- THREE FASCINATING LETTERS THAT TIE TOGETHER THE ACTIVITIES OF TWO OF WELLINGTON'S SPIES WITH THEIR SPYMASTER AT THE FOREIGN OFFICE -

HAMILTON (William, antiquarian and Egyptologist, assisted Lord Elgin with the removal of the Rossetta Stone and Grecian marbles, undersecretary of state for foreign affairs between 1809-1822, founding member of the Royal Geographical Society, 1777-1859); SYDENHAM (Thomas, diplomat employed to assist in the gathering of political, military and other information in Portugal, became envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the court of Lisbon on the 6th June 1814, succeeding Charles Stuart who had been appointed minister at Paris, 1780-1816); STUART (Sir Charles, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay, undertook intelligence gathering with the provincial juntas in French-occupied Spain (1808-10) and afterwards 'made himself indispensable to Wellington' as minister at Lisbon (1810-14) and member of the Portuguese regency council. He later helped negotiate the treaty by which Brazil became independent from Portugal).

Three manuscript letters. The first from Thomas Sydenham to Sir Charles Stuart in Lisbon, from London, dated 7 March 1812, single folded sheet of wove paper, handwritten in brown ink on two and a bit sides, signed 'Tho. Sydenham'; the second from William Hamilton to Sydenham, from the 'Foreign Office', and dated Aug. 25, 1812, handwritten in brown ink on two sides of a single folded sheet of laid paper, with partial watermark, signed 'W. Hamilton'; the third an autograph letter from Hamilton to Stuart, undated but circa 1812, handwritten in brown ink on two sides of a single folded sheet, signed 'W.am' Hamilton, and again with initials 'W.H.' after a post script. 

Very Good condition. Folds for mailing, and light creasing. Small hole on rear leaf of one letter where pulled opened from the wax seal. Small spot of wax to head of another letter. Please ask if you require a more detailed condition report, or view gallery images closely.

These three original Peninsular War-era autograph letters link together two of Wellington's top spies with a senior 'spymaster' in the Foreign Office.

The first, from Thomas Sydenham to fellow spy Sir Charles Stuart in Lisbon, reads: "My dear Stuart, I have seen Lord Castlereagh, and he entered very fully into the situation of Portugal. I told him very frankly everything I knew respecting the Govt. the Army and the State of Finances. I saw Hamilton this morning, and he told me that it was determined I should be gazetted as a Commr., to South America; that you were to remain at Lisbon; that the mission was to be despatched without loss of time, and that we were to proceed direct to Cadiz. The Duke del Infantado will probably leave England about the same time, and perhaps on the Grampus...". 

The second, from Foreign Office under-secretary and 'spymaster' William Hamilton, to Sydenham in Lisbon a few months after the first letter, reads: "Dear Sydenham, Your last letter from Lisbon arrived most opportunely, & I hope the enclosed will likewise reach you in the same disposition to become a Morocco Plenipo as when you last wrote, and that you will be able to come & receive your instructions without loss of time. You will I trust that ye same time come well provided with the best digested Memoirs & Reveries upon the Spanish colonies - so that you may teach us how to provide money for the corn you are to place at our disposal. Cockburn is still here waiting for a ship to take him to Cadiz where he is to return the Monsieurs interest for the long-winded Shells which used to disturb your Rest. I envy you much your trip to rejoin your friends at Head Quarters - and you must be the envy of all to be the friend of such a man, as you will see & live with there...". 

The third letter, from Hamilton to Stuart, reads: 'My dear Sir, D. Miguel does not recollect any such paper as the one you debited me to procure from him, respecting the actual organisation of the Militia...'

Hamilton was a British antiquarian, traveller and diplomat. In 1799 he was appointed chief private secretary to Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin. He was in Egypt as the British took it over from the French, secured the Rosetta Stone and superintended its transport to England. He also superintended the shipment of the Parthenon sculptures for Lord Elgin and the recovery of those subsequently lost at sea. After a voyage up the Nile, he wrote a well-known work of Egyptology, Ægyptiaca. From 1809 to 1822 Hamilton served as Permanent Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and from 1822 to 1825 he was Minister and Envoy Plenipotentiary at the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, based at Naples.

Sydenham was a initially a soldier who served in India under Marquess Wellesley, with whom he became a close friend, and then in Spain from 1811 to 1812. He then became a diplomat employed to assist in the gathering of political, military and other information in Portugal, and became envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the court of Lisbon on the 6th June 1814, succeeding Charles Stuart who had been appointed minister at Paris; Sydenham was forced to return to England just a few weeks after his appointment due to serious ill health.

Stuart undertook intelligence gathering with the provincial juntas in French-occupied Spain (1808-10) and afterwards 'made himself indispensable to Wellington' as minister and spy at Lisbon (1810-14) and member of the Portuguese regency council. He later helped negotiate the treaty by which Brazil became independent from Portugal.