細節
WICKHAM, William (1761-1840) and COUNTER-ESPIONAGE. A collection of approximately 68 letters, mostly by French noblemen (emigrés) including the dukes, marquises or counts of Harcourt, Belloy, La Rochefoucauld, Villeblanche, Starhemberg, Almeida, Guienne, Montesquieu and others, also the clergy of St Malo, and some by English officials and others, addressed to officials, ministers and other public figures, various places in England and France, mostly 1792-1800 (a few later), address panels, traces of seals, contemporary annotations (tears, discolouration and some wear), together with torn fragments of 14 letters and 6 other items, in two volumes (some loosely inserted), Middle Hill boards (stitching weak).Phillipps MSS 23750, 23756.
A collection reflecting the plight of the emigrés fleeing the Terror, stranded on the continent or arriving in England. The correspondence includes reports of arrivals at Eastbourne, equipped with passports or certificates of ordination; the miseries of Corsican gentlemen 'literally in danger of starving', the provision of forage for a horse; petitions for the release of funds (one caustically endorsed 'as good for nothing a fellow as exists') or to receive pensions; memoranda by Sir Robert Barclay, MP, on the negotiations for provisions for French prisoners; 8 letters by the banker Alphonse Perregaux to Barclay, generally on financial matters. Several Frenchmen require passages to Santo Domingo, also the destination of the Countess O'Gorman, 'a charming woman' related to the Chevalier d'Eon. Several are addressed to William Huskisson (under-secretary of war), and one, by the Marquis de Belloy, to 'Mr Wickamm Wite hall London' [William Wickham, effective controller, under the Duke of Portland, of the secret office within the Alien Office]. Others are endorsed to Wickham by the recipient ('For Mr Wickham but without any hope of relief and perhaps he does not deserve it'), or occasionally initialled by him.
The Alien Office was created within the Home Office in 1793, to control and administer the influx of French refugees. William Wickham, undersecretary of state and Superintendent of Aliens, with long experience of espionage and counter-espionage, was the key figure in the shadowy world of intelligence. Little escaped his notice or was decided without his advice and his system for coordinating and recording information was crucial to the successful operation of the embryonic secret service. It is likely that the present group of letters was collected by his office.
A collection reflecting the plight of the emigrés fleeing the Terror, stranded on the continent or arriving in England. The correspondence includes reports of arrivals at Eastbourne, equipped with passports or certificates of ordination; the miseries of Corsican gentlemen 'literally in danger of starving', the provision of forage for a horse; petitions for the release of funds (one caustically endorsed 'as good for nothing a fellow as exists') or to receive pensions; memoranda by Sir Robert Barclay, MP, on the negotiations for provisions for French prisoners; 8 letters by the banker Alphonse Perregaux to Barclay, generally on financial matters. Several Frenchmen require passages to Santo Domingo, also the destination of the Countess O'Gorman, 'a charming woman' related to the Chevalier d'Eon. Several are addressed to William Huskisson (under-secretary of war), and one, by the Marquis de Belloy, to 'Mr Wickamm Wite hall London' [William Wickham, effective controller, under the Duke of Portland, of the secret office within the Alien Office]. Others are endorsed to Wickham by the recipient ('For Mr Wickham but without any hope of relief and perhaps he does not deserve it'), or occasionally initialled by him.
The Alien Office was created within the Home Office in 1793, to control and administer the influx of French refugees. William Wickham, undersecretary of state and Superintendent of Aliens, with long experience of espionage and counter-espionage, was the key figure in the shadowy world of intelligence. Little escaped his notice or was decided without his advice and his system for coordinating and recording information was crucial to the successful operation of the embryonic secret service. It is likely that the present group of letters was collected by his office.
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