Born 13 August 1910, Sa‘id bin Taymur bin Faysal al-Bu Sa‘idi was six years old when his father Taymur, the Sultan of Muscat and Oman set out the plan for his schooling. The Sultan sent a special request for Muhammad Rashid Rida in Cairo to help find a suitable tutor to come to Muscat and teach little Sa‘id.

IOR/R/15/6/55, f 10

British officials in Cairo and Muscat soon raised concerns regarding the Sultan's correspondence with Rashid Rida. Muhammad Rashid Rida was a well-known early twentieth century Syrian Muslim scholar who was based in Egypt. Editor of the religious paper al-Manar, he was well-known to British authorities for his anti-British sentiment. The British Government was therefore totally opposed to the idea of recruiting a tutor through Rashid Rida, who could easily influence the Sultan's only son and heir. Rashid Rida was quickly ruled out as an option.

IOR/R/15/6/55, f 18

The British Government raised further concerns related to the expense of bringing a teacher from Egypt, questioning whether the Sultan’s son should have an Egyptian teacher. The Sultan argued that an Egyptian teacher ‘would be more likely to speak and write Arabic, and to be in touch with Arab sentiment than a man from India’. The early twentieth century witnessed the spread of pan-Arabism and pan-Islamism, which had roots in Egypt and Syria, and the British Government feared the choice of a teacher who might influence the future Sultan with such ideologies. Therefore, they insisted that the choice of the tutor should be controlled by the “Egyptian authorities”. 

IOR/R/15/6/55, f 14

Owing to the war, correspondence regarding this issue was delayed until 1920 when the Political Agent at Muscat suggested that Sa‘id be sent to Mayo College at Ajmer in Rajasthan, India, accompanied by someone who knew both Arabic and English.  

IOR/R/15/6/55, f 23

Fearing a further delay to the boy’s schooling, the Sultan accepted the suggestion. In February 1922, twelve-year-old Sa‘id started at Mayo College. Ironically, while British officials raised their concerns about the expenses of bringing a teacher from Egypt, they actually paid 3000 Rupees per year in fees at the Mayo College.

  IOR/R/15/6/55, f 38

In 1926, the Sultan requested his son’s withdrawal from Mayo College expressing his desire that the boy should be educated in Arabic. The Sultan’s opinion was that, as his son would soon rule over an Arab country, he should learn Arabic at an Arabic school, in an Arab country, preferably Egypt.

IOR/R/15/6/55, f 39

British officials seemed to be finally convinced that Sa‘id should be instructed in Arabic, but were still opposed to his education in Egypt.

IOR/R/15/6/55, f 41

Suggestions were made to send Sa‘id to the American University of Beirut or the American School at Basra. The Sultan rejected the idea, asserting that he was absolutely not interested in sending his son to a school connected in any way with a mission. This time the Sultan won the battle, and in September 1927 Sa‘id bin Taymur bin Faysal al-Bu Sa‘idi started his studies at the Baghdad Secondary School in Iraq.

IOR/R/15/6/55, f 48

Ula Zeir

Content Specialist / Arabic Language

British Library Qatar Foundation Partnership Programme

Further reading: 

IOR/R/15/6/55 'File XXXIII/12. EDUCATION of SAIYID SAID BIN TAIMUR 1916-1926.'

Mayo College https://mayocollege.com/  

Elizabeth Vassall Fox, Lady Holland, is known as the celebrated hostess at Holland House, Kensington. Wife of Whig politician Henry Richard Fox, 3rd Baron Holland, she gathered together the greats of political and literary society for her famous ‘salon’. Their circle were known as the ‘Holland House set’, with the guests being meticulously recorded in her Dinner Books.

Lady Holland kept a journal from 1791 to 1815, documenting her lengthy continental journeys as well as her time in England. She hero worshipped Napoleon Bonaparte, despite her country being at war with him! She preferred male company but had female friends, including other notorious ladies, such as Lady Bessborough, Lady Caroline Lamb and Lady Oxford. Her own scandalous early life, involving adultery during her disastrous first marriage, divorce and an illegitimate child, could have resulted in disgrace but Lady Holland surmounted these obstacles to become a dazzling success in society.

