Loan 96 RLF 4/4

Contains the surviving records of the Literary Fund Anniversary Dinners held between 1830 and 1839. The records for 1830 and 1831 are quite extensive, but those for the years between 1832 and 1839 are comparatively sparse. The records are organised by year. For 1830 and 1831, there are several folders detailing different aspects of the dinner, containing principally letters and administrative documents; for 1832-1839, there are only single folders. The chairmen for each year are given below along with details of the contents of the folders.

1830 (Chairman: Edward Adolphus St Maur, Duke of Somerset):

1: Letters accepting stewardships from Edward Bull, Richard Bentley, Edward Lytton Bulwer, George Crabbe, Robert Fisher, Captain Glascock, Lord Glengall, Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, Henry Gally Knight, Thomas Longman, John Murray, Thomas Roscoe, Sir Martin Richer Shee, Don Telesforo de Trueba, L S Wade and Robert Walsh.

2: Letters declining stewardships from the Prince of Cimitile, William Blackedon, Sir William Curtis, Lord Encombe, D A B Granville, Thomas Gaspey, Colonel Leake, the Marquis of Londonderry, Sir Walter Scott, Colonel Leicester Stanhope, Edmond Temple and Sir Frederick B Watson.

3: Letters accepting honorary invitations, from Sir William Beechey, the Earl of Chichester, John Gibson Lockhart, C E Jerningham, Captain Frederick Marryat, C J Shore and John Taylor.

4: Letters declining honorary invitations, from Lord Auckland, Lord Amhurst, Lord Belgrave, Lord De Dunstanville, the Duke of Devonshire, Lord Durham, Sir George Duckett, George Agar Ellis, Sir Edward Cust, the French Ambassador, Earl Gower, Lord Francis Leveson Gower, Hudson Gurney, the Earl of Essex, Henry Hope, Sir Henry Hardinge, Lord Howick, Francis Jeffrey, Prince Lieven, the Bishop of London (Charles Blomfield), the Marquis of Lansdowne, Robert Peel, Lord Palmerston, Lord John Russell, Sir George Staunton, Thomas Snodgrass, Sir John Edward Swinburne, Lord Templeton, Lord Torrington, G Watson Taylor, William Ward and George H Ward.

5: Correspondence respecting the chairman from the Duke of Somerset; circular; letters respecting music from William Jerdan, Uriah Collyer, John Braham and [?] Broadhurst; list of donations.

1831 (Chairman: Henry Brougham, Lord Chancellor):

1: Letters accepting stewardships from John Thomas Barber Beaumont, William Behnes, Henry Lytton Bulwer, [?] Conolly, John Hobart Caunter, Sir William Chatterton, J G Bucknall Estcourt, Basil Hall, Samuel Carter Hall, Lord Henley, Sir James Macintosh, Lord Mahon (Philip Henry Stanhope), John Murray, James Robinson Planché, Leitch Ritchie, William Sotheby and Frederick Waller.

2: Letters declining stewardships from Thomas Massa Alsagar, Ralph Bernal, George Birkbeck, Captain Brenton, Joseph Calkin, John Wilson Croker, J P De la Fons, B W Donkin, John Greenwood, [?] Harding, [?] Kelly, Thomas Longman, William Macmichael, Frederick Marryat, William Nicol, Henry William Pickersgill, Sir Francis Palgrave, T Polhill, John Poole, Winthrop Mackworth Praed, George Rivington, Frederic Mansel Reynolds and Lord Suffield.

3: Letters accepting honorary invitations, from Sir William Beechey, Sir William Clayton, Henry Ellis, Robert Grant, Henry Hope, Baron d’Haufsez, Chandos Leigh, William Charles Macready, Sir John Malcolm, Sir Martin Archer Shee, the Earl of Shrewsbury and Sir John Edward Swinburne.

4: Letters declining honorary invitations, from Lord Auckland, Sir William Beechey, Lord Brownlow, the Earl of Carlisle, Lord Dudley, Lord Ellenbrough, Edward Ellice, Lord Francis Leveson Gower, Sir James Graham, Earl Grey, Sir Robert Harry Inglis, Henry Gally Knight, L M Lane, the Marquis of Lansdowne, John Gibson Lockhart, Lord Palmerston, Frederick Pollock, Thomas Spring Rice, the Duke of Richmond, Thomas Snodgrass, Robert Spottiswoode, Earl Stanhope, [?] Powlett Thomson, Sir Robert Wigram and Sir Jeffrey Wyatville.

