Mss Eur F699/2/1

Correspondence and other papers relating to the family of Charlotte, Lady Canning. Includes letters between various family members, including: Charlotte Canning's parents, Lord Charles Stuart de Rothesay and Lady Elizabeth Stuart de Rothesay; her sister Louisa Stuart, later Lady Waterford; her maternal grandmother Lady Elizabeth Hardwicke; her maternal aunt Catherine, Lady Caledon; and her sister in law, Harriet Lady Clanricarde.

The family papers can be divided into three broad areas:

Mss Eur F699/2/1/1-2: Miscellaneous Family papers: including papers relating to the Earl of Hardwicke's monument, letters of condolence on the death of Lord Stuart de Rothesay, papers relating to finance, legacies and legal matters, family correspondence to Lady Waterford, letter relating to the naming of Charlotte Canning, and other ephemera.

Mss Eur F699/2/1/3-21: Family Correspondence of Lady Stuart de Rothesay, particularly letters received from Charlotte Canning.

Mss Eur F699/2/1/22-27: Family correspondence received by Charlotte Canning while in India, which was wrapped and labelled with other correspondence from the De Rothesay family home at Highcliffe Castle. They were subsequently deposited amongst Charlotte Canning's papers.

Many letters were written by Charlotte Canning in the course of carrying out her royal duties as Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, and are addressed from royal residences such as Windsor Castle, Balmoral and Osborne House. A quantity of correspondence from Charlotte Canning was sent during a number of European trips taken with Charles Canning, in addition to trips taken with the Royal Family. Letters to Lady Stuart de Rothesay from Charlotte Canning also include details of her mother's financial arrangements and the management of Highcliffe Castle after Lord Stuart de Rothesay's death.

The family papers have been substantially amalgamated and rearranged in 2016. Correspondence appears to have been initially sorted by Augustus Hare during his research for Two Noble Lives (1893), and these wrappers have been retained. Hare added dates to letters where he could, although these are not always accurate. Letters have also been dated from internal evidence where possible, although it has not always been possible to indicate an exact year. There are a large number of partial and incomplete letters in the collection which remain to be matched (Mss Eur F699/2/1/15).