Engraving of the portrait of Elizabeth at Naples in 1793 (Vesuvius in the background) by Robert Fagan © National Portrait Gallery, London

Born in 1771, daughter of Richard Vassall and Mary Clarke, Elizabeth was beautiful, intelligent and vivacious, and heiress to a considerable fortune. Aged fifteen, she was married off to the much older Sir Godfrey Webster, a mismatch made in hell. They had five children. Desperate for foreign travel, she persuaded Webster to take her on a tour of Europe that lasted several years. She ignored her husband, throwing herself into a busy social life and the admiration of many men. One was Thomas Pelham, who remained besotted even after their affair was over, writing to her frequently.

In 1794, in Naples, Elizabeth met the love of her life, Henry Richard Fox. Not quite love at first sight- she disliked his suntan and initially seemed to prefer his friend Lord Granville. But soon they were smitten with each other and inseparable until his death in 1840.

Elizabeth’s first impressions of Lord Holland, from her journal of 3rd February 1794 (Add MS 51927, ff.124v-125). She describes him as “not in the least handsome” and having “many personal defects, but his pleasingness of manner and liveliness of conversation get over them speedily. He has just returned from Spain, and his complexion partakes of the Moresco hue”. She is concerned about his “very complex disorder, called an ossification of the muscles in his left leg”.

She gave birth to Lord Holland’s son, Charles Richard Fox, in November 1796. Webster divorced her on 4 July 1797. He was awarded Elizabeth’s entire fortune of £7000 per annum, £6000 ‘damages’ from Holland and custody of the children. In 1796 Elizabeth had devised a plan to keep hold of at least her daughter Harriet by successfully faking the child’s illness, death and funeral in Italy. The secret came out in 1799 and Harriet was restored to Webster.

North East View of Holland House, June 10th 1812. Drawing by John Buckler (Add MS 36370, ff.105-106).

On 6 July 1797 Lady Webster became Lady Holland and settled into her happy second marriage, with further children born. The couple began entertaining on a grand scale, attracting illustrious and numerous guests, and the Holland House set was born. Guests included the Prince of Wales, Whig politicians, literary figures such as Sheridan, Byron, Dickens and Wordsworth, and continental luminaries.

Dinner-book entry for the day Lady Holland died, and those who dined on the following days, written by her devoted servant, Harold Doggett (Add MS 51957, ff.186v-187). He had been writing the records, hence the ‘post mortem’ entries. Lady Lilford is her daughter Mary Elizabeth and Colonel Fox is her son Charles Richard Fox.

Lady Holland had a reputation for being an imperious battle-axe, who alienated people and dominated her husband. The latter showed no objection to her ruling the roost, as long as she didn’t interfere with his politics. She fell out with Lady Caroline Lamb when she objected to the affair her eldest son Godfrey was having with the married, deranged and promiscuous Caroline. Lady Caroline got her revenge by lampooning Elizabeth as the ‘princess of Madagascar’ in her novel Glenarvon. The nickname ‘Old Madagascar’ stuck!

Zoë Stansell
Manuscripts Reference Specialist

Further reading:

The Holland House Papers are held in the British Library Manuscripts Collections: Add MS 51318-52254

The papers of the 3^rd Lord & Lady Holland (437 volumes) are referenced: Add MS 51520-51957

Items relating to Lady Holland, I have touched upon above, are: General Correspondence of (letters to) Lady Holland: Add MS 51845-51856

Lady Holland’s Journals: Add MS 51926-51940

Holland House Dinner Books: Add MS 51950-51957

Sonia Keppel, The Sovereign Lady (1974)

Earl of Ilchester, The Journal of Elizabeth Lady Holland (1908)

C.J. Wright, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography articles on ‘Lady Holland’ and the ‘Holland House set’. The online ODNB is a subscription database, available on British Library reading room computers.

 

Here in the British Library's Reference Team we often receive enquiries that spark our curiosity, tempting us to dig a little deeper. Following a recent request for help in establishing the identity of a paper manufacturer, I was surprised to find myself drawn into a Victorian mental health crisis, one which lead to a tragic death.

Tasked with establishing who watermarked their paper with the word ‘Moinier’ followed by the date, I began browsing newspaper reports on British Newspaper Archive. A search for ‘Moinier’ and ‘paper’ quickly revealed the full name of our man – William Lewis Moinier Leschallas. He was a wholesale stationer, rag merchant and manufacturer of a unique type of paper based in Chatham. His business ventures did not receive widespread media attention, but there was plenty of coverage in the circumstances of his demise.

