Add MS 4157

The documents here formed part of the original collection of John Thurloe (d. 1668), Secretary to the Council of State and subsequently to the two Cromwells, Lord Protectors. They illuminate both the domestic and international politics of the period, as also the scope of Thurloe's intelligence service.

This forms one volume of the Thurloe State Papers Collection of state letters and papers in the British Library: it has been catalogued as Volume III (e.g. The British Library: Catalogue of Additions to the Manuscripts, 1756-1782, London: British Library, British Museums Publications Limited, 1977, pp. 31-33), though there is a question-mark as to whether Volume I, Add MS 4155, is properly counted as Thurloe State Papers).

The main series of Thurloe's papers were hidden behind a false ceiling in a garret over his chambers, and upon their discovery were sold to John Somers, 1st Baron Somers (1651-1716), lawyer and politician. The papers here probably came into Somers's possession after the 67 volumes of Thurloe Papers which are now in the Bodleian Library (in Rawlinson MSS A) were bound up. They afterwards came into the hands of Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor, and were 'communicated' by him to Birch, according to the Preface to the Thurloe State Papers, which Birch edited and dedicated to Lord Hardwicke in 1742, and in which many of the documents here are printed. From Hardwicke the letters passed to Birch who left them to the British Library.

Contents:

ff. 1r-2v: Letter of J l M (Jacques Le Maire, Dutch diplomat) to John Thurloe, 1 Oct 1655. With seal.

ff. 3r-4v: Letter of John Owen, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, Oxford, 2 Oct 1655.

ff. 5-6v: Hearing of suit of Robert Crowley and his wife Ann against John Johnson by Daniel Searle, Lieutenant Governor, and the Council, of Barbados, 16 Oct 1655.

ff. 7r-8v: Letter of Christina, former Queen of Sweden to Charles II, n.d. (Nov. 1655?). Copy. In French.

f. 7v: Letter of Christina, former Queen of Sweden to Charles X, King of Sweden, Innsbruck, 8 Nov 1655. Copy. In French.

ff. 9r-10v: Letter of Daniel Searle, Governor of Barbados to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, Barbados, 7 Nov 1655.

ff. 11-12v: Letter of Roger Boyle, Baron Broghill (later 1st Earl of Orrery) to John Thurloe, Edinburgh, 10 Nov 1655.

ff. 13r-14v: Letter of John Aldworth, English Consul at Marseilles to John Thurloe, Marseilles, 16 Nov 1655.

ff. 15r-16v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Edinburgh, 20 Nov 1655.

ff. 17r-18v: Letter of M. Minard to Antoine de Bordeaux-Neufville, French Ambassador in England, Paris, 24 Nov 1655.

ff. 19r-20v: Letter of Oliver St John, Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas, to John Thurloe, 27 Nov 1655. With seal.

f. 21r: Instructions of Charles II for Colonel William Borthwick, Cologne, 12 Aug 1655. With Charles's signature.

ff. 22r-23v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Edinburgh, 4 Dec 1655.

ff. 24r-25v: Letter of Jules, Cardinal Mazarin to Antoine de Bordeaux-Neufville, French Ambassador in England, Paris, 8 Dec 1655.

ff. 26r-27v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, Dalkeith, 15 Dec 1655.

ff. 28r-v: 'Representation of the present Popish Church-affaires in Fraunce; made by a very Judicious and Impartial States-man. From Paris written in Characters'. In Latin. Note that this is on the same sheet of paper as the accounts of Cassel and Amsterdam (see ff. 28v-29v).

ff. 28v-29v: Notes on visits to Cassel, 25 Dec 1655 (ff. 28v-29r) and Amsterdam, 21 Jan 1656 (ff. 29r-v). The latter section also has the author's thoughts on the re-admission of the Jews to England. In English with some Latin quoted. These notes are on the same sheet, and in the same hand, as the reflections on the state of church affairs in France (ff. 28r-v).

ff. 30r-31v: Translation into Latin of the letters of the Lord Chancellor, Christian Thomesen Sehested (10 Jan 1655) and Secretary, Erik Krag (15, 23 Jan 1655), of Denmark to the Lord Deputy [of the Eastland Company?]. The Lord Chancellor's letter is signed Christian Thomesen.

