Let me show you now, perhaps one of the oldest original documents I have in my collection. This original letter is in my possession and is older than my great great grandmothers poem about coming to Blantyre in the 1880’s. It’s older than my 1856 first edition copy of the Hamilton Advertiser. In this letter addressed to Lord Blantyre is in fact, 209 years old.
I bought it online a while back, on an auction site for a ludicrously low £15, when others bizarrely beside it were selling for many hundreds of pounds. I definitely got a good deal and taking it out of the protective wallet again today, I remembered just how good condition its in.
It was written by Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. Thomas , born on 20th July 1766 was a Scottish nobleman and diplomat, known for the removal of marble sculptures (also known as the Elgin Marbles) from the ancient Parthenon in Athens.
On 5th November 1806, when Thomas was 40 years old he sent this letter from London to Glasgow to Robert Walter Stuart, the then 11th Lord Blantyre, who was residing at Erskine House. The letter thanks him for his support of his cousin and also offered his support and every success for the forthcoming election. An Interesting exchange of note and something Blantyre related I’d like to keep safe.