Kendal Mercury, Saturday 18 December 1852, British Newspaper Archive.

William ended his own life in 1852. His brother John Leschallas reported that William was 57 years old (although another report suggests he was 75, an early typo perhaps). This meant that he would have started seeing societal changes in approaches to mental health. At a local level, the 1808 County Asylums Act encouraged the building of county lunatic asylums. However, poor ‘lunatics’ often found themselves sent to workhouses, houses of correction or prisons, until asylum building became compulsory in 1845. These were intended to cure patients, where possible, with the introduction of new therapeutic regimes. A substantial number of patients were discharged from institutions within twelve months of admission.

‘The Northampton General Lunatic Asylum’, from Edward Pretty, 1849, Wetton's Guide-book to Northampton, and its vicinity, 1303.d.3. BL Flickr.

 

Sadly for William, he did not receive the support that he needed. A servant found his body seated upright between two piles of papers in his warehouse. A discharged pistol clasped in his right hand caused the bullet wound in his right temple. Many of the reports go into startling graphic detail about the servant’s gruesome discovery. The inquest into William’s suicide provides us with some understanding of what he was going through.

Witnesses alluded to William’s struggles with deteriorating mental health. His brother John told the Coroner that William had been suffering from deteriorating mental health for over a year. Problems were thought to have started shortly after a mill forming a significant part of his business was destroyed by a fire. This caused William believed that his business had fallen into financial difficulty. Prior to this, a report from 1836 suggested that William had encountered financial hardships before, when a partnership was dissolved because of growing debts.

Perry's Bankrupt Gazette, Saturday 06 February 1836, British Newspaper Archive

Scrutiny of accounts suggested that business had recovered, contrary to William’s beliefs, and was actually doing rather well. He thought that the company’s healthy accounts had been fabricated in order to mislead him. In a letter read out at the inquiry William mentioned that he thought he was being watched, and had attempted suicide on a previous occasion. This led to many newspapers declaring that William suffered from ‘delusions’ and ‘insanity’.

Carlisle Journal, Friday 24 December 1852, British Newspaper Archive

After all the evidence was heard at the inquest, the jury returned a verdict of ‘temporary insanity’.

Claire Wotherspoon

Manuscripts Reference Specialist

Further reading:

Barbara T. Gates, 2014, Victorian suicide: mad crimes and sad histories, YC.2015.b.2389.

Joseph Melling and Bill Forsythe (Eds.), 1999, Insanity, institutions, and society, 1800-1914: a social history of madness in comparative perspective, YC.2000.a.5463.

Andrew Scull, 1993, The most solitary of afflictions: madness and society in Britain 1700-1900, YC.1993.b.4876.

First-hand accounts of war provide us with details missing from official reports, and offer insights into personal survival strategies, ranging from the mundane and superficial to the profound. Collections at the National Archives, Imperial War Museum and National Army Museum cover official and non-official narratives, ranging from military documentation and papers of high-ranking or well-known officials, to the private collections of individuals from the rank-and-file.

The British Library also holds personal archives relating to a number of conflicts, including the recently-catalogued archive of Alfred Forbes Johnson, which will shortly be available for consultation in our reading rooms (Add MS 89235).

Letters in the archive, following re-housing. Copyright held by Tim Johnson, on behalf of the family of A F Johnson.

Lieutenant Johnson was drafted into the Royal Garrison Artillery from the Artists’ Rifles in 1917, and discharged in the spring of 1919. His archive consists of trench maps, retrospective war diaries, collected memorabilia and correspondence with family members.

Portrait of Alfred

Daily letters to his wife Essie allow a good grasp of how he, his colleagues and family managed and made sense of their imposed obligations. Alfred’s philosophy was to spend life productively, no matter the circumstances, and with good humour.

'This is a weird state of affairs here. The Hun is shelling something about a quarter of a mile on the left, and on the right there is a band playing.' (16/08/1918)

His strategies included exploring the landscape, villages and towns of France and Belgium, engaging in debates of the day with Essie and the Mess, and involving himself in lectures, sports and intellectual activities. Most significantly, the British Museum employee read avidly, favouring satire, the humour of Dickens, and other classics, popular novels and magazines of the day.

'I generally manage to read a book every time I am at the O.P. as there are generally many hours in the early part of the day when it is too hazy to see anything.'

