Add MS 89170/3/3

Correspondence of Mary Arnold-Forster with family members and political colleagues of her husband, including:

• letter from Jane Forster to Mary regarding her journey back from visiting her and Oakeley, and Oakeley's speech at the Federation meeting, [1890s];
• letter from Jane Forster to Mary regarding her visit to London, [1890s];
• two letters from Jane Forster to Mary regarding family matters and Oakeley's work, Burley-in-Wharfedale, [1888]-1893, and one page of another letter written by Jane Forster, undated;
• letter from H. M. Stanley of Alderley [Henrietta Maria Stanley] to Mary regarding catching up, Holyhead, 19 July 1892;
• envelope marked ‘M.L.A-F. 1900 Cape Letters’ containing five letters from Mary to ‘Meg’ [Margaret Story Maskelyne] and her parents, August-September 1900;
• two letters from Nevil Story-Maskelyne to his daughter Mary regarding his health, Swindon, 6 September and 9 October 1904;
• letter from Leopold James Maxse to Mary regarding Hugh Oakeley Arnold-Forster’s candidacy at Croydon and asking to work with him, 4 November 1904;
• letter from Nevil Story-Maskelyne to his daughter Mary sending her a small fibula (brooch) he designed to thank her for her support, Swindon, Christmas 1904;
• letter from A. [Alfred] Lyttelton to Mary sending ‘a word of congratulation on the fine and gallant effort of this afternoon’, 10 April 1907;
• letter from Henry James to Mary apologising for missing her visit, Lamb House, Rye, 15 September [before 1909];
• condolence letters from [Dame Edith Sophy Lyttelton], Owen Seaman, Austen Chamberlain, William Burdett-Coutts, Arthur James Balfour, Argyll [John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll], Arthur Lee, George Wyndham, Beatrice Chamberlain, R. B. Haldane, Walter H. Lough, Cawdor [Frederick Archibald Vaughan Campbell, 3rd Earl Cawdor], Horace Plunkett, A. Lyttelton, Selborne [William Waldegrave Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne], Andrew Bonar Law, Salisbury [Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury], [Frederick Sleigh ] Roberts, Halsbury [Hardinge Stanley Giffard, 1st Earl of Halsbury], March 1909;
• envelope marked ‘Copy of letter to The Bishop of London March 29 1909’ containing a condolence letter from A. F. London [Arthur Foley Winnington-Ingram, Bishop of London] to Mary, 14 March 1909, and Mary's reply, 29 March 1909;
• letter from Midleton [William St John Fremantle Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton] to Mary thanking her for sending him an unfinished paper that Oakeley was working on at the time of his death, House of Lords, 21 March 1909;
• letter from Richard Burdon Haldane to Mary regarding Goethe and Bronte's words to be written on a monument [to Oakeley], 21 March 1909;
• letter from William Hillier Onslow to Mary thanking her for sending him Oakeley's unfinished letters, Clandon Park, Guildford, 28 March [1909];
• letter from Lansdowne [Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne] to Mary thanking her for sending him an unfinished letter that Oakeley was writing at the time of his death, 27 March 1909;
• letter from Austen Chamberlain thanking Mary for sending him an unfinished letter from Oakeley to Balfour, 30 March 1909;
• envelope containing three letters from Charles W. Dilke to Mary, 2, 5 and 7 April 1909, one enclosing a letter from [Lord Morley] to Dilke,7 April 1909, regarding some letters to be returned by Morley to Mary;
• letter from G.W. [Gerald William] Balfour to Mary thanking her for sending him the memorandum Oakeley was working on before he died, Woking, 15 April 1909;
• letter from [Frederick Sleigh ] Roberts to Mary thanking her for sending him Oakeley's book Military Needs and Military Policy, Ascot, 20 April 1909;
• condolence letter from Ian Hamilton to Mary, Andover, 30 May 1909;
• letter from James Craig to Mary regarding an anecdote to use in her biography of Oakeley, 9 October 1909;
• letter from Robert Baden Powell to Mary regarding her son in the Scouts, 31 October 1909;
• letter from J.A. [John Arbuthnot] Fisher to Mary thanking her for her letter, 8 December 1909;
• letter from Arthur Lee to Mary regarding her memoir of Oakeley, Butlers Cross, 8 January 1910;
• envelope containing letter from A. [Alfred] Lyttelton to Mary regarding his quotes to use in her Memoir, Wittersham, 5 August 1910;
• letter from [Leo S. Amery] to Mary expressing his desire to follow Oakeley's footsteps, 2 Temple Gardens, 16 November 1910;
• letter from Herbert Plumer to Mary congratulating her for the memoir of Oakeley, 27 November 1910;
• letter from Mary A. Ward to Mary congratulating her on Oakeley's memoir, Tring, 2 January 1911;
• letter from Sandhurst [William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst] to Mary regarding him being in office again, 17 February 1912;
• letter from George Clausen to Mary regarding her visit and Mary's son’s [William Edward Arnold-Forster] [art]work, 4 May 1912;
• letter from George William Forrest to Mary regarding her memoir of Oakeley, Iffley Turn, 18 September 1912;
• letter from Alfred Williams to Mary regarding his books on rural and factory life, South Marston, 18 November 1912;
• letter from J. R. Dunlop Smith [James Robert Dunlop Smith] to Mary regarding Lord Minto's death, 25 Ovington Square, 6 March 1914;
• letter from [Dame Edith Sophy Lyttelton] to Mary regarding a meeting with Gerald Balbour, [8 April 1915];
• letter from Lascelles Abercrombie to Mary regarding his bike accident in Dorset, his visit to Avebury, Thomas Hardy, and [Mayden] castle near Dorchester, The Gallows, Dymock, 13 July [1911-1916].

The file also includes:

• Mary and Oakeley's statements regarding fortune telling of German 'Professor' Riess, 21 and 22 April 1902;
• two sheets of notes by [Oakeley] regarding the presence of God, undated;
• pages bound by yellow string marked [by Mary] ‘List of Letters received March, April and May 1909’ listing letters of condolence after the death of her husband Oakeley.