ff. 32r-33v: Letter of Oliver St John, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, to John Thurloe, 29 Jan 1656.

ff. 34r-37v: Letter to John Thurloe, 4 Feb 1656. The author's name has been cut in trimming the letter. A letter of intelligence about the international situation in Germany and its neighbours, by an informant who has been paid in guilders. In English.

ff. 38r-43v: Propositions made to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, by Nicholas de Bye, Polish envoy, Westminster, 29 Mar 1655. In Latin with English translation.

ff. 44r-45v: Letters of György II Ráckóczi, Prince of Transylvania to Johannes Amos Comenius [Jan Amos Komenský] (1592-1670), 19 Apr 1656, 15 Jun 1656. In Latin. The copies are forwarded to John Thurloe ('with my humble service'). With Comenius's seal.

ff. 46r-47v: 'Syllogismus Orbis terrarum practicus'. A tract in Latin in the wake of the Peace of Westphalia. Dated from or after 1652 [ by Johannes Amos Comenius (Jan Amos Komenský), ?1657].

ff. 48r-49r: Letter of Alexandre du Puy, Marquis de St André Montbrun to Jean-Baptiste Stouppe [Giovanni Battista Stoppa] (fl. 1651–1673), pastor of the French church at Threadneedle Street and spy, Paris, 21 Apr 1656. A copy in translation.

ff. 50r-51v: Letter of Jules, Cardinal Mazarin to Antoine de Bordeaux-Neufville, French Ambassador in England, Paris, 26 Apr 1656. In English translation. Endorsement notes 'Intelligence made up' 12 May 1656.

ff. 52r-53v: Examination of Juan Peres, aged 17 years, taken before the High Court of Admiralty of Scotland, 29 Apr 1656.

ff. 54r-55v: Letter of John Pearson to Colonel William Daniell (Governor of St Johnstone), Perth, 6 May 1656. The letter writes of a fire in the citadel which, as it is addressed to Daniell in Edinburgh or Leith, implies that the fire was at st Johnstone. With damaged seal.

ff. 56r-57v: Letter of James Borthwicke to (?) John Thurloe, The Sign of the Three Falcons, a little above Charing Cross, 6 May 1656.

ff. 58r-59r: Letter of William Lockhart, English Ambassador in Paris, to John Thurloe, Paris, 14 May 1656. Some ciphers on the outside of the letter.

ff. 60r-61v: Letter of William Lockhart, English Ambassador in Paris, to John Thurloe, Paris, 24 May 1656 (new style).

ff. 62r-63v: Letter of John IV, King of Portugal to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, Alcantara, 26 May 1656. In Latin. Signed by King John. With seal.

ff. 64r-65v: Letter of John IV, King of Portugal, to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, Alcantara, 24 June 1656. In Latin. Signed by King John. With seal.

ff. 66r-v: Letter of William Lockhart, English ambassador in France, to John Thurloe, Paris, 26 May 1656 (new style). With seal.

ff. 67r-68v; Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, Dalkeith, 7 June 1656. With seal.

ff. 69r-70v: Letter of William Lockhart, English ambassador in France, to John Thurloe, Chauni, 9 Jun 1656. The date in new style; the endorsement gives both this date and the old style 31 May.

ff. 71r-72v: Letter of William Lockhart, English ambassador in France, to John Thurloe, Chauni, 21 Jun 1656. Some use of ciphers, which have been translated.

ff. 73r-74v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Edinburgh, 1 Jul 1656. With seal.

ff. 75r-v: Letter of John Arden to John Bostocke, merchant of London, Dunkirk, 10 Jul 1656.

ff. 76r-77v: Letter of William Lockhart, English ambassador in France, to John Thurloe, 8 Aug 1656. Endorsement gives both old style and new style dates (29 Jul; 8 Aug). With seal.

