Add MS 88942/4

This Series is comprised of three Sub-Series and contains a wide variety of material dealing with the financial and legal affairs of W. H F. Talbot both as a businessman and as a landowner. (88942/4/3) also contains a small amount of material that deals with financial and legal matters for his immediate family.

Material concerning patents, licences and financial matters (1818-1872) contains patents, licences and various other legal and financial documents principally concerning Talbot’s work in ‘Calotype’ and ‘Talbotype’ (photography) but also includes similar material on photo-engraving and photoglyphic engraving as well as other patents.

(88942/4/1/1) to (88942/4/1/4) deals with patents, contracts and legal documents for the ‘Calotype’ and ‘Talbotype’ photographic processes from 1843 to 1852. (88942/4/1/5) to (88942/4/1/7) deals with patents, contracts and legal documents for photoglyphic engraving from 1855 and [1865]. (88942/4/1/8) contains patent specifications for both photo and photoglyphic engraving including two in French as well as receipts and other material from 1849 to 1872. (88942/4/1/9) relates to the issuing of ‘Calotype’ and ‘Talbotype’ licences, between 1841 and 1852, to both professional and amateur photographers including early draft contracts as well as invoices and receipts. (88942/4/1/10) contains contracts, accounts, invoices and receipts in relation to the ‘Calotype’ and ‘Talbotype’ photographic establishments at both Reading and Regent Street, London from 1845 to 1861.

(88942/4/1/11) to (88942/4/1/14) contains accounts, invoices and receipts relating to fellow photographers, including Antoine Claudet, as well as photographic suppliers including chemists, instrument makers and publishers, 1818 to 1864. The documents in (88942/4/1/15) demonstrate the lengths that Talbot was prepared to go to protect his photographic patents and includes legal letters, affidavits, memoranda, solicitors’ accounts and Talbot’s rough notes on some of the court cases, 1851 to 1854.

(88942/4/1/16) to (88942/4/1/20) contains legal agreements, patent specifications and accounts for the drafting of Talbot’s various other patents such as the application of Motive Power dated from 1840 to 1853. (88942/4/1/21), dated 1839, is a patent for the daguerreotype photographic process.

Material concerning W. H.F. Talbot and the Lacock Estate (1818-1876) contains material such as accounts, invoices and receipts, contracts, memoranda and other material that details W. H. F. Talbot’s individual financial and legal matters as well as the general legal and financial matters involved in the running of the Talbot family’s ancestral home, Lacock Abbey, on the Lacock Estate, Wiltshire.

(88942/4/2/1) to (88942/4/2/5), 1818 to 1871, contains accounts, receipts and invoices addressed directly to W. H. F. Talbot, including in (88942/4/2/3) to (88942/4/2/4), some in French, German and Italian. (88942/4/2/6), 1822-1875, concerns business and legal matters and includes accounts, credit letters, receipts and notes whilst (88942/4/2/7), 1824-1872, concerns documents dealing with Talbot’s personal financial and legal matters including tax, rental agreements and household accounts. (88942/4/2/8), 1826-1867, contains material, including accounts, invoices and receipts that deal with financial and legal matters relating to Lacock Abbey and the Lacock Estate. (88942/4/2/9) to (88942/4/2/10), 1821-1876, covers the negotiations over the sale of land to the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway for the construction of the railway line between Chippenham and Weymouth as well as a later proposal of Talbot’s to mine iron ore on his land, (88942/4/2/10) being a draft lease for iron ore mining. (88942/4/2/11) contains not only accounts, receipts and invoices but also certificates for fire insurance for Lacock Abbey and the stables at the Red Lion inn whilst (88942/4/2/12) to (88942/4/2/23), 1827-1869, contains accounts, invoices and receipts usually addressed directly to W. H. F. Talbot by the workers and tenants of the Lacock Estate. (88942/4/2/24) contains accounts, invoices and receipts from nurserymen, seedsmen and florists. (88942/4/2/25) to (88942/4/2/27), 1827-1864, concerns receipts for various parish taxes, including Poors rate, Church rate, Income tax, Land and assessed taxes and Repairs of the highway.

Material concerning W. H F. Talbot and family (1796-1872) contains documents dealing with the financial matters of the Feildings, travel documents, including passports, for W. H. F. Talbot himself, documents relating to Talbot’s marriage to Constance Mundy and finally wills and other administrative documents for Talbot, his mother and step-father as well as the family governess, Amélina Petit de Billier.

(88942/4/3/1), 1801-1846, contains accounts, invoices, receipts and notes for the Feilding family, principally concerning Charles Feilding, Talbot’s step-father, and Lady Elizabeth Theresa Feilding, his mother. (88942/4/3/2), 1822-1851 concerns the passports and travel documents issued to Talbot for his travels through Europe. Some are these document are in French or German. (88942/4/3/3), 1796-1872, contains marriage contracts for W. H. F. Talbot, the will of Captain (later Late Admiral) Charles Feilding including invoices for his funeral costs addressed to his executors or W. H. F. Talbot, and the wills of Lady Elizabeth Theresa Feilding and William Henry Fox Talbot. Also included is the will and probate of Amélina Petit de Billier governess to both Talbot’s step-sisters and later to Talbot’s children and, as such, considered a part of the Talbot family. (88942/4/3/4), 1856-1859, contains accounts, invoices and receipts concerning Charles Henry Talbot's, W. H. F. Talbot's eldest and only son, attendence at Harrow School.