Add MS 79532 C

Three letters of the Cayley family; 1812-1861. For details of the family, see Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage. Presented by the executor of Mrs Dorothy Frances Yates née Cayley in March 2004. As follows:

1. Letter of Thomas Cayley (b.1776, d. 1857), great-great-grandson of Sir William Cayley, 1st Bart., sea captain, written from St Vincent in the Caribbean to his sister Mary (b.1778, d.1857) at Whitby; 30 Aug. 1812. Cayley recounts his financial misfortunes and describes the volcanic eruption of Mount Soufriere on 30 April / 1 May of that year. The letter is imperfect; the final leaf was missing when it was presented to the British Library, but an earlier transcript of the complete letter accompanies the original.

2. Letter of Henry (Harry) Cayley of the Bengal Army, afterwards Deputy Surgeon General, written from Benares to his brother Arthur, describing events during the Indian Mutiny; 3 Nov. [1857?].

3. Letter from George Biscoe Oldfield, afterwards Canon of Salisbury, written whilst an undergraduate at Exeter College, Oxford, to [Arthur] Cayley; 5 Nov. 1861. The letter refers to a dispute at Cheltenham College, and to former pupils who were presumably contemporaries of the writer and recipient at the school. See Tim Pearce, Then and Now: an anniversary celebration of Cheltenham College, (Aldershot, 1991).

ff. 15-22v. 250 x 200mm., 205 x 135mm., 135 x 85mm.

Thomas Cayley, sea captain: Mary Cayley, sister of T Cayley, at Whitby: Letter to Mary Cayley from Thomas Cayley: 1812: Imperfect, but with transcript of complete letter.

Arthur Cayley, brother of H Cayley: Reverend George Biscoe Oldfield, Canon of Salisbury: Cheltenham College: Letter to Arthur Cayley from Revd. George Biscoe Oldfield rel. to disputes at Cheltenham College: 1861.

Henry Cayley, CMG; Deputy Surgeon General, Bengal Army: Arthur Cayley, brother of H Cayley: Letter rel. to Indian Mutiny to Arthur Cayley from Henry Cayley: [1857?].