1893 Detailed Manuscript Letter of British Liberal Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore
12351On offer is a handwritten and signed letter from Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore (1829-1912) marked Private Confidential.
Dated 7 Sloane Gardens, 30 June [18]93, this letter was written to someone who will write a biography of Hamilton-Gordon. In it he is giving suggestions and guidelines.
the Baron Stanmore notes his "29 years of Colonial government and close personal friendship with Mr. Gladstone." He then notes his desire that his peerage be "for public service in the Colonies" and not because of friendship.
The person to whom the letter was being sent is not given, however it is considered to have been sent to The Times (of London) as in the letter Gordon is asking that the forthcoming announcement of his peerage be framed in a particular way. And indeed, the announcement of his peerage in The Times was very nearly identical to the request that Gordon is making in his letter, which reads as follows: “ . . . . Sir Arthur Gordon has enjoyed a long and close personal friendship with Mr. Gladstone, but he has taken no active part in politics since returning from Ceylon. He is a Liberal, but his Liberalism is understood to be of that type which prevailed in the House of Commons when he was himself a member of it some 35 years ago, and not that of the Newcastle programme.” -- “Court Circular,” The Times, 3 July 1893, p. 10.
BIO NOTES:
Arthur Charles Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore (1829-1912) British Liberal Party politician and colonial administrator. Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick. The youngest son of George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, he was educated privately and then at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was President of the Cambridge Union Society in 1849. After graduating in 1851, he worked as Assistant Private Secretary to the British Prime Minister (his father) between 1852 and 1855, and was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Beverley from 1854 to 1857, before holding a number of colonial governorships: Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, 1861-1866, securing New Brunswick's assent to Canadian Confederation; Governor of Trinidad, 1866-1870; 11th Governor of Mauritius, 21 Feb 1871 - 18 August 1874; Governor of Fiji from 1875 to 1880; Governor of New Zealand, 29 November 1880 - 24 June 1882; Governor of Ceylon, 1883-1890.
The letter measures 4-1/2 x 7 inches flat, three page autographed letter marked Private Confidential. Overall G.
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