5: Correspondence respecting the chairman from the Duke of Somerset, William Tooke, George Croly and Henry Brougham; correspondence with officers and members, namely Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, George Croly, Henry Foss, William Jerdan, John Newman, William Tooke, George Byrom Whittaker, William Harness, Richard Taylor and [?] Hawes; circular; dinner tickets; Treasurers’ report; toast list; plan of tables; subscription paper; newspaper reports of dinner.

1832 (Chairman: Edward Adolphus St Maur, Duke of Somerset): list of stewards; circular; dinner ticket; list of honorary invitations; plan of tables; Treasurers’ report; donations announced; subscription papers; newspaper reports and advertisements.

1833 (Chairman: Edward Adolphus St Maur, Duke of Somerset): list of stewards; circular; dinner ticket; list of honorary invitations; letters from officers and members, namely Robert Blackmore, Laman Blanchard, John Ilderton Burn, Thomas Crofton Croker, Lewis Andrew de la Chaumette, James Duncan, William Fallofeild, Richard Gilbert, William Jerdan, Bingham Richards and William Tooke; correspondence respecting music from [?] Hawes; toast list; seats at upper table; Treasurers’ report; donations announced; advertisement and newspaper articles.

1834 (Chairman: Edward Adolphus St Maur, Duke of Somerset): list of stewards; correspondence respecting the chairman from the Duke of Somerset and regarding the Duke of Wellington; letters from officers and members, namely Richard Blanshard, Charles Parr Burney, Thomas Crofton Croker, George Croly, Lewis Andrew de la Chaumette, James Duncan, William Fallofeild, Henry Foss, T Wingate Henderson, Benjamin Hopkinson, William Jerdan, John Newman, Owen Rees, Bingham Richards, Cusack Patrick Roney, William Tooke, George Byrom Whittaker and E Witts; letter respecting the tavern; letter from [?] Broadhurst respecting the music; dinner ticket; form of invitation; circular; list of invitations; Treasurers’ report; donations announced; memorandum by Edward Foss (auditor); newspaper reports.

1835 (Chairman: Edward Adolphus St Maur, Duke of Somerset): list of stewards; correspondence respecting the chairman from Sir Robert Peel; correspondence from officers and members, namely John Britton, John Ilderton Burn, Henry Butterworth, Thomas Crofton Croker, Charles Wentworth Dilke, Alexander Elder, Sir Henry Ellis, Thomas Harrison, Alfred John Kempe, Dionysius Lardner, Robert Lemon, Francis Graham Moon, John Murray, William Rivington, William Tooke, George Byrom Whittaker and Daniel Wilkinson; dinner ticket; card of honorary invitation; minutes of subcommittee; President’s list of guests to be invited; honorary invitations; toast list; Treasurers’ report; donations announced.

1836 (Chairman: Edward Adolphus St Maur, Duke of Somerset): letter to the Duke of Somerset on the chairmanship; circulars; dinner ticket; card of honorary invitation; correspondence from officers and members, namely Thomas Crofton Croker, Henry Foss, William Jerdan, Owen Rees and William Tooke; minutes of Committee and stewards; toast list (with letter from [?] Beaumont); arrangement of tables; ticket list; donations announced; subscription papers.

1837 (Chairman: Edward Adolphus St Maur, Duke of Somerset): dinner ticket; circulars; letters from A Schloss and Sir Frederick B Watson; list of honorary invitations; toast list; list of tickets issued; donations announced; subscription papers.

1838 (Chairman: Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, Marquess of Lansdowne): five letters respecting the chairmanship from Marquess of Lansdowne; circular; dinner ticket and advertisement; letters from officers, namely Thomas Crofton Croker, John Bowyer Nichols and John Britton; toast list; subscription paper; printed list of donations announced; letter from [?] Simpson respecting a donation.

1839 (Chairman: His Royal Highness Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge): letter respecting the chairmanship from the Marquess of Lansdowne; circulars; honorary invitation card; advertisement of the dinner; toast list; list of honorary invitations; ticket list; donations announced; subscription papers; letters from Thomas Crofton Croker to the Times regarding an article on the Marquis of Normanby’s reception at the dinner; arrears of tickets.