IDENTITY STATEMENT
Reference code(s): GB 0103 BROUGHAM BL, HB
Held at: University College London
Title: Brougham Papers: Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, correspondence and papers
Date(s): c1790-1866
Level of description: sub-fonds
Extent: 712 boxes (including 7 large)
Name of creator(s): Brougham | Henry | 1778-1868 | 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux | Lord Chancellor
CONTEXT
Administrative/Biographical history:
Born in Edinburgh, eldest son of Henry Brougham and Eleanor (née Syme), 1778; High School, Edinburgh, c1785-1791; University of Edinburgh, 1792-1795; subsequently read law; spent his vacations on walking tours, and visited Denmark, Sweden and Norway, 1799; had papers on subjects including light printed in the Transactions of the Royal Society in the 1790s; passed advocate, to practise at the Scottish bar, 1800; among the founders of the Edinburgh Review, and contributed three articles to its first number, 1802; admitted a member of Lincoln's Inn, 1803; continued to reside in Edinburgh, c1803-c1805; interested in the movement for the abolition of slavery, and gathered information on the subject in Holland, extending his tour to Italy and elsewhere, 1804; his early articles in the Edinburgh Review were generally scientific, but he wrote increasingly on political and economic subjects, aiming for a political career; settled in London, 1805; read English law and supported himself mainly by writing many articles for the Edinburgh Review, on a variety of subjects; introduced to Lord Holland, and became a frequent visitor at Holland House; his conduct as secretary on a mission to the court of Lisbon increased his reputation, 1806; prominent in soliciting support for the Whigs when the Grenville ministry was forced to resign, but on their defeat turned to legal study; called to the English bar, 1808; had little success in the courts until he had made his mark in politics; his first triumph as a barrister was political rather than legal, as counsel for the Liverpool merchants petitioning against the Orders in Council; through the influence of Lord Holland, the Duke of Bedford offered Brougham a seat for Camelford (Cornwall) and he was returned to Parliament, 1810; during the session he spoke repeatedly, and moved an address to the Crown on the subject of slavery; his reputation as an advocate was increased by his defence of (James Henry) Leigh Hunt and his brother John Hunt, indicted for libel for an article in the Examiner on military flogging, 1811; failed to procure the acquittal of a newspaper proprietor indicted on a similar charge; unsuccessfully defended the Hunts when indicted for a libel on the Prince Regent, 1812; moved for a select committee on the Orders in Council, which were held to interfere with free trade, and the Orders were subsequently withdrawn, 1812; this gained him immense popularity, especially with the commercial interest; as Camelford had changed hands, Brougham's efforts, at the dissolution of Parliament, to seek a seat elsewhere eventually resulted in Lord Darlington's offer of a seat and he returned to the House of Commons, as MP for Winchelsea, 1815-1830; although not acknowledged as the Leader, became prominent among the Opposition in the House of Commons; attacked Vansittart's income tax bill, 1816; in a Bill for securing the liberty of the press, proposed an amendment of the law of libel, 1816; in a speech on the depression in trade he blamed foreign policy, pointing out the evils of restriction, 1817; an attack on the ministry in the form of a motion for an address to the Prince Regent on the state of the nation, defeated by only 37 votes, was reckoned a triumph; attempts to be elected for Westmorland, standing against the Lowther ascendancy in the county, were unsuccessful, 1818, 1820, 1826; advocated retrenchment and sound commercial policy, and opposed the repressive Six Acts, but disliked the radicals, 1819; married Mary Anne (Marianne), daughter of Thomas Eden and widow of John Spalding, 1819; drew attention to the importance of popular education and instituted an inquiry into charity abuses, which was resented by the governing bodies of Eton, Winchester and the universities; his two Bills providing for the compulsory building, government, and maintenance of parochial schools were disliked by the Dissenters and fell through, 1820; from 1811 and perhaps before Brougham advised Caroline, Princess of Wales, and to a lesser extent advised Princess Charlotte; made proposals concerning the Princess of Wales' future, 1819; appointed her attorney-general when she became Queen, 1820; met the Queen at St Omer to propose terms of separation and warn her against coming to England, but the Queen crossed to Dover; without Brougham's unexplained failure to deliver a proposal from Lord Liverpool offering her £50,000 a year on certain conditions, the scandal of her 'trial', on charges of adultery, might have been averted; Brougham was