Add MS 70990

ROBINSON PAPERS: papers of John Robinson M.P. (b.1727, d.1802), Secretary of the Treasury 1770-1782, Surveyer-General of Woods and Forests, 1787-1802; 1755-1810 [1818?]. Supplementing Add. 37833-37836, and the North/Sheffield Papers, Add. 61860-61876; 61987; 62139. Apparently a stray volume from the Robinson Papers, a large part of which are now in the possession of the Marquess of Abergavenny; for copies of the latter see B.L. MS Facs. 340 (1-5). The contents of the present volume do not appear in the H.M.C. Report on the Abergavenny Papers (Tenth Report, Appendix, Part vi, 1887). The volume, which includes material addressed to Lord North when Prime Minister, is inscribed on the cover: 'Holograph letters, documents &c. of George III and others in reference to secret service'. Many letters do relate to secret service activities, but the volume also contains material covering other government business; the papers were not bound in strict chronological order; one earlier and one later item, ff. 55 and 70, have apparently been bound in by mistake. Two bookplates, one (1892-1929) of the 5th Earl of Rosebery, and of Norman H. Strouse. Purchased at Christies, 3 April 1992, lot 99.

Paper; ff. iii+99. 335 x 240mm. approx. Nineteenth-century binding.

Contents as follows:-

1. ff. 1-3v. Draft, in the hand of Lord North, of a letter from George III to [the Duke of Gloucester?], concerning the latter's marriage; 28 May 1773. Endorsed (f. 3v) by Robinson.

2. ff. 4-17v. Letters to Robinson from George III; only one letter (in fact to Lord North, 7 Aug. 1782, f. 12) appears in Sir John Fortescue, Correspondence of George III, vol. vi, no. 3782; 1774-1784.

3. ff. 18-26v. Receipts for secret service money received from Robinson; signed by Lord North and initialled by George III; also contains (f. 20) the cover, endorsed by William Eden and Robinson (Jan. 1778), to Lord North's despatch to Lord Howe, 28 Oct. 1777, for which see f. 92; 1777, 1781.

4. ff. 27-36v, 88. Correspondence of Robinson with John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty; 1777-1782.

5. ff. 37-39. Two letters from Lord North to Robinson, Oct. 1779; one is wrongly dated 1776.

6. ff. 40-47v. Letters to Lord North from Nathaniel Parker Forth, Government agent in Paris; for Forth see also f. 82 below and Add. 65145-65152; 1777. Partly French.

7. ff. 48-49v, 72-73v. Correspondence of Robinson with Lord Thurlow, Lord Chancellor; 1780-1789.

8. ff. 55-56v. Letter to Sir Thomas Robinson, 1st Baron Grantham 1761, from Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle, First Commissioner of the Treasury; 1755.

9. ff. 57-58v. Letter to Robinson from Charles James Fox, 7 Nov. 1775.

10. ff. 59-60v. Letter rel. to patronage to Robinson from Francis North, 1st Baron Guilford, father of Lord North; 1780.

11. f. 61. Letter to the former from William Brummell, private secretary to Lord North; 1788.

12. f. 62. Letter to Robinson from John Moore, Archbishop of Canterbury, concerning a Mr Myers; 18 Nov. 1789.

13. f. 63. Letter to Robinson from George Rose, Secretary to the Treasury; 1791.

14. ff. 64-65v. Letter to Robinson from Henry Dundas, Secretary of War, asking the former if he wished to continue as an M.P.; 29 March 1796. For the reply see H.M.C. Report, Abergavenny Papers p. 71.

15. ff. 66-69v. Correspondence of Robinson with Sylvester Douglas, Baron Glenbervie, rel. to the latter's planned biography of Lord North; 1800. See also Add. 61876.

16. ff. 70-71v. Letter from Elizabeth, Duchess of Buccleuch to the Rev T. P.Haverfield; 1810 [1818?] .

17. ff. 74-81v. Extracts of secret intelligence rel. to the War with America enclosed in Lord North's despatch to Lord Howe, 26 (or 28) Oct. 1777; see f. 92 below. Copy by Robinson.

18. f. 82. Paper: 'Plaintes de La Cour de France contre celle de Londres'; June 1777. Extracts, apparently by Nathaniel Parker Forth, for whom see ff. 40-47 above. Partly French.

19. ff. 83-84v. Anon. note of intelligence from France rel. to a possible invasion of England, proceedings in the French Council of State concerning Holland and the possibility of the spy gaining further information, etc.; [1779?]. Endorsement f. 84v, most of which has been lost.

20. ff. 85-87. Draft, prepared by Robinson for Lord North, of a memorandum rel. to Lord North's financial dealings with the King and Messrs Drummonds; with a further note (f. 87) by Robinson; [circa April 1782]. For a slightly different version and an additional enclosure see The Correspondence of George III 1760-1783, vol. V, p. 471.

21. ff. 92-95v. Letter to Lord Howe from Lord North containing intelligence received concerning French, Spanish and Dutch activities intended to help the American colonies; copy in the hand of William Eden, later 1st Baron Auckland, Under-Secretary of State for the Northern Department; for the cover see f. 20 above; for enclosed extracts of intelligence see ff. 74-81v; 28 Oct. 1777.

22. ff. 96-99v. Minute in pencil by Robinson of a conversation with the Duke of Northumberland, drawn up for Pitt; 27 Aug. 1786.