ROBINSON (Frederick John, 1st Viscount Goderich, Earl of Ripon, 1782-1859, Prime Minister)

Exceptional Autograph Letter Signed to Lord HARDWICKE (Philip Yorke, 3rd Earl, 1757-1834, Politician) thanking him for his letter "and for all the obliging things which you are so good as to say with respect to myself, and the situation in which the King has been pleased to place ([me]. It is a situation which I can truly say I never either coveted or sought, and with the terrible responsibility & pressure of work. I should be overwhelmed were it not for the assurances of support which I have received from many quarters most material to enable me successfully to get thro' my arduous task ...", he continues about Sir Charles STUART (1779-1845, Diplomat, Ambassador to France and Russia) "I can however venture to say this much to you, in confidence, that I did at the earliest opportunity open the question of the Peerage in the proper quarter where it was most favourably received, altho' (as might be expected) some difficulty was felt as to the moment at which it should be actually done ... I consider the question is one about which I feel a strong personal interest, which will prevent me from overlooking it ..." he has a message to Lady Hardwicke to tell her "that I find upon enquiry at the Home Office, that apartments are no longer given to any one in Holyrood House so that I cannot help ... I found the Pension list of Scotland ... If I am in a situation to deal with such matters next year, I shall not forget Lady H's application ...", 4 sides 4to., Downing Street, 28th August 1827 together with an autograph corrected draft of an Autograph Letter to "My dear Lord", heavily corrected and amended saying that the British Government has a duty "not to pass over in silence on the present state of the Portuguese Question ...", 3 sides 4to., no place, 1823, the letter

Prime Minister George Canning's health had been declining since the beginning of 1827, and on 8th August he died. A widespread expectation (possibly shared by Wellington himself) that the King would send for Wellington was confounded when, on the day of Canning's death, Goderich and the Home Secretary, William Sturges Bourne, were summoned to Windsor Castle, where the King announced his intention of appointing Goderich to the premiership.
Stuart was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Portugal and Brazil so the draft may well have been of a letter to him. In January 1828 he was once again appointed Ambassador to France and was raised to the peerage Baron Stuart de Rothesay, of the Isle of Bute, at the same time. The Earl of Hardwicke's daughter Elizabeth married Charles Stuart in 1816 so it is understandable that her father was interested in his preferment.

Item Date:  1827

Stock No:  39801