prominent at the 'trial', the hearing of evidence at the annulment action initiated by her husband, King George IV, in the Bill of Pains and Penalties, acting in defence of the Queen and exposing the untrustworthiness of the Crown's principal witness; his successful defence made him popular; unsuccessfully argued the Queen's right to coronation before the Privy Council, but vainly tried to prevent her attempts to force her way in; attended her funeral, 1820; participated in libel cases in defence of her, 1821-1822; Brougham's attack on the dictation of the Holy Alliance in Europe and the French invasion of Spain and tyranny of the Austrians in Italy was well received, 1824; another speech was important in the history of the abolition of slavery; violently assaulted in the lobby of the House by a lunatic; elected Lord Rector of Glasgow University, 1825; helped to establish various mechanics' institutes; published his Observations on the Education of the People, which before the end of the year reached its twentieth edition, 1825; implemented a plan for the publication of cheap works by the formation of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (SDUK), its first committee formed, 1825; its introductory volume, written by Brougham, was published, 1827; when Canning succeeded Lord Liverpool, Brougham left the Opposition for the ministerial side of the House, bringing with him a body of moderate Whigs, 1827; brought forward a scheme of law reform, relating to defects in the law of real property and in proceedings at common law, 1828; instrumental in improving common law procedure, subsequently overthrowing the antiquated system of fines and recoveries; Observations on the Education of the People had referred to the need of scientific education for the upper classes, which Brougham sought to supply as co-founder of London University (later University College London), 1828; returned to opposition when the Duke of Wellington entered office, but supported the Duke in carrying the Catholic Emancipation Bill, 1829; MP for York County, 1830; prepared a scheme of electoral reform, but when Lord Grey formed a ministry Brougham, despite his reluctance to leave the Commons, was elevated to the peerage as Baron Brougham and Vaux and served as Lord Chancellor, 1830-1834; while Chancellor, his unusual carriage gave 'broughams' their name; worked energetically in office - often having reproached his predecessor for delays in court - and effected improvements in the court of Chancery, and was largely responsible for establishing the central criminal court in London and the judicial committee of the Privy Council; brought in a bankruptcy Bill, which eventually became the basis of a statute; his Local Courts Bill fell through, 1830, but prepared the way for the later system of county courts; Brougham's speech on the second reading of the Reform Bill was held to be his masterpiece, 1831; played a role in forcing the Reform Act through the House of Lords, but falsely represented himself - rather than Grey - as playing the central role in the crisis, 1832; took the leading part in debates on education, 1833; played an underhand role in the resignation of Grey, who felt himself ill-used, 1834; continued as Chancellor under Lord Melbourne; exercised a tyranny over the management of the Edinburgh Review which was resented; his behaviour as Chancellor reduced his popularity and he was excluded from the Cabinet, 1834; visited Cannes (France), then a village, and bought land to build a house, 1835; moved that Parliament should vote grants for education, 1835; his independent support for the government was useful in enabling it to carry the Municipal Reform Bill, 1835; hurt by the appointment of Pepys (Lord Cottenham) as Chancellor and considered himself deceived by Melbourne, 1836; spent a year in retirement at Brougham Hall; although sitting on the ministerial side of the House during the early years of Queen Victoria's reign, often opposed the government, 1837; brought forward two Bills further developing the system of national education, 1837; did much literary work, editing four volumes of his Speeches and writing books, reviews, and other articles, but continued to make his presence felt in Parliament, 1838; moved resolutions recommending the immediate abolition of slavery; in a debate on the bedchamber question he violently attacked the Whigs, 1839; following the re-establishment of the Melbourne ministry, virtually led the Opposition in the House of Lords, and carried resolutions censuring government policy in Ireland; while at Brougham Hall, it was reported that he had died in a carriage accident, but the report was false and Brougham was accused of being its author, 1839; the loss of his surviving daughter, Eleanor Louise, caused him deep grief, 1839; spent some months in each year at Cannes from 1840; visited Paris annually and attended meetings of the Institute, having in 1833 been elected an associate by