ff. 78r-79v: Letter of Blanck Marshall to Richard Richardson, merchant of Chester, Bruges, 19 Aug 1656. The letter is dated both new style and old (9 Aug). With seal. Some use of cipher. The letter is addressed to be enclosed with one to Richard Row in the Admiralty Chamber, Whitehall. However, the names of both author and recipient in this spy's report are fictitious. Richardson is John Thurloe. Marshall is uncertain: possibly Captain Malcolm Smith' possibly Margaret, Lady Herbert (nee Smith). Nadine Akkerman, Invisible Agents: Women and espionage in Seventeeth-Century Britain (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018), pp. 222-25, discusses the mystery of Marshall's identity.

ff. 80r-81v: Letter of Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, 23 Aug 1656. Copy. In French. Letter written from his army.

ff. 82r-83v: Letter of Thomas Horton to Oliver St John, Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas, Queens' College, Cambridge, 25 Aug 1656. With damaged seal.

ff. 84r-85v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Edinburgh, 26 Aug 1656. With seal.

ff. 86r-87v: Letter of Oliver St John, Lord Chief Justice of Common Pleas, to John Thurloe, 26 Aug 1656. With seal.

ff. 88v-89r: Letter of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, to Henry Cromwell ('Sonne Harry'), Major-General of the Forces in Ireland, 26 Aug 1656. A draft, not in Oliver's own hand.

ff. 90r-91v: Letter of William Lockhart, English ambassador in France, to John Thurloe, 27 Aug 1656. This is the new style date: the endorsement gives both this and the old (17 Aug).

ff. 92r-93v: Letter of William Lockhart, English ambassador in France, to John Thurloe, Clermont, 27 Aug 1656. Lockhart gives both the new style date (27 Aug) and the old style (17 Aug). With some use of ciphers, which have been translated.

ff. 94r-95v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Edinburgh, 2 Sep 1656. With seal.

ff. 96r-97v: Intelligence report from Brussels, 3 Sep 1656 (new style).

ff. 98r-99v: Letter of Oliver St John, Lord Chief Justice of Commons Pleas, to John Thurloe, Thorpe, 5 Sep 1656. With broken seal.

ff. 100r-101v: Letter of Oliver St John, Lord Chief Justice of Commons Pleas, to John Thurloe, 4 Oct 1656. With seal.

ff. 102r: Letter of Thomas Priestlye to Garret Johnson, Leiden, 15 Sep 1656. The letter gives both new style and old style (5 Sep) dates. This is presumably a copy, which notes a further superscription to Rowland Marston at an Amsterdam address. With some ciphering. A Garret Johnson was master of the Blue Unicorn of Amsterdam, Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, [Commonwealth] 1649-1660, preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office. ed. Mary Anne Everett Green. Vol. 3: Jan-Oct 1651 (London, England: Longman & Co., 1877), p. 229.

f. 103r: Letter of Thomas Priestlye to (?) Garret Johnson, Leiden, 15 Sep 1656. The letter gives both new style and old style (5 Sep) dates. This is presumably a copy. The letter looks to follow on from f. 102r, but the recipient is not named. Priestlye is also not named, but inferred from place and date.

ff. 104r-105v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 7 Nov 1656. With broken seal.

ff. 106r-v: Letter of Francis Prince to William Kiffin, Amsterdam, 22 Sep 1656.

ff. 107r-108v: Letter of Colonel Thomas Cooper to John Thurloe, Carrickfergus, 4 Oct 1656. With seal.

ff. 109r-110v: Letter of Henry Cromwell, Major-General of the Forces in Ireland, to John Thurloe, Athlone, 14 Oct 1656. With seal.

ff. 111r-112v: Intercepted copy of 'the returne otnthe diligence of those imployed by Charles Stuart to negotiate heere in Scotland and places elsewhere' by John Demster, 1656. A note states that 3 copies were sent overseas lest one should fail. One came to Charles Stuart's hands and he communicated it to Don John of Austria, 17 Oct 1656. This is in the same hand as ff. 113r-114v.

ff. 113r-114v: The heads of a discourse between Charles Stuart and Don John of Austria relating to the letter sent by John Demster out of Scotland. In the same hand as the copy of the letter, ff. 111r-112v.

ff. 115r-116v: Letter of Jeremy Sanderson to Samuel Hartlib, Heiligenbrunn (near Danzig), 1 Nov 1656.