Magazines which Alfred and colleagues read at the time are held in the Library’s journal collections. A flyer included advertises how reading material was distributed to the troops. The Sphere illustrates the first tube strike in London in 1919, which Alfred discusses with Essie at the time.

Alfred expresses regret at losing out on bonding with his new-born son Christopher in his two year absence. Yet he gained from his experience too: a Military Cross, a vastly enriched literary repertoire, skills in French, German, Italian, and even a new-found tolerance for Americans!

The archive also includes letters from other serving family members. Alfred’s brother-in-law Reggie died of wounds following his involvement in supporting front-line duty. The battles at Loos and Polygon Wood have since become notorious landmarks for reckless objectives in warfare.

'The German Minenwerfers are terrible things, you hear a slight pop & then see the bally thing coming over, it is very hard to judge where they will let, so you are kept in suspense with your eyes protruding out of your head watching the torpedo till it hisses down…. Dugouts werent much use against these blighters.' (20/04/1916)

The young man eagerly describes his knowledge of German and British ammunition, makes frequent requests for Lemon Fizzers from his mother, and tells of his generally uncomfortable experience:

'In the night we have heaps of company, rats & mice & the other livestock.. everytime you wake [the rats] are fighting & squeeking all over you.. the other night one took a flying jump on to my face, he had been washing his feet I believe, it was just like a wet rag.'

In what was to be Reggie’s last letter he anticipated that American involvement would bring about an end to the war; it was to be the last his family heard from him.

'Essie hasn’t given my pants away has she? I shall want them when Peace is declared, which may be soon if America has declared war.' (04/05/1916).

Photo sent on to Reggie's next of kin following his death

Find further stories of servicemen from the British Library collections at Europeana 1914-1918, as well as many commissioned articles exploring the effects of the war.

Layla Fedyk

Cataloguer, Modern Archives and Mss

The Qatar Digital Library has digitized a number of sources concerning the life and times of Shaikh Khaz’al bin Jābir bin Mirdāw al-Ka‘bī (1861-1936), the Emir of Mohammerah and chief of the Banu Ka’b tribe.

Detail from a 1908 War Office map of Persia and Afghanistan that shows Mohammerah. British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/10/332, f 77.

Mohammerah, now named Khorramshahr, is a city located at the confluence of the Karun and Shatt al-Arab Rivers in the Khuzestan region of Iran (formerly known as Arabistan). This area was nominally a part of the Persian Qajar Empire, but for much of the 19th and early 20th centuries it was ruled as a semi-independent Shaikhdom by the Arab al-Ka‘bī family.

Shaikh Khaz’al bin Jābir bin Mirdāw al-Ka‘bī wearing military uniform and honours bestowed on him by both the British and Persian Governments. Public Domain

Throughout Khaz’al’s reign (1897-1925), he was one of the most important political figures in the Persian Gulf and a prominent supporter of Britain’s presence in the region. Although never formally a part of the British Empire, the Gulf had been effectively incorporated into the British imperial system since the early 19^th century. The conclusion of treaties and agreements with the region’s various tribal rulers was one of the central means by which Britain enforced its hegemonic presence, and Khaz’al was no exception to this trend.

Shaikh Khaz'al's palace, Qasr al-Failiyah in Mohammerah, 1921. Public Domain.

Indeed, Khaz’al actively fostered close relations with Britain in an attempt to gain their assurance that in the event of the Qajar Empire collapsing or being overthrown, Mohammerah would be formally recognised by Britain as an independent state with him as its ruler.

 

Mohammerah, May 1917 from Album of tour of the Persian Gulf (Photographer: Rev. Edwin Aubrey Storrs-Fox) which contains several images of the city in 1917-18.

After oil was discovered by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (the forerunner of BP) in Khuzestan in 1908, Britain strengthened its ties to Khaz’al further. In 1910 he was made a Knight Commander of the Indian Empire. Khaz’al sought to prove his loyalty to Britain in return and he acted as a key ally throughout the First World War during which – with British military assistance – he suppressed a pro-Ottoman tribal uprising in his domains.

Sheikh Khaz'al's yacht docked behind Qasr al-Failiyah, 1925 Public Domain

However, Khaz’al’s efforts to gain formal British recognition of his suzerainty over Mohammerah and achieve independence failed. Unlike the ruling families of the other Shaikhdoms in the Gulf – who remain in power today – ultimately Britain did not guarantee his rule. After the rise to power of Reza Khan (Shah from December 1925 onwards) and the fall of the Qajar dynasty, Khaz’al came under increasing pressure. The centralising and modernising programme of the new government in Tehran could not tolerate Mohammerah’s relative independence.

