Description
FREDERICK HAMILTON-TEMPLE-BLACKWOOD, 1ST MARQUESS OF DUFFERIN AND AVA autograph letter Signed.
British (Anglo-Irish) diplomat, traveller and colonial administrator. Viceroy of India (1884-1888) and Governor General of Canada (1872-1878).
ALS. 2pp plus integral blank leaf. No place. 11th August 1862. To Sir Bernard [Burke].
"I have found an old print of Adam Blackwood - a much respected old gentleman in a ruff. In your arms if yr picture [?] are his arms as below. I start for Clandeboye tomorrow, when I hope to be at yr [?] and when I must try and persuade you to pay me a visit." The letter illustrated by Dufferin with a rough sketch of a quartered coat of arms.
8vo. Approx 7 x 4.5 inches. The verso of the integral blank leaf is backed onto paper with old mounting traces. The text leaf is in fine condition.
During a long career, the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava held many diplomatic posts, including Governor-General of Canada, ambassador to Imperial Russia, ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, ambassador to Italy and Viceroy of India. He was at the heart of some of the key diplomatic events of the 19th century. He was also a gifted and best-selling writer and a prominent member of fashionable society - being a court favourite of Queen Victoria. He was well known for living beyond his means and ended his life at his family estate, Clandeboye in Ireland, virtually bankrupt. Sir Bernard Burke (1814-1892) was Ulster Herald and the founder and editor of Burke's Peerage.
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