| Description | The letters are bound in chronological order: each letter bears, usually on the reverse of the page, (or reverse of the last page), a note identifying the sender, the date of receipt and date of a reply. Inside the front cover of the volume is a note: “Read; Rigby’s amusing but unfit for pubn.” Might this be the judgement of George Lee, (c. 1799-1860) secretary to Sir Robert John Wilmot-Horton, who envisaged, but did not achieve, publication of Wilmot’s correspondence?
The majority of the letters (42) are from Richard Rigby (1722-1788), writing from Dublin in his role as chief secretary to the lord lieutenant of Ireland, dated Oct 1757-Apr 1758. One is a copy of a letter from Rigby to William Pitt. Twenty three of the letters are from ten other correspondents, detailed below.
The content of Rigby’s letters, in a conversational, and at times conspiratorial, style covers a range of political and administrative topics. In particular Rigby reports and discusses the business of the Irish House of Commons, including the process of sending Bills passed by the Irish House to London for ratification. Particular subjects include British policy toward Prussia; a dispute about the funding from Irish resources of pensions paid to recipients not resident in Ireland; speculation about various military and political appointments, and observations to accompany specific items of third parties’ correspondence being sent between London and Dublin. It is notable that almost every one of Rigby’s letters includes an itemised record of letters received and despatched: with details of their conveyance and of the impact on packet ship sailings of weather conditions across the Irish Sea.
Nine letters, dated Dec 1757-Apr 1758, are from Thomas Waite (1718-1780), based in Dublin as under secretary to the chief secretary, Richard Rigby. The style of these letters is somewhat more formal and the content largely business-like, including the appointment of a judge; the commissioning of military officers; the implications for Ireland of a French shipping embargo. But there are also enigmatic references to private correspondence and to shared understandings; and praise for some political figures.
Three letters, dated Oct 1757-Dec 1757, from the Duke of Devonshire (1720-1764) include practical details of an invitation to Chatsworth and visits to Derbyshire. But there are also references to a disagreement about an unnamed individual’s wish to resign, a communication with General Conway, a proposed promotion for Cunningham, and to a vote on an unspecified matter in the Privy Council.
Two letters, dated Oct and Dec 1757, written by Thomas Potter (1718-1759), vice-treasurer of Ireland, concern the whereabouts of a patent document. In two letters dated Jan and Apr 1758, John Bowes (1691-1767), who became Lord Chancellor of Ireland in 1757, writes enigmatically about a current political issue. Two short notes from Lord George Sackville (1716-1785) in Feb 1758 refer to the forwarding of a letter to Thomas Waite.
Five correspondents are represented by a single letter from each:
- George Boscawen (1712-1775) asks for confirmation that his regiment is about to be sent on active service, 2 Jan 1758
n that his regiment is about to be sent on active service, 2 Jan 1758
- The Earl of Rothes (1698-1767) asks about expediting a commission for his secretary John Melville, 12 Jan 1758 (see Related Material below)
- Henry Fox (1705-1774) at the Pay Office asks for a brief meeting and sends a letter said to be from Mr Potter to Richard Rigby’s sister, [Feb 1758]
- A note from William Barrington (1717-1793) at the War Office conveys a request from the Duke of Newcastle to compare two lists of War Office fees, 3 Feb 1758
- Henry Seymour Conway (1721-1795) sends items to be forwarded to Thomas Waite: an annotation names “Military Arguments” - pamphlets written in the aftermath of Conway’s involvement in a failed military action at Rochfort, 25 Feb 1758
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