After leading an unsuccessful uprising, Khaz’al was taken to Tehran by force and detained by Reza Khan in April 1925. He remained in the capital under house arrest until his death in May 1936. After his fall from power, many of Khaz’al’s family members, including his son Abdullah, fled to Kuwait – where the Shaikh owned property – and many of his descendants remain living there until the present day.

A young Sheikh Abdullah seated (centre) and his elder brother Sheikh Chassib (third from right) with a number of their retainers, 1908. Public Domain

Those who wish to learn more about this intriguing historical figure and the broader political context in which he lived can do so using a number of India Office Records files about him that have recently been digitized and uploaded on to the Qatar Digital Library by the British Library-Qatar Foundation Partnership as detailed below.

Louis Allday, Gulf History/Arabic Language Specialist

@Louis_Allday

 

Primary Documents:

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/R/15/2/1747: 'File 29/6 British Relations with Khazal, Sheikh of Khorramshahr'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/20/70: 'A Précis of the Relations of the British Government with the Tribes and Shaikhs of 'Arabistan By Lieutenant A T Wilson, Acting Consul for Arabistan'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/R/15/1/388 'File 26/185 V (F 96) Shaikh of Mohammerah'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/18/B468: The Date Gardens in Iraq of the Sheikhs of Koweit [Kuwait] and Mohammerah. Scope of undertakings given by HM Government in 1914

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/R/15/1/384: 'File 26/94 (F 26) Mohammerah; Shaikh Khazal's offer re: building of Ahwaz Consulate'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/R/15/5/178: 'File 3/8 Affairs of Sh. Khaz`als sons.'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/R/15/1/528: 'File 53/75 (D 156) Shaikh Khazal's Claim against Kuwaiti Merchants'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/10/332: File 240/1913 'Mohammerah - Khoremabad Railway; the Khor Musa agreement'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/18/B301: 'Memorandum on British Commitments (during the War) to the Gulf Chiefs'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/10/606: File 2902/1916 ‘Treaties and Engagements between the British Government and the Chiefs of the Arabian Coast of the Persian Gulf’

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/10/144/1: File 1421/1908 Pt 3 'Persia: oil; negotiations between the Shaikh of Mohammerah and the Anglo-Persian Oil Co.'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/10/132: File 345/1908 Pt 1 'Mohammerah: situation. British assurances to Sheikh.'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/10/133: File 345/1908 Pt 2 'Mohammerah: situation. Sheikh's dispute with the Vali of Basra. decoration for Sheikh. renewed assurances to Sheikh.'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/18/B380: ‘Memorandum respecting the frontier between Mohammerah and Turkey.’

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/10/262: File 1247/1912 Pts 1-2 'KOWEIT & MOHAMMERAH ANGLO-TURKISH AGREEMENT'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/L/PS/10/262/2: File 1247/1912 Pt 2 'Anglo-Turkish Agreement. Acceptance by Sheikhs of Koweit and Mohammerah.'

British Library, India Office Records, IOR/R/15/5/199: 'File 4/14 Property in Kuwait of Late Shaikh of Muhammarah (Khorramshahr)'

Pyrotechnia, written by a gunner called John Babington, was the first English book about how to make recreational fireworks. It was printed in 1635, seven years before the Civil War. Gunpowder had long been used on the battlefield but, in England, it was only during Elizabeth I’s reign that this technology developed into something that would create fantastic aerial displays. Elizabeth I was famous for her love of fireworks; sumptuous displays were held in her honour and to celebrate military victories.

Pyrotechnia told firework-makers all they needed to know about the chemical compounds and complex structural designs required for firework displays. Babington’s instructions are clear, easy to understand and are accompanied by labelled engravings, while the last two sections of the book are helpfully reserved for a treatise on geometry and logarithms respectively. Babington starts simply, with fireworks that are familiar to us today. His is the first printed reference to a roman candle, and there are descriptions of how to make rockets and ‘the best sort of starres’. For stars of a blue colour a combination of gunpowder, saltpetre and sulphur-vive did the trick. He then progresses to making “silver and gold raine”, firework wheels and “fisgigs”, a French firework that fizzed before it exploded.