the Academy of Moral and Political Science; on the defeat of Melbourne's ministry, changed his seat to the Opposition side of the House, but gave Peel's government considerable support, 1843; favoured free trade and urged the repeal of the Corn Laws, but disliked the Anti-Corn Law League; sat frequently in the Court of Appeal and in the judicial committee of the Privy Council; continued to press the subject of law reform as president of the Law Amendment Association and director of its Law Review, as well as in Parliament, making recommendations concerning conveyancing and criminal law, 1845; wanted to be returned as a deputy to the French National Assembly, but on understanding that as a French citizen he would lose his English citizenship, rank and offices withdrew his request, 1848; on the accession of the Whigs to office under Lord John Russell, Brougham remained on the Opposition side of the House, and opposed the repeal of the Navigation Acts, 1849; attacked for his radical views on foreign affairs, 1849; gradually withdrew from politics, but continued to urge his scheme of legal reform in Parliament, in the Law Review, and through the Law Amendment Society; took a large share in hearing appeals, and the administration of the appellate jurisdiction of the Lords was largely left in his hands, 1850; returned to scientific studies, 1850; constantly busy writing and editing literary work of various kinds; the first formal meeting of the committee of the Social Science Association was at his house in Grafton Street, and he was chosen president, delivering the inaugural address at the first congress in Birmingham, 1857; again chosen president, 1860-1865; elected Chancellor of Edinburgh University in 1859, and delivered his installation address, 1860; received a second patent of peerage with remainder to his younger brother William and his heirs male, in recognition of his services in the causes of education and the suppression of slavery, 1860; Lady Brougham died, 1865; Brougham attended the meeting of the Social Science Association held at Manchester, 1866; his mental powers, which had been gradually failing, gave way, 1867; honorary DCL, Oxford; Fellow of the Royal Society; died at his château at Cannes, 1868; buried in the cemetery of Cannes, which developed from a fishing village to a resort town under Brougham's influence; succeeded to his title by his brother William, 2nd Baron Brougham and Vaux. Publications include: An Enquiry into the Colonial Policy of European Powers (2 volumes, 1803); Practical Observations on the Education of the People (1825, and at Boston, US, 1826; Praktische Bemerkungen, Berlin, 1827); A Discourse on Natural Theology, with an edition of Paley's work (1835, 1845); Select Cases decided by Lord Brougham in the Court of Chancery, ed C P Cooper (1835); Speeches upon Questions relating to Public Rights, with introductions which, though written in the third person, are Brougham's work (4 volumes, 1838, 1845); Historical Sketches of Statesmen in the time of George III (1839, 2nd series 1839, 3rd series 1843, and in 6 volumes, 1845; Esquisses Historiques traduites par U Legeay, Lyon, 1847); Demosthenes upon the Crown, translated, with notes (1840); Political Philosophy, and other essays published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (2 volumes, 1842; 3 volumes, no date); Albert Lunel; or, the Château of Languedoc (3 volumes, 1844, written as a monument to Brougham's daughter but not published and, after a few copies had been distributed, suppressed by the author; reprinted and published in 3 volumes, 1872); Lives of Men of Letters and Science in the time of George III (1845, 2nd series 1846; some translated into French); History of England and France under the House of Lancaster (1852 anon, 1861 with name); critical, historical and miscellaneous Works, published under his own direction in a collected edition and including many of his chief productions (11 volumes, 1855-1861; 2nd edition, 1872-1873); Contributions to the Edinburgh Review, a selection from Brougham's numerous articles (3 volumes, 1856); Lord Brougham and Law Reform, ed Sir J E Eardley Wilmot, containing forty Acts and fifty Bills introduced by Brougham since 1811 (1860); Tracts, Mathematical and Physical, collected edition (1860); Life and Times of Henry, Lord Brougham, written by himself, published posthumously (3 volumes, 1871); papers for the Royal Society on light and other subjects (Philosophical Transactions, volume lxxxvi, p 227; ibid volume lxxxvii, p 352; ibid volume lxxxviii, p 378); various scientific papers for the French Institute on lighting and kindred subjects (Comptes Rendus, nos 30, 34, 36, 44, 46). A bibliographical list by Ralph Thomas, describing 133 of Brougham's works, is at the end of the eleventh volume of the second edition of his collected works, also published as A Biographical List of Lord Brougham's Publications (privately printed, John Russell Smith, London, 1873).
