when a force of 2,000 Dutch troops and part of the Inverness garrison under GeneralWightman, who appears on the plan, defeated a force of Spaniards and Highlandersunder the Earl of Seaforth, Earl Marischal, and the Marquess of TuUibardine. TheHighlanders included a party of MacGregors under the command of Rob RoyMacGregor.

Then follow papers relating to the Duke's principality of Mindelheim, together witha map of the principality, which are the subject of a fuller article in this issue by Mr.Peter Barber. The arrangement continues with papers relating to the Duke's personalfinance, and partly also to his wife's, which include accounts of their son, John, Marquessof Blandford, (d. 20 March 1703), for battels and other expenses at King's College,Cambridge (Add. MS. 61349, fols. 153-69), as well as papers relating to a quarrel withLord Cadogan over investments made by the Duke while Cadogan was Ambassadorat The Hague (Add. MSS. 61346-52). There follow papers of the Duke and his wiferelating to building works (Add. MSS. 61353-7) both at Blenheim Palace and atMarlborough House. Letters of Sir Christopher Wren relating to Marlborough Houseare discussed and published by Mr. Arthur Searle elsewhere in this issue. Miscellaneousliterary and other papers precede the civil general correspondence, which is followedby letter-books of Madborough and his secretaries (Add. MSS. 61359-403). Therefollows a bound volume containing letters describing the Duke's campaign in 1705,

from Francis Hare D.D., Chaplain-General to the Army, and later Bishop successivelyof St. Asaph and Chichester, to an unidentified correspondent, bound up with acampaign journal of 1704, and the Duke's papers conclude with his wills, epitaphs,and papers relating to his funeral (Add. MSS. 61408-10).

The papers of the Duke include a good deal of material by or addressed to Adamde Cardonnel, M.P., in his capacity as the Duke's secretary, but a small collection ofCardonnel's personal papers has been separated out from the Duke's papers and placedseparately at this point, between the Duke's and his wife's papers. The papers of SarahDuchess of Marlborough comprise correspondence with Queen Anne, with accountsand correspondence as the Queen's Groom of the Stole and Mistress of the Robes(Add. MSS. 61414-20), and material relating to the Duchess's 'Vindication', which isthe subject of a detailed study by Dr. Frances Harris. Next, there is correspondencewith the Duke, her husband, with her family and their relations, with her mother andher mother's relations, followed by political and business correspondence (Add. MSS.61427-67), of which the most important is that with her political confidant, ArthurMaynwaring, M.P. (Add. MSS. 61459-62). Lastly, there is legal and estates correspond-ence and accounts and political and legal papers, partly relating to Woodstock, andgeneral correspondence (Add. MSS. 61468-80). Some smaller archives, earlier thanthe bulk of the collection, have been placed here, preceding the papers of CharlesSpencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, as they in part lead up to Lord Sunderland's papers.The earliest of these is a small collection of the papers of-Thomas Brudenell, rst Earlof Cardigan, mostly relating to measures against recusants in Northamptonshire, andto the sequestration of Brudenell's estate. His papers were removed from his house atDeene in Northamptonshire, stored elsewhere, and recovered by Cardigan in 1660, butthe present papers appear to be strays that were never regained by him, and may havepassed into the hands of the Spencers at this time. With these have been placed anumber of miscellaneous earlier political papers, poetical pieces, and literary andphilosophical papers not certainly attributable to any particular archive.

A small archive of papers of George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, mostly relating tothe court of Charles II in exile, evidently passed into Spencer custody through themarriage of Digby's daughter, Anne, to Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland, whoseown archive comprises diplomatic papers, partly relating to his embassy to Madrid incompany with Sir William Godolphin in 1671 and 1672, together with estate andprivate accounts. The papers of Robert's son Charles, 3rd Earl of Sunderland, beginwith correspondence of Queen Anne with European rulers and pubhc bodies, also withArab rulers. This is followed by political correspondence, parliamentary letters andpapers. Cabinet Council minutes, treaties, and correspondence as Ambassador on aspecial mission to the Emperor Joseph I in 1705 (Add. MSS. 61491 502). His diplomaticcorrespondence as Secretary of State for the Southern Department from 1706 to 1710(Add. MSS. 61503-46), with a little later material, includes some addressed to Sir CharlesHedges, his predecessor in office.

Sunderland obtained quantities of newsletters through Etienne Caillaud, of Rotterdam,

and Francois Jaupain, Postmaster-General at Brussels. The bulk of these newslettersare from Paris, and these include copies of contemporary ballads. Jaupain also providedcopies of intercepted correspondence for Sunderland. Jaupain's letters forwarding thismaterial are also in this section, with correspondence of the decipherers Edward Willisand William Blencowe, and cipher keys (Add. MSS. 61547-76).