ff. 117r-118v: Letter of Colonel William Moore to Henry Cromwell, from aboard the Sapphire, 2 Nov 1656. This letter, about the wreck of the Two Brothers, is enclosed, in Henry Cromwell's letter (ff. 119r-120v). The letter is addressed to ' Your Excelency'.

ff. 119r-120v: Letter of Henry Cromwell to Oliver Cromwell, Dublin, 7 Nov 1656.

ff. 121r-122v: Letter of Thomas Herbert, Clerk of the Council for Ireland, to John Thurloe, Dublin, 4 Nov 1656.

ff. 123r-124v: Newsletter from Elbing, Poland, 14 Nov 1656. Addressed to Richard Bradshaw, Resident at Hamburg. Broken seal.

ff. 125r-126v: Copy of intercepted royalist letter: Patrick Brun (or Brune) to Andrew or Peter Crean (of Sligo), London, 18 Sep 1656. ff. 125r-126v and 127r-128v may be the intercepted letters 'in Irish characters' referred to in Herbert's letter of 4 Nov (ff. 121r-122v).

ff. 127r-128v: Copy of intercepted royalist letter: Patrick Brun (or Brune) to Teige O'Dowd (at Castle Conor, Sligo), London, 26 Sep 1656. ff. 125r-126v and 127r-128v may be the intercepted letters 'in Irish characters' referred to in Herbert's letter of 4 Nov (ff. 121r-122v).

ff. 129r-130v: Newsletter from Elbing, Poland, 17 Nov 1656. Addressed to Richard Bradshaw, Resident at Hamburg. Broken seal.

ff. 131r-132v: Letter from William Steele, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, to John Thurloe, Dublin, 5 Nov 1656. With seal.

ff. 133r-134v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 18 Nov 1656. With seal.

ff. 135r-136v: Letter from Col. B [Joseph Bampfield] to John Thurloe. Paris, 29 Nov 1656. New style date in the text, endorsed with old style (19 Nov).

ff. 137r-138v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 11 Dec 1656. With seal.

ff. 139r-140v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 16 Dec 1656. With seal.

ff. 141r-142v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 23 Dec 1656. With seal.

f. 143r: Letter of Bernardo de Apericio to Francisco Sanchez Calderon, Madrid, 15 Dec 1656. In English translation.

ff. 144r-145v: Letter of Jules, Cardinal Mazarin to Antoine de Bordeaux-Neufville, French Ambassador in England, Paris, 4 Jan 1657.

ff. 146r-147v: Letter of Jules, Cardinal Mazarin to Antoine de Bordeaux-Neufville, French Ambassador in England, Paris, 10 Jan 1657.

ff. 148r-149v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 13 Jan 1657. With damaged seal.

ff. 150r-151v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 20 Jan 1657. With damaged seal.

ff. 152r-153v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 27 Jan 1657. With damaged seal.

ff. 154r-155v: Letter of George Monck to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 29 Jan 1657. With damaged seal.

ff. 156r-157v: Letter of George Monck, Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, to John Thurloe, Dalkeith, 10 Feb 1657. With damaged seal.

ff. 158r-159v: Letter of John Richards (i.e. Sir Edward Hyde) to 'Little John', Cologne, 25 Jan 1657. Copy. Noted that the superscription was for Little John to Mrs Simbarbe, and that it came under cover to Anthony Hinton, apothecary, in the Old Bailey.

ff. 160r-161v: Letter of intelligence, its topics including Charles II and Scottish royalism, Rotterdam, 6 Feb 1656. The letter was clearly written by somebody who at least claimed to be close to the centre of the royalist court in exile, though it is unclear whether this was an intercepted letter or a spy's report to Thurloe.

ff. 162r-v: Lettre de cachet of Louis XIV to the Governor of St Malo, the Marquis de Coetquin, in favour English merchants, 25 Feb 1656. Two copies. In French.

ff. 163r-v: Letter of William Lockhart, English ambassador in France, to John Thurloe, Paris, 21 Feb 1657. Lockhart dates the day and the year both old (11 Feb) and new style (21 Feb).