CONTENT
Scope and content/abstract:
Correspondence and papers of Henry, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, dating from the 1790s to 1866 and comprising a large body of material documenting Brougham's political and other activities, and issues of the day including anti-slavery agitation in the first decades of the 19th century, the 'trial' of Queen Caroline in 1820, the Reform Bill of 1832, foundation of the University of London (later University College London), which opened in 1828, and other aspects of educational and legal reform. The correspondence includes letters to and from many prominent political figures. Letters to Brougham, dating from the 1800s to the 1860s, number c50,000 items from c8,500 correspondents, including political figures and family members, with, among many others, accumulations from James Atkinson, 1831-1846 and undated, the subjects including Westmorland elections and patronage for Atkinson's son; James Brougham, 1804-1831 and undated, including Cumberland and Westmorland elections; William Brougham, 1809-1866 and undated, including William's early studies and Henry's career, affairs at Brougham, family finances and property, including Cannes, personal news of relations and their health, and political news; John Wilson Croker, 1838-1857 and undated, including national political events and issues; Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman, 1820-1852 and undated, including political and legal events and issues; Priscilla Anne Wellesley Fane, Countess of Westmorland, 1832-1866 and undated, including personal matters, acquaintances, politicians including the Duke of Wellington, and European affairs; Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, 1809-1843 and undated (some copies), including political affairs and politicians; Lady Charlotte Lindsay, 1812-1847 and undated, including personal matters, acquaintances, and Princess Charlotte and Caroline, Princess of Wales; William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, 1827-1848 and undated, on political affairs; James Parke, Baron Wensleydale, 1831-1864 and undated, mainly legal issues and affairs; Joseph Parkes, 1831-1865 and undated; Charles Phillips, Commissioner of the Insolvent Debtors' Court, [1830]-1858 and undated, including legal and Irish affairs, and [Daniel] O'Connell; George William Frederick Villiers, Earl of Clarendon, 1839, 1847-1865, including political, Irish and European affairs; William Shepherd, Unitarian minister, 1814, 1823-1847 and undated, including politicians and political affairs, among them the election in Liverpool in 1831 and later events, the inception of London University in 1828 and its subsequent administration, other educational issues, Irish affairs, free trade and the Corn Laws; Sir Robert Peel, [1840]-1850 and undated, on various political affairs; John Russell, Earl Russell, 1823-1866 and undated, including political matters and Brougham's other interests, Catholic questions, and issues relating to London University. Letters from Brougham, 1794-1866 and undated, number c2,000 items to c350 correspondents, among them politicians, aristocrats, members of the royal family, and members of the Brougham family, the recipients including George Canning (one letter, undated), Queen Caroline (four letters, 1814-1815 and undated), Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent (one letter, 1817), King George IV (one letter, 1817), William Howley, Archbishop of Canterbury (one letter, 1833), Leigh Hunt (one letter, 1812), William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (one letter, 1830), Sir Robert Peel (one letter, 1843), Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquis of Londonderry, Viscount Castlereagh (one letter, 1812), [Henry John Temple, Viscount Palmerston] (two letters, 1856, 1860), Samuel Whitbread (three letters, 1814), [Samuel Wilberforce], Bishop of Oxford (one letter, 1850), and many others, with particular accumulations to James Atkinson (44 letters, 1818-1828 and undated), James Brougham (31 letters, [1817]-1834), Mary Ann, Lady Brougham (11 letters, 1820-1849), [Reginald Brougham] (17 letters, 1858-1864 and undated), A Constable (15 letters, 1802-1818), Edward Cooke (12 letters, 1853-1861 and undated), John Wilson Croker (23 letters, 1839-1857), Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman (176 