This is an original and heartbreaking letter from the King and Queen to the father of two brother officers killed in action on the same day in France, in April 1917. Even more tragically, a third brother had been killed in action the year before.
The letter is headed from the Privy Purse Office at Buckingham Palace and is addressed to L.P.Nott, Esq (who was actually recently deceased). It states :
Dear Sir,
The King and Queen have heard with much regret of the death in battle of your gallant sons, Lieutenant-Colonel T.W.Nott and Captain L.C.Nott, who were both killed on the 18th April, and I am commanded to convey to you the expression of Their Majesties' deep feeling of sympathy with you in your bereavement.
The King and Queen realise that you have now given three beloved sons in your Country's cause, and Their Majesties trust that you may be granted stregth (sic) and comfort in the further sorrow which you have been called upon to bear.
Yours very faithfully
[signed by Sir Frederick Ponsonby, Keeper of the Privy Purse]
This is the original letter - NOT a copy.
The letter is accompanied by some ephemera, viz:
- A pamphlet entitled "The Statutes of the Distinguished Service Order" in which, at the end, a family member has written "Name went up for Bar March & April 1917. Not awarded. Posthumously mentioned in Despatches for second time in June 1917."
- An "In Memoriam" leaf dedicated to the two officers Nott, presumably issued following the Memorial Service held in Redland park Church in Bristol.
- A proposed Clifton College War Memorial which contains the names of the three Nott brothers
A photograph of an elderly lady - almost certainly the mother of the Nott brothers.
- A two page typescript entitled "Notes of the last address given by T.W.Nott at Gideon Chapel"
-Various other newspaper cuttings relating to the Nott Brothers, which give more details of the family background.
The brothers were sons of the late Mr Louis P. Nott and of Mrs Nott of Stoke House, Bristol. They also had six daughters.
Lieut Colonel T Walker Nott (age 28) was awarded the DSO, and his brother Captain L. Cameron Nott (age 23) the Military Cross. The youngest son, Lieutenant H.P. Nott had been killed a year earlier. The eldest two brothers were part of the British Expeditionary Force in France which sustained terrible losses in the lead-up to the Battle of Passchendaele.
This small archive has been on the shelves of a collector for some time. Clearly, it is originally from the family. However, I have no knowledge of the whereabouts of the gallantry awards.