ff. 166r-167r: Letter of John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen, Cleve, 1 Mar 1656. Recipient uncertain: the letter addresses both 'My Lords' and 'My Lord'. In English translation. Perhaps the recipient is the Dutch States-General, but (especially if the plural 'Lords' is the ship of a transcriber's and translator's pen) perhaps his employer, the Elector of Brandenburg.

ff. 168r-169v: Letter of John Maurice, Prince of Nassau-Siegen, Cleve, 6 Mar 1656. Recipient uncertain: the letter addresses My Lord'. In English translation. Perhaps the recipient is employer, the Elector of Brandenburg.

ff. 170r-v: Letter of Henry Cromwell and the Irish Council to John Thurloe, the Council Camber, Dublin, 1 Apr 1657. Signatories are Henry Cromwell, Lord Chancellor William Steele, [illegible], Robert Goodwin, Matthew Thomlinson and William Bury.

ff. 171r-171v: Examinations of James Ludloe [Ludlow], Keeper of Lambeth House, Edward Dendy and Micheel Meysey, 15 Apr 1657. Against the seditious words of the political prisoner Richard Lee; Ludloe also testifies that Lee had been visited by Colonel Nathaniel Rich.

ff. 174r-175r: Letter of Colonel William Daniell to George Monck (at Edinburgh), St Johnstone, 28 Apr 1657. Letter about the Quakerism of Captain-Lieutenant Davenport.

ff. 176r-v: Letter of Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector, to the Doge and Senate of Venice, Westminster, Oct 1657. Cromwell writes in praise of the victory of Venice against the Turks, and on behalf of Thomas Galilee, enslaved by the Turks whilst serving the Venetian Republic.

ff. 177r-v: Letter of Major-General Thomas Morgan to George Monck, , Commander-in-Chief in Scotland (at Dalkeith), Aberdeen, 29 Apr 1687. With seal.

ff. 178r-179v: Letter of Jules, Cardinal Mazarin to Antoine de Bordeaux-Neufville, French Ambassador in England, Compiegne, 15 May 1657.

ff. 180r-181v: Speech of Oliver Cromwell to Parliament [8 Apr 1657].

ff. 182r-184r: Letter of Henry Cromwell to Oliver Cromwell, Dublin, 5 Jun 1657.

ff. 185r-187v: Instructions by the Governor of Cuba, Pedro Bayona Villanueva to Major, Juan de los Reyes, for the reconquest of Jamaica, Cuba., 26 Jun 1657. With extracts of letters from the Governor of Cuba to Captain Lucas Borrero, 12 Sep 1657, and to Major de los Reyos, 10 Oct 1657; from Don Christopher Arnelosasi to Major de los Reyos, Cartagena, 10 Oct 1657; from the Deputy Governor of Cuba to the 'Vice-King' (i.e. Viceroy), 21 Jul 1657; and from the Governor of Jamaica to King Philip IV, 29 Aug 1657. In English translation.

ff. 188r-189v: Letter of William Craven, Baron Craven to Sir Walter Vane, The Hague, 15 Aug 1657.

ff. 190r-191v: Letter of George Monck to John Thurloe, Edinburgh, 11 Aug 1657. With damaged seal.

ff. 192r-196v: Letter of George Monck to Oliver Cromwell, Edinburgh, 20 Aug 1657, with attached the annual charge

of the Scottish civil list (ff. 197r-198v), and the military establishment (ff. 199r-200v).

ff. 197r-198v: The annual charge of salaries and contingencies in the civil list in Scotland and for carrying on the government there according to the retrenchment: offered by the Council in Scotland, 20 Oct 1657, in reply to the Protector's letter of 16 Jul 1657.

ff. 199r-200v: List of the garrisons and military establishment in Scotland by the establishment of the Army, 26 Jul 1655, returned 20 Aug 1657.

ff. 201r-204r: Secret Instructions to Major-General William Jephson, 1657. On a mission to the King of Sweden.

ff. 205r-206v: Letter of George Monck to John Thurloe, Edinburgh, 18 Aug 1657. With damaged seal.