letters, 1828-[1854] and undated), Priscilla Anne Wellesley Fane, Countess of Westmorland (184 letters, 1848-1866 and undated), Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey (481 letters, 1807-1842 and undated), Henry Bellenden Ker (34 letters, [1835]-[?1867] and undated), John George Lambton, Earl of Durham (14 letters, 1817-1830 and undated), Lady Charlotte Lindsay (80 letters, 1809-1848 and undated), James Loch (17 letters, [1809], 1825-1829), Joseph Parkes (112 letters, 1825-1865 and undated), Charles Phillips (613 letters, 1834-1858 and undated), William Conyngham Plunket, 1st Baron Plunket (22 letters, 1819-1838 and undated), William Shepherd (312 letters, [1809]-1847 and undated), John E Spalding (12 letters, 1835-1841 and undated), Thomas Thornely (21 letters, 1811-1814), George William Frederick Villiers, Earl of Clarendon (66 letters, 1851-1865 and undated). The subjects of discussion range widely in Brougham's public and private life and include Brougham's acquaintances and associates, interests, activities, invitations and meetings, travels, political and parliamentary events, issues and figures. The correspondence contains a limited amount of material relating to Westmorland and environs, including letters from prominent local people such as Sir James Robert George Graham, 1820-1857, on subjects including politics in Cumberland and Westmorland and other local affairs, general political matters, and Brougham's interests in education and law reform; the Lowther family, among them William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale, 1845-1866 and undated, including political and local events; William Blamire, [1834]-1846 and undated, including politics and local events in Cumberland; and many approaches made to Brougham as a fellow countryman by obscure Westmorland people seeking help or patronage. Other papers comprise various correspondence, including anonymous and incomplete letters and foreign correspondence to Henry Brougham; letters from Henry Brougham to family members including his mother, Eleanor Brougham, his wife Marianne Brougham, and his daughter, Eleanor Brougham; Henry Brougham's manuscripts, comprising notes, drafts and papers, some fragmentary and many undated, some labelled by subject but many unsorted, relating to his interests and publications on a wide range of subjects across his range of interests during his career, including political subjects and contemporary issues, oratory, scientific and historical subjects, sections for his memoirs, a list of contributions to the Edinburgh Review, and also including student's notebooks dating at least back to 1792; printed material, including Bills and minutes of evidence, relating to Queen Caroline's 'trial' in 1820; legal papers, on various cases; manuscripts and printed papers relating to Brougham's Chancellorship, 1830-1834, including material on cases and other papers relating to political and legal activities during his time in office; miscellaneous printed material, posters, Bills, pamphlets and leaflets, including political issues, Westmorland elections, and other subjects; miscellaneous personalia, including papers relating to Brougham's travels in 1799; various portraits and caricatures of Brougham.
ACCESS AND USE
Language/scripts of material: English, and some French
System of arrangement:
Catalogued correspondence comprises two series, letters to Brougham (631 boxes) and letters from Brougham (27 boxes). The letters to Brougham were individually numbered, catalogued and stored in numerical sequence after being received at University College London, but re-ordering to create an alphabetical sequence by correspondent, matching the card index, is in progress and has reached the letter M. Letters from Brougham, numbered in a separate sequence (Ref: BL), are stored alphabetically by correspondent. Other than these correspondence series, the papers are only roughly sorted and comprise uncatalogued correspondence (16 boxes), Henry Brougham's manuscripts (22 boxes, including 7 large), printed material relating to Queen Caroline's 'trial' (1 box), legal papers (5 boxes), papers relating to Brougham's Chancellorship (5 boxes), printed material (2 boxes), personalia (2 boxes), and portraits and caricatures (1 box).
Conditions governing access:
Open.
Conditions governing reproduction:
Normal copyright restrictions apply.