This was all small fry though. Once a firework-maker had mastered the basics, he could recreate the type of spectacle enjoyed by Elizabeth I. One sight in particular was especially popular during this period: the dragon.

It consisted of a huge wooden frame stuffed with spinners, fountains, firecrackers and rockets that ignited to give the effect of a huge fire-breathing creature. Often, a second dragon or St George would be pitched against it and a mock battle would take place. In Pyrotechnia, Babington instructs the reader to strap the dragon and St George together so that, when a wheel is turned, “[they] will runne furiously at each other”. They had to be well balanced as otherwise “they [would] turn their heeles upward, which would bee a great disgrace to the work and workman”. Babington also acknowledges that “much [has been] written upon this same subject”, confirming the dragon’s popularity.

 A large proportion of Pyrotechnia is also dedicated to creating fiery spectacles on water, a great skill indeed for any firework-maker. Babington reveals “many workes to be performed on the water”, from “how to make a water ball, which shall burn on the water, with great violence” to a “ship of fire workes” and sirens or mermaids “playing on the water”. 

The British Library has three copies of Pyrotechnia. The copy in the photographs above has endpapers with a fantastic assortment of manuscript notes and inscriptions by the book’s 17th-century owner. On the first endpaper, most of an ownership inscription can just about be made out: “Edward Nowle[?] his booke bought…25^th January …”. Written arithmetic, diagrams and sums are scrawled over the next two pages. It’s obvious that this book was well-used by its previous owner but were they a firework-maker themselves? Did they create a fire-breathing dragon? I suppose we’ll never know!

Maddy Smith
Curator, Printed Heritage Collections

It was not unusual for British men working in India in the 18th and early 19th centuries to have Indian wives or companions.  But it was very unusual for these women to leave any written record, for example a last will and testament at their death.  So we were excited to discover a copy will in the India Office Records for Catharine Foy, a ‘Christian native woman’, who died in Calcutta on 4 April 1827 aged 50. 

 

 Will of Catharine Foy IOR/L/AG/34/29/51 p.245 

Catharine was the partner of Andrew Foy, an Irish labourer from Dublin who enlisted as a soldier in the East India Company’s Bengal Army in 1792. The couple had two children: Bridget, born in about 1802, and William baptised at Sultanpur on 29 September 1805.

Andrew Foy married Juliana More at Meerut in November 1806. He stated that he was a widower although Catharine was still alive. At the time of her death in 1827 Catharine was living in the barracks at Coolie Bazar, the area of Kolkata just outside Fort William now known as Hastings. 

 

 Detail from aquatint of a view of Calcutta from Fort William 1807 engraved by Duburgh, British Library K Top CXV no.46a 

Catharine died of cholera at the home of Ann Greene.  She put her mark to the will on the day of her death. Catharine bequeathed a sum of 1,200 sicca rupees held by Alexander & Co and all her personal property in equal shares to her ‘dearly beloved grandchildren’.  Her daughter Bridget was married to Ralph Salt, conductor in the Ordnance Department, and by 1827 they had two sons Samuel Ralph and George.  Catharine’s son William was a sub-assistant veterinary surgeon with the Bengal Army stationed at Neemuch.  He and his wife Mary Connor had two children at this time, Daniel Rodolphus and Elizabeth Matilda (referred to as Julia Matilda in the copy of the will).

William Foy applied for probate of his mother’s will in November 1832 about six months after he returned from duty in the Upper Provinces.  He was now an apothecary at the General Hospital in the Calcutta suburbs. Catharine’s personal belongings consisted of a few clothes and some jewellery valued at about 150 rupees. The estate was shared between the four grandchildren named in the will and those born since it was made.
 
No mention is made of Andrew Foy in the papers dealing with Catharine’s estate.  Andrew had seven children with Juliana and another five from his subsequent marriage in 1831 to Johanna Hanly (née Bonnar).  He died on 14 December 1839 at Delhi, a conductor in the Bengal Ordnance Commissariat Department.  Andrew’s will made bequests to Johanna and to his children by her, Catharine, and Juliana.

 

William Foy (1805-1866) - photograph courtesy of the Foy family.

Catharine Foy has a large number of descendants.  Four of Bridget’s six children survived to adulthood; William had eleven children by two wives.  William retired from the Subordinate Medical Service in 1857 and set up as a ‘Practising Physician’ in Calcutta.  Many of the Salts and Foys had careers with the East India Company or India Office, some very distinguished; others went into business and were successful.

