Add MS 76783-77841

Papers of the 5th Earl Spencer

Althorp Papers. Vols. mcdlxxxiii-mmdxli. The career of the Liberal politician John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer, covered the last four decades of the 19th century and the opening years of the 20th century, an era largely dominated by W. E. Gladstone and by the politics of empire, domestic reform and Ireland. Famous for his bushy red beard which gave him his nickname, ‘The Red Earl’, he served in all of Gladstone’s four governments, for the full term of each, and in Rosebery’s short administration of 1894-1895. After graduating from Trinity College Cambridge he entered parliament in 1857 as member for the Southern division of Northamptonshire, becoming Earl Spencer two years later on the death of his father, the 4th Earl. He was twice Viceroy of Ireland, from 1868 to 1874 and from 1882 to 1885, twice Lord President of the Council, from 1880 to 1882 and again in 1886, and First Lord of the Admiralty from 1892 to 1895.

The papers of the 5th Earl are by far the largest group in the Althorp Papers relating to one family member and form a major political archive of the Gladstonian era. They contain a wealth of correspondence relating to Spencer’s four terms of office between 1868 and 1895 and to national politics in general during years which saw momentous changes in the political, economic and social climate of the country. There is also much material concerning Northamptonshire affairs, the management of the family estates and Spencer’s non-political offices, as well as his correspondence with family members, including his wife, Charlotte, and half-brother, Robert. Volumes such as Lady Spencer’s diary and the guest lists for Spencer House and other residences illuminate the social functions performed by Spencer and his wife who were for five decades at the heart of aristocratic and political society.

Prior to the British Library’s acquisition of the Althorp Papers the political correspondence had been divided into three sections. The first of these is a series of 143 volumes, with original indexes, almost entirely comprising correspondence from Spencer’s years in office. There are, however, very few letters from his period at the Admiralty in this series, as the bulk of the Admiralty correspondence had originally been kept separate from the rest of the political correspondence. The Admiralty correspondence now extends to forty-five volumes. The remainder of the political correspondence is found dispersed in the huge series of `miscellaneous correspondence' which also covers virtually every aspect of Spencer’s non-political life, from estate and financial matters to his chairmanship of the National Rifle Association.

Spencer’s early career in the House of Lords was uneventful, though for most of the years 1859 to 1866 he also held positions in the royal household. As he had held no previous government post his appointment as Viceroy of Ireland by Gladstone in 1868 was a major surprise to many Liberals, as well as to himself. Spencer’s correspondence with Hartington and Gladstone in the early part of 1871 contains much discussion of the Westmeath situation and of the Fenian demonstration occasioned by the visit of the Prince of Wales to Ireland in the same year. Despite these difficulties, Spencer left office in January 1874 with the Irish countryside largely pacified and the threat of Fenianism in decline, factors which convinced him that his tough policies had been effective.

On the return of Gladstone and the Liberals to power in 1880 Spencer became Lord President of the Council with a seat in Cabinet for the first time. Two years later he replaced Lord Cowper as Irish Viceroy, but his second term in Dublin Castle was struck by tragedy only a day after his arrival. On the afternoon of 6 May 1882 the Irish Chief-Secretary, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and the Under-Secretary, Thomas Burke were murdered in Phoenix Park by members of a Republican gang, almost under the windows of the Viceregal Lodge, Spencer’s official residence. Spencer himself only narrowly escaped, having ridden ahead of his two colleagues only a minute earlier. The death of Cavendish, the popular younger brother of the Marquess of Hartington, in particular was a severe shock to the British political establishment. The months that followed the murders were ones of exceptional strain and anxiety for Spencer and his new Chief-Secretary, Sir George Trevelyan. Much of the correspondence between them in the Althorp Papers for the remainder of 1882 and early 1883 is concerned with the efforts to track down the killers and root out the secret societies. By 1884 the pressure of work had become too much for the highly-strung Trevelyan who was replaced by the future Prime Minister, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.

Much of Spencer’s official correspondence and a large section of administrative papers from the years 1880 to 1886, including drafts of some of his speeches, survive in the Althorp Papers, covering all aspects of his Irish administration of 1882 to 1885 and the ensuing crisis over Home Rule. As well as the correspondence with the two Irish Chief Secretaries and many cabinet members, there are also sections of correspondence with ministers and high-ranking officials of the Dublin Castle administration, including the influential Under-Secretary, Sir Robert Hamilton, who had replaced Burke in 1882. The acceptance of Home Rule by Hamilton and many of his colleagues in Dublin Castle can be seen as a prerequisite for the dramatic u-turn of Liberal Party policy on this issue in 1886.

After six years in opposition Spencer returned to office in 1892 as First Lord of the Admiralty in Gladstone’s fourth and last government. Spencer was one of the few whigs to remain loyal to Gladstone and his reward was the post he had coveted for many years and which had also been held by his grandfather, the 2nd Earl, in the Napoleonic era. The correspondence and papers covering his years at the Admiralty, 1892 to 1895, are a valuable source for the development of the navy and overall naval strategy which at that time concentrated on the possibility of a war with France. Letters to Spencer from Cabinet ministers, particularly Lord Rosebery, successively Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister, and from the admirals who served as Commanders-in-Chief in various parts of the world make up a large part of the Admiralty correspondence. The Mediterranean was the most stategically significant area, though the war between China and Japan was closely observed by the government with its eye on Britain’s territories in the Far East. The sinking of the ‘Victoria’ was the one major disaster to take place during Spencer’s three years at the Admiralty. The incident occurred on 22 June 1893 when the ‘Victoria’, the flagship of Spencer’s friend, Admiral Sir George Tryon, collided with another warship off Tripoli. Tryon himself and more than 350 officers and men were lost.

Spencer’s long years in office did not prevent him from taking an active interest in Northamptonshire affairs. His prominence in the county ensured his election as the first chairman of Northamptonshire County Council in 1888. Of particular interest among his papers are letters to him from his half-brother, Robert, later the 6th Earl, relating to the latter’s four general election campaigns in Northamptonshire constituencies. The correspondence also reflects the pervasive mood of pessimism which hung over the Liberal Party before and during the election.

A selection of the 5^th Earl’s correspondence has been published in The Papers of the 5^th Earl Spencer 1835-1910, ed. Peter Gordon, Northamptonshire Record Society, 2 vols. (1981-1986).

One thousand and seventy-seven volumes. Classified as follows:

Special Correspondence. 76783-77294.

Family Correspondence. 76783-76829.

Royal family and officials. 76830-76846.

Political correspondence. 76847-77118.

Clergymen. 77119-77136.

Solicitors, bankers, etc. 77137-77156.

Estate. 77157-77190.

Local. 77191-77218.

Clifden Estate. 77219-77223.

Harrow. 77224-77231.

Miscellaneous. 77232-77251.

Original indexes. 77252-77294.

Political Papers. 77295-77375.

Admiralty Papers. 77376-77435.

General (Chronological) Correspondence. 77436-77638

Correspondence and Papers of Countess Spencer. 77639-77718

Correspondence and Papers of Lady Sarah Spencer. 77719-77753

Account Books. 77754-77792

Miscellaneous Correspondence. 77793-77841