Physical characteristics:
Finding aids:
Letters to and from Brougham are separately indexed by name of correspondent in a card index at University College London Special Collections, with a note of date and summary of content, also available online at http://www.a2a.pro.gov.uk, which enables users to conduct searches of the descriptions of the subject matter, rather than being confined to searching by personal name of the writer. For letters from Brougham there is also an alphabetical handlist of correspondents, giving numbers of letters and dates. Brougham's papers aside from his correspondence are largely uncatalogued.
ARCHIVAL INFORMATION
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information:
Accruals:
Archival history:
Part of the Brougham Papers.
Immediate source of acquisition:
Received by University College London with the other Brougham Papers in 1953.
ALLIED MATERIALS
Existence and location of originals:
Existence and location of copies:
Related material:
Another sub-fonds of the Brougham Papers at University College London Special Collections contains letters from Henry Brougham to his brother William (Ref: BROUGHAM WB). The sub-fonds family and estate papers contains material relating to the family properties, including papers pre- and post-dating Henry Brougham's tenure, which properties, although held by Brougham for a period, were even then administered by his brothers James and, after 1833, William, who eventually inherited the title and properties on Henry's death in 1868. Owing to their more intimate contact with the locality of Brougham, the papers of James (Ref: BROUGHAM J) and William (Ref: BROUGHAM WB) contain much more material of local interest to Westmorland and Cumberland, and there is further information on the locality in James Atkinson's correspondence (Ref: BROUGHAM A). University College London Special Collections also holds papers of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (founded in 1826 largely at the instigation of Lord Brougham, who was a member of the General Committee in charge of its affairs), which include over 50 letters from Lord Brougham, 1826-1845 (Ref: SDUK); correspondence with Sir Edwin Chadwick, 1834-1861 (Ref: Chadwick papers); letters from Brougham to the Scottish judge Charles Hope, Lord Granton, 1839-1851 (Ref: MS ADD 268); letters to Joseph Parkes, 1856-1865 (Ref: Parkes papers); letters to Samuel Rogers, 1825-1855 (Ref: Sharpe papers); miscellaneous letters from Brougham, 1800-1866 (Ref: MSS MISC 2B, 3B); letters concerning University College London business, 1827-1829, 1835-1843, 1849 (Ref: COLLEGE CORRESPONDENCE).
British Library, Manuscript Collections, holds correspondence with John Allen, 1799-1842 (Ref: Add MSS 52177-79); correspondence with Lord Broughton, 1823-1860 (Ref: Add MS 47224); correspondence with W E Gladstone, 1843-1866 (Ref: Add MS 44114); letters to George Graham, 1837-1855 (Ref: Add MS 48214); correspondence with Lord Grenville, 1806-1829 (Ref: Add MS 58965); letters to William Hazlitt, 1852-1857 (Ref: Add MS 38898); correspondence with Lord and Lady Holland, 1804-1867 (Ref: Add MSS 51561-65, 52018-20, 52125); letters to Leigh Hunt, 1811-1829 (Ref: Add MSS 38108-09); correspondence with Princess Lieven, c1834-1854 (Ref: Add MS 47367); correspondence with Lord Liverpool, c1820 (Ref: Add MSS 38280-85, 38369, 38565 passim); letters to Lord Murray, 1823-1858 (Ref: Add MS 40687); letters to Macvey Napier, 1827-1843 (Ref: Add MSS 35149-52, 34613-23 passim); correspondence with Sir Robert Peel, 1842-1849 (Ref: Add MS 40482); correspondence with Francis Place, 1814-1839 (Ref: Add MSS 35149-52, 34613-23 passim); correspondence with Lord Wellesley, c1830-1842 (Ref: Add MSS 37297-313, 37416 passim); other correspondence, 1850-1866 (13 items, Ref: Add MS 59846N). Oxford University, Bodleian Library, Department of Western Manuscripts, holds letters to Sir Francis Burdett, 1840-1842 (Ref: MS Eng lett d 97); letters to Lord Clarendon, 1842-1858 (Ref: MSS Clar dep); letters to Benjamin Disraeli, 1848-1866 (Ref: MSS