Loan MS 119

Papers of and relating to Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Bart., 1886-1891, n.d., concerning the two Dilke divorce cases and the aftermath, particularly the proceedings of the Committee, set up after the trials by F. W. Chesson, to investigate all the evidence and present it to the public. Supplementing Dilke papers already in the British Library (Add. MSS 43874-43967, 49385-49455; 49610-49612; smaller collections are Add. MSS 47911; 48215; 48937-48939; 48607; 48614).

The papers, found in a bank deed box in 1990, were apparently deposited on 1 Jan 1904 by C. J. C. Pridham, solicitor, of Pridham, Piper and Co. They consist of the correspondence and witness statements collected by Pridham when he and his firm were acting for the Chesson Committee. A pamphlet was issued in 1891, containing some of the evidence gathered (Notes on Crawford v. Crawford, Queen's Proctor Intervening, 1891); the Committee seems to have stopped its work at about this time.

A published account of the Committee's activities appears in R. Jenkins, Sir Charles Dilke, 1968 edition, Chapter Fifteen, pp. 326 et seq. Jenkins used a number of the BM/BL Dilke volumes for this chapter, including Add. MSS 43907, 49446-49447, 49452-49453, 49455 and 49610.

Some of the evidence in the new material seems more or less identical to that in the Dilke Papers, as quoted in Jenkins. Other evidence differs slightly, however, and appears sometimes to be more detailed in the present MSS. Moreover, the BM/BL Dilke Papers may not contain the working notes and covering letters, some from Dilke and his wife, which came to Pridham and his firm, and which are preserved here.

Five vols. 258 items. Paper. A list/calendar is available on request.

Vol. I. Loan 119/1-50

Vol. II. Loan 119/51-100.

Vol. III. Loan 119/101-150

Vol. IV. Loan 119/151 –200

Vol V. Loan 119/201-258

Lender: Barclay's Group Archives, Manchester, M23 9JA, 8 July 2000.