1866 Manuscript Letter by Thomas Pemberton Leigh, 1st Baron Kingsdown, Written One Year Before His Death

On offer is an Autographed Signed Letter (ASL) of Thomas Pemberton Leigh, 1st Baron Kingsdown (1793-1867). The short but interesting letter refers to cold weather delaying a meeting. It was dated 27, Feb. 1866, which is only a year before Leigh's death. 

Thomas Pemberton Leigh, 1st Baron Kingsdown was a British barrister, judge and politician. Originally a successful equity lawyer, Kingsdown then entered politics and sat as an MP from 1831 to 1832 and from 1835 to 1843. From 1841 to 1843 he was attorney general for the Duchy of Cornwall. However, he is best remembered for his role on the judicial committee of the Privy Council, of which he was a member for nearly twenty years. Having refused the Lord Chancellorship in 1858, he was the same year elevated to the peerage as Baron Kingsdown. In 1858, on the formation of Lord Derby's second administration, he was offered the office of Lord Chancellor, but declined. He was raised to the peerage as Baron Kingsdown, of Kingsdown in the County of Kent, the same year. In 1861 he was instrumental in the passing of the Wills Act 1861 (later known as Lord Kingsdown's Act), by which a will made out of the United Kingdom by a British subject is, as far as regards personal estate, good if made according to the forms required by the law of the place where it was made, or by the law of the testator's domicil at the time of making it, or by the law of the place of his domicil of origin. Primarily this had ramifications for members of the British armed forces.

Letter measures 5-1/4 x 3-1/2 inches, on 3 Spring Garden Terrace letterhead. Very good condition.