Disraeli); letters to S L Giffard, 1843-1845 (Ref: MS Eng lett c 56); letters to Sir William Napier, 1839-1857 (Ref: MS Eng lett d 240); letters to William Somerville, 1826-1860 (Ref: NRA(S)0191); letters to Samuel Wilberforce, 1858-1862 (Ref: MSS Wilberforce; Don e 164-65); correspondence with William Wilberforce, 1804-1831 (Ref: MSS Wilberforce; Don e 164-65). National Library of Scotland, Manuscripts Division, holds letters to J H Burton, 1845-1846 (Ref: MS 3005); letters to Edward Ellice, 1830-1832 (Ref: MS 15006); letters to Whitwell Elwin, 1857-1859 (Ref: MS 2262); correspondence with John Lee, 1818-1857 (Ref: MSS 3434-49 passim); correspondence with Lundie family etc, 1795-1866 (Ref: MSS 98, 588-1036, 1659-1675, 9847 passim); correspondence with Robertson-MacDonald family, 1799-1847 (Ref: MSS 3944-53 passim); miscellaneous correspondence and papers, 1801-1870 (Ref: MSS 9715-9818, 10290, 10997 passim). The Public Record Office holds letters to Lord Cowley, 1848-1866 (Ref: FO519); correspondence with Lord Ellenborough, 1846-1868 (Ref: PRO30/12); correspondence with Lord John Russell, 1835-1863 (Ref: PRO30/22). Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections, Palace Green Section, holds correspondence with 2nd Earl Grey, 1825-1843 (Ref: GRE/B8/3); correspondence with 3rd Earl Grey, 1828-1867 (Ref: GRE/B79/2); correspondence with General Charles Grey, 1849-1862 (Ref: Grey of Howick collection). Dr Williams's Library, London, holds letters to Henry Crabb Robinson (Ref: 101); correspondence with Unitarians relating to education, c1820 (Ref: 12/111). Southampton University Library holds 132 letters to Lord Melbourne, 1830-1838 (Ref: HMC); correspondence with Lord Palmerston, 1823-1861 (Ref: MS 62); correspondence with Sir Henry Brooke Parnell, fourth Baronet and first Baron Congleton, 1831-1832 (5 letters, Ref: MS 64/34/3). University of Michigan, William L Clements Library, holds letters to John Wilson Croker, 1824-1857; c100 letters to Lord Murray, 1844-1859; letters to Henry Reeve, 1842-1864; and other correspondence and papers, 1807-1865 (Ref: Brougham papers). Numerous other repositories hold single accumulations of letters and correspondence of Brougham, for details of which see the National Register of Archives. The Royal College of Surgeons of England holds the Hunter-Baillie Collection, including material relating to Lord Brougham (Ref: Hunter-Baillie). Lincoln's Inn Library holds legal papers, comprising original manuscripts and proof sheets of Brougham's judgements. University of Manchester, John Rylands Library, holds printed material (Ref: FDN/1/2/3) among the Fielden Papers including Reform in the Court of Chancery, a speech by Lord Brougham; and papers of the anti-slavery advocate George Thompson (Ref: REAS) referring to Lord Brougham's support for the anti-slavery cause. Cumbria Record Office, Kendal, holds records of the Earls of Lonsdale which include papers relating to the Westmorland elections of 1818, 1820 and 1826, in which Brougham stood against the Lowther interest.
Publication note:
Publications based on the papers include Chester W New, The Life of Henry Brougham to 1830 (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1961).
DESCRIPTION NOTES
Note:
Archivist's note: Sources: Dictionary of National Biography; Ralph Thomas, A Biographical List of Lord Brougham's Publications (privately printed, John Russell Smith, London, 1873), p 24; The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, 1826-1848: a handlist of the Society's correspondence and papers, compiled by Janet Percival (London, 1978); National Register of Archives; AIM25 descriptions of the papers of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge at University College London Special Collections and the Hunter-Baillie Collection at the Royal College of Surgeons of England; Archives Hub description of material relating to Brougham at Southampton University Library and John Rylands Library. Compiled by Rachel Kemsley as part of the RSLP AIM25 project.
Date(s) of descriptions: May 2001