This 1793
letter indicates how influence was exerted to advance the interest of family
and friends. Not all the connections are clear but enough for the letter to be
of interest. A degree of patience is required as I attempt to re-create the
network which got the job for Arthur Upton.
The
author of the letter is Sir Edward Crofton, Second Baronet of the Mote in the
peerage of Ireland, and a member of the Irish House of Commons. The autograph
signature appears to consist only of a surname. Through both husband and wife
there were connections to the Irish family of Clotworthy Upton who as First
Baron Templetown sat in the Irish House of Lords. His youngest son Arthur Percy Upton (born
June 1777) was just seven years old when his father died in 1785 and he and his
five siblings became the responsibility of their mother Elizabeth Lady
Templetown who was well provided for financially and sought to advance her
children’s interests. She came from an established and well-connected
Herefordshire family, the Boughtons, and before her marriage was a Lady of the
Bedchamber to Princess Amelia Sophia, daughter of George the Second. She was also
a talented artist who produced many of the designs used on Josiah Wedgwood’s
jasper ware, “Blue Wedgwood” to me; unfortunately, her name is misspelt as “Templeton”
by the V & A museum which houses many examples.
The
author of the letter has presented his case to a Mr Price who is most probably
Major William Price. Price belonged to a Herefordshire family of which a
prominent member was Uvedale Price, who later took the surname Barrington-Price
which appears in letters written by Arthur Upton’s mother. Mr Price is not referred to by his military
rank but two others mentioned in the hurried letter are also briskly treated; Her
Royal Highness Queen Charlotte is simply “the Queen”.
In 1793
Major Price was Vice-Chamberlain to George the Third’s wife, Queen Charlotte,
and was at the time directing the construction of the gardens at Frogmore House
which Charlotte was developing as a peaceful retreat for herself. So he would have been in frequent contact
with her and able to put in a word on behalf of young Arthur Upton who has lost
his father who might otherwise be networking on his behalf. In turn, Queen
Charlotte has written to the Duke of York, her second son by George the Third, who
was Colonel of the Coldstream Regiment, as it then was. He has only to give his
approval. Letters written by Arthur’s mother to her son in 1794 by which date
he is seventeen, are addressed to him at the “Coldstream Regiment Whitehall London”.
He got the job. But in case you should be thinking he was six feet tall I note
that in a letter of the same period his mother describes him as five foot one
though hoping he will soon grow to five foot four.
Before
taking it up, as the address panel and contents of this letter indicate, he
spent a gap year at the Military Academy in Berlin. His later military career spanned the French
Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and he was present at numerous battles,
though in 1810 he is listed as Equerry to Queen Charlotte and in 1815 as
aide-de-camp to the Duke of York. By 1821 he was both a Major-General and
Member of Parliament. In 1806 he took part in the first Gentleman v. Players
cricket match.
Arthur
Percy Upton never married, something which was very common among those who lost
a parent in childhood. He was known to Harriette Wilson and appears briefly and
honourably in her Memoirs coming to her assistance; in a contemporary
satirical print he appears as the diminutive figure immediately behind the tall and chin-up Marquess of Hertford in the back row.
Transcription
Addressed
to: A Monsieur Monsr. Upton a
l’Ecole Militaire Berlin
Endorsed:
Single sheet par l’ Allmagne
[sic]
Datelined:
London Novemr. ye. 22d 1793
I am
happy my Dr Arthur in being able to tell you that you may now be certain
of having immediately a Commission in the Cold Stream Regt., which I hope will
put you in good humour with us all. I have this moment had a letter from
Mr. Price to inform me of the Queens having been so gracious as to write her
self to the Duke of York to express her desire that you should fill up a
vacancy now in his Regt. so there can be no doubt. I have wrote to Mr. Price to
ask him to obtain a few months leave of absence if he thinks it not
wrong to apply for it. My idea is that the Army will soon go into Winter
Quarters & during that time you might go on at Berlin as now making
yourself Master of your profession & be happier I should hope than in
Winter Quarters – however as soon as I hear from Mr Price in answer in answer
to what I have said, I will certainly let you know what is to be done. I have
now a long letter to write to yr. dear Mother upon this & other business
which obliges me to hurry this one in such a manner as I doubt if you can read
it. I should be glad to know of its having reached you so pray immediately to
My Dr. Arthur’s
Sincerely
Affectionate
Crofton
References
Wikipedia:
Arthur Upton
Wikipedia:
Elizabeth Upton, Baroness Templetown
Wikipedia:
Sir Edward Crofton, 2nd Baronet
No comments:
Post a Comment