This rare document gives a voice to Catharine and allows her to be brought out of the shadows.  By telling us exactly who her children and grandchildren were, Catharine has placed herself firmly in the Foy family tree!

Margaret Makepeace
Lead Curator, East India Company Records

Further reading:
Will of Catharine Foy IOR/L/AG/34/29/51 pp.245-252
Will of Andrew Foy IOR/L/AG/34/29/62 pp.151-156
India Office Records wills, baptisms, marriages and burials have been digitised and are available through the British in India collection on findmypast

The Davisons of Northumberland and Bengal

Gerald Wellesley's secret family

 

Wander the streets of London around Halloween and there’s a good chance that you’ll bump into a number of ghost walks, undertaken in varying degrees of seriousness. Covent Garden station is often included in these walks, as it is said to play host to the spirit of William Charles James Lewin, better known by his stage name William Terriss.

One of the most popular actors of his day, Terriss was murdered outside the Adelphi Theatre in 1897 by the actor Richard Archer Prince. Prince was sentenced to time in Broadmoor (where he died in 1937), while Terris was mourned by his public, with an estimated 50,000 people lining the route of the funeral procession.

Façade of the Adelphi Theatre, London, by Samuel Beazley, depicted in "New Frontage of the Adelphi Theatre", Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, 7 November 1840, p.289. Public domain,  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Adelphi-theatre-1840.jpg

There have been numerous reported appearances by Terriss’s ghost: in 1928 the actor June Howard Tripp, starring in the musical Clowns in Clover, reported that the couch in her dressing room vibrated, and that she felt a ghostly grip on her arm. Theatregoers that night also spoke of a green light manifesting on stage (Rowell, 1987).

A search of the archives of the Ghost Club (Add MS 52258-52273) reveals earlier references to Terriss’s spirit. The Ghost Club (1882-1936) was founded at 5.55pm on 1 November 1882 by Alfred Alaric Watts and William Staunton Moses. A brief history of the Club written by Alfred J Nicholl (Add MS 52273) notes that it was founded “expressly so that persons who might object to any general publication of their experiences might be encouraged to relate them… in strictest confidence”. Members dined together, usually on the first Wednesday of each month. The club was eventually wound up in 1936 due to low meeting attendance.

Excerpt of the Rules of the Ghost Club, Add MS 52268

Add MS 52272, containing supporting material referred to in the minutes of the Club, has a number of papers regarding visitations made by the spirit of Terriss to Ghost Club member Leonard Francis. Excerpts from Francis’ diary – written up in the distinctive hand of ‘Ghost’ Iltyd B Nicholl, with his annotations – describe apparitions occurring on 30 December 1926 and on 27 January 1927. In his first apparition the ghost delivered a terse message – “I AM WIILIAM LEWIN. I WAS STABBED AT THE ADELPHI THEATRE I CANNOT REST”. 

Annotated excerpt from the diary of Leonard Francis, Add MS 52272

Brothers Nicholl and Francis reported the apparition at the 400^th meeting on 5 January 1927, and Brother R H Saunders agreed to investigate further. Notes in the file dated 8 and 11 January describe visits made by Saunders to a medium, in order to consult with the spirit world about the apparition. Saunders had several questions for “the manifesting spirit”, asking whether murder victims felt distress in the life beyond, and whether this would account for the appearance of Lewin’s spirit. On the second visit the spirit reportedly confirmed to Saunders that the Lewin who appeared had been known as Terriss, and had been murdered outside the Adelphi.

Report file with details of corresponding minute book, Add MS 52272

According to his diary excerpts Francis subsequently made a trip to Westminster Cathedral to pray for Lewin on January 26, and the following day was visited by the spirit, who “faintly smiled and vanished at once.” I have not been able to find any further references to Lewin (or Terriss) in the subsequent volumes.

The Ghost Club archive is available for consultation in the Manuscripts Reading Room, and will be of interest to anyone studying the spiritualist movement, religious feeling and the history of science in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Alex Hailey

Curator, Modern Archives and Mss

Further reading:

Archive of the Ghost Club, Add MS 52258-52273

Jenny Hazelgrove, Spiritualism and British society between the wars (Manchester University Press: 2000)

George Rowell, William Terriss and Richard Prince. Two Characters in an Adelphi Melodrama (Society for Theatre Research, 1987)