RAILWAYS
Letters largely relating to the Great Western Railway, c. 44 in all, 1842-1865. Principally to Charles Alexander Saunders, secretary of the GWR, mostly from the nobility, and evidently preserved for this reason, pasted or tipped into a 4to album, half-leather, rather worn, some evidently removed.

A substantial collection almost entirely on railway business. William Malins (to Spencer H[oratio] Walpole], chairman of the board, 6 March 1856, complaining of the manner in which directors had been elected; Lord Macclesfield, soliciting a position as a porter for his footman; the marquess of Worcester (2), writing on behalf of his father, the duke of Beaufort, one (7 October 1852) on the desirability of a line through the centre of Monmouthshire, preferably built by the GWR, and giving details of the towns the railway should serve; Russell Gurney, about GWR debentures; Sir Charles Rivers Wilson, 1 September 1857, complaining that an important letter had not been dispatched by the right train; Earl Howe, 1851, soliciting an appointment for a guard; Lord St Leonards, 1858, to the directors, complaining of the large salary voted to the Secretary; the marquess of Bath, about the expenses of a train to Plymouth; Lord Bateman, asking for a through carriage from Hereford to London with no change at Swindon, 1858; Baron Ludlow, asking for tickets from Kemble to Paddington; Sir Charles Russell, 1858, about payment for the translation of some French books on railways; William Banting, the royal funeral director, on black-edged paper, 4 May 1857, regarding the arrangements for the funeral [of Princess Mary, duchess of Gloucester, daughter of George III]; Lord Bridport, 1857, about the transport of sheep by rail; the earl of Elgin, 1857, recommending a former servant as a guard; Douglas Labalmondiere, asking for a private carriage, 1856; Lord Napier, 1860, a long letter regarding the arrangements for Prince Frederic of the Netherlands and his family to travel from Ramsgate (via Reading) to Torquay; Lord Stanley of Alderney, 1856, whose wife had had her pocked picked at Paddington; Lord Vivian, 1860, about tickets; the earl of Iddesleigh, 1905; the earl of Shrewsbury, 1859, from the Ely Valley Railway Office, Cardiff, regarding running their traffic on the South Wales Line; Henry Bentinck, 1862; the earl of Shrewsbury, 1876; Lord Monson, 1865; the marquess of Anglesey (who lost his leg at Waterloo) as earl of Uxbridge, 1842; the earl of Shelburne, 1858; the earl of Shaftesbury, 1859; Lord Norrey, 1858; Sir Frederick Pollock, 1860, (tickets for family and servant); the marquess of Exeter, 1860; Sir Robert Peel jnr, 1860 (a misunderstanding over a ticket at Reading); the earl of Southesk, 1860 (Mrs Carnegie's box recovered); Lord Taunton, 1860; William Hepworth Dixon, 1860 (asking for passes); the marquess of Ailesbury, 1860; Thomas Milner Gibson (objections to the agreement received from several named railway companies); Lord Harris (wanting to discuss railway matters); Earl Grey, 1862 (asking him to call to discuss railway legislation); the marquess of Donegall, 1862 (enquiring as to when the line to Devizes would open); and a few others.
[No: 26628]