Sunderland's military and naval correspondence is partly with the Commissionersof Sick and Wounded, who dealt with prisoners of war, including Jacobites capturedin the invasion of 1708, and Jean Fouquet, Bishop of Quebec (Add. MSS. 61577-90).Sunderland's administrative and financial correspondence (Add. MSS. 61591-606)includes postal papers, papers relating to the South Sea Bubble and attempts to extraditethe South Sea Company's cashier, Robert Knight, from the Austrian Netherlands, andpapers relating to the Board of Works, among them two apparently unpublished lettersof Sir John Vanbrugh. These are followed by legal papers (Add. MSS. 61607-11),partly relating to the trial of Dr. Sacheverell in 1710, to the arrest of Claud Band, theSavoyard Envoy's secretary, in 1708, and anti-Palatine riots at Sundrich, in Kent, in1709. Correspondence relating to nominations for posts in universities and colleges,and to ecclesiastical matters, including preferment, is followed by a large collection ofpetitions (Add. MSS. 61612 24), some of which relate to North America, the WestIndies, Scotland, and Ireland. The Scottish section of the correspondence begins withthe original minutes, kept by John Walker, of the Commissioners under the 'Act forSetling Freedom and Intercourse between England and Scotland', for 1668 and 1674,and of the Commissioners for the abortive negotiations for Union in 1670. Both setsof^minutes are in rough and fair versions (Add. MSS. 61625A, B; 61626A, B). Theyare followed by a copy of the negotiations for Union from 1702 to 1703. Sunderlandmay be presumed to have acquired material relating to earlier negotiations to aid himin his own negotiations for the actual Union. The Scottish material is followed bysections for Ireland, the West Indies, including accounts of disputes in Barbados in1710, Bermuda, New York, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and elsewhere in NorthAmerica, including papers relating to the mission of the Indian sachems to Englandin 1710 (Add. MSS. 61633-47).

The papers that follow relate to the Huguenots, to Jersey, and the Palatine refugees,and precede letter-books, family and domestic correspondence, accounts, bills andcatalogues relating to the Sunderland Library (Add. MSS. 61657-62), and finally,correspondence, accounts, and inventories of Sunderland's executors, Francis, 2nd Earlof Godolphin, and Daniel Pulteney, the diplomatist.

Separate sections on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Dukes of Marlborough, and a section offinancial papers of all three, follow Sunderland's papers. At this point, the arrangementreverts to papers of the Boteler family of Biddenham in Bedfordshire, mostly officialpapers of Sir William Boteler as Sheriff of Bedfordshire for 1637 to 1638, and as aleading member of the County Committee for Bedfordshire in 1644 (Add. MSS. 61681,61682). These papers, which supplement the Biddenham estate records now in theBedfordshire Record Office, were apparently acquired with the Boteler estates in

Biddenham by Robert, 4th Baron Trevor. With these are associated a collection partlyderived from the Boteler family, and partly connected with the family of John Hampden,M.P. (whose estates were inherited in 1754 by Robert Trevor, Viscount Hampden),including apparently autograph sermon notes by John Hampden (Add. MS. 61683,fol. 30). There follow papers of Thomas, ist Baron Trevor, and Thomas, 2nd BaronTrevor, grandfather and father of Elisabeth, the wife of Charles, 3rd Duke ofMarlborough, and a genealogy to 1623, with later additions, of a relation of the Trevors,Sir Roger Mostyn of Mostyn in Flint.

Papers of Sir Richard Steele are the subject of a fuller article below by Dr. ChristopherWright, who also discusses their provenance. These are followed by papers ofMajor-General Sir John Wildman, M.P., mostly as Postmaster-General from 1689 to1691. The provenance of these papers is not clear, nor is that of a single volume ofpapers of Geronimy Clifford concerning losses suffered at the hands of the SurinamGovernment from 1685 to 1707.

The remainder of the papers is material, mostly literary, not certainly attributableto any one archive. Perhaps the most unusual of these is a volume of about 1458addressed to Ferdinand, King of the Two Sicilies, containing a history of the Kingsof Naples and a treatise on Ferdinand's right to the throne by Loysius Artaldus, writtenin an upright Italic hand, with, at the beginning, a left-hand border of urns in gold,with red penwork, on a shredded blue background, in Roman style, rather crudelyexecuted (Add. MS. 61692). Another item of interest is an eye-witness account of thedeath by drowning of the violinist, composer, and friend of Mozart, Thomas Linleythe younger, on 5 August 1778, at the age of only 22 (Add. MS. 61709, fols. 21-2"^).Last of all there is a catalogue by Archdeacon Coxe of scattered manuscripts of Sarah,Duchess of Marlborough, found at Blenheim in 1815 and subsequently renumbered byJ. Stuart Reid.

SUMMARY LIST OF THE BLENHEIM PAPERS

Papers of: John Churchill, ist Duke of Marlborough (61101-410)His secretary, Adam Cardonnel (61411-13)His wife, Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (61414-80)Thomas Brudenell, ist Earl of Cardigan, etc. (61481-2)George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol (61483-5)Robert Spencer, 2nd Earl of Sunderland (61486-90)Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland (61491-665)The 3rd, 4th, and 5th Dukes of Marlborough (61666-80)The Trevor family (61681-5)Sir Richard Steele (61686-8)Sir John Wildman (61689-90)Geronimy Clifford (61691)Miscellaneous literary material, etc. (61692-710)

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A detailed description of the whole of the above collection is available in the Students' Roomof the Department of Manuscripts. This description, with the detailed indexes to the manuscriptsin the collection which are being compiled, will be published, after any necessary revision, asa catalogue of the Blenheim Papers as soon as may be after the completion of indexing.

I JPHudson/Cataloguing the Blenheim Archive', 2 Alexander Mackenzie, History of the ClanArchives, xiv (Autumn 1979), pp. 88-91. Mackenzie (Inverness, 1879), pp. 225-7.