Wickham of Binsted

This collection was deposited by Lady Bonham Carter in eight sections between 1949 and 1984. It relates primarily to William Wickham the politician (1761-1840), though there are substantial papers also about his grandson William Wickham, who published a two volume edition of his correspondence to 1799 in 1870 (HRO library, Books 1138a-b). The collection also includes papers of the Shaw Lefevre family, including Viscount Eversley, Speaker of the House of Commons 1839-57; these came through William Wickham junior's marriage to Sophia Shaw Lefevre.

The bulk of the collection though comprises the political papers of William Wickham senior.

Original deposits (made 1949-84) comprise mainly personal and family papers of Rt Hon William Wickham, (1761-1840), diplomat and Chief Secretary for Ireland, and include: correspondence re foreign affairs, 1793-1802; Irish papers, 1798-1804; Treasury papers, 1800-09; correspondence and papers re WW's wife, Eleanore, 1762-1836; correspondence and papers re WW's son, Henry Lewis Wickham, 1807-81. Original deposits also include papers re WW's grandson, William Wickham, jun, MP, (notebooks, diaries, personal papers, official papers, etc.), 1854-95, and papers of the Shaw Lefevre family (Charles SL, 1789-20th century; Helena SL, 1824, 1834; Charles SL, Viscount Eversley, and family, 1817-1923; Whitbread family, 1815-1924).

Additional deposits (made 1990-91) comprise papers as follows

Rt Hon William Wickham: official papers, estate papers, correspondence, printed and miscellaneous, papers re Eleanore Bertrand, later wife of WW, and maps, 1688-1840. Henry Lewis Wickham (1789-1864): correspondence, financial papers, deeds and papers re family settlements, printed and genealogical material, papers of Lucy Wickham (HLW's wife, mainly household papers, correspondence, etc.), 1704-1880s. William Wickham, jun, MP (1831-97): journals and diaries, estate and financial papers, papers re family trusts and settlements, official papers (re Hampshire County Council, elections, etc.), papers re local interests, (eg. St Cross Hospital, Winchester, Quarter Sessions, Hampshire Hunt, Binsted parish), personal correspondence, printed and general material, 1663-1897.

Personal and official papers of other family members: Sophia Emma Wickham (1833-1929), Lucy Ogilvy (1863-1946), Charlotte Bonham Carter (1893-1989), Edgar Bonham Carter (1870-1956), Eleanore Clements (1875-1955), William Wickham Ogilvy (1896-1918), and the Shaw Lefevre family, covering period 1820s-93.

The papers deposited in 1990 - 1991, are essentially those of the descendants of the Rt Hon William Wickham whose papers were deposited in 1949. There are 147 boxes of material

The Rt Hon William Wickham is poorly represented in this part of the collection and the papers here are mainly from the 1811 - 1840 period and of a personal nature

His son Henry is also poorly represented (3 boxes). There is a little correspondence and estate material, but mostly his papers reflect his activities as a trustee in a range of family and other settlements. His wife Lucy was a more active correspondent and section B5 contains the letters she received from an extensive family circle.

Their son William's papers are more extensive - 15 boxes of material, mostly estate, local and parliamentary related papers. His journals and diaries are the most informative in the collection. His wife Sophia also came into possession of some Shaw Lefevre family material, aside from her own substantial papers. Her 16 boxes are predominantly correspondence of a personal, local and estate character.

The papers of William and Sophia's children and grandchildren form the largest part of the collection, 46 boxes of papers of their daughter Lucy Ogilvy and a further 36 boxes for Lucy's daughter Charlotte Bonham Carter. Much of this is personal correspondence but there are also substantial estate papers for the period 1930s - 1980s. Lucy and Charlotte were both involved in a large number of local organisations and Lucy had a large and detailed correspondence with her sister Eléonore Clements.

Abbreviations

Rt Hon WW - The Right Honorable William Wickham

EW - Eléonore Wickham, née Bertrand

HLW - Henry Lewis Wickham

LW - Lucy Wickham, née Markham

WW - William Wickham MP

SEW - Sophia Emma Wickham, née Shaw Lefevre

LO - Lucy Ogilvy, née Wickham

EC - Eléonore Clements, née Wickham

WLKO - Colonel William Lewis Kinloch Ogilvy

WWO - William Wickham Ogilvy (also known as Bill)

CHO/CBC - Charlotte Helen Ogilvy and from 1926 Charlotte Bonham Carter

EBC - Edgar Bonham Carter

Wickham was a meticulous record keeper, bundling his papers according to subject or correspondent. Most of the bundles have remained intact, but there was no logic in the divisions in which they reached the Record Office. 'Temporary' lists were drawn up which made little attempt to sort the bundles into a logical order. As the collection has been used and these 'temporary' reference numbers were referred to in print, it was decided to retain the numbers, but to resort those parts of the lists which relate to William Wickham.

A re-arranged list of items relating to William Wickham

The references have incorporated an alphabetical scheme to represent each individual:-

38M49/A - Rt Hon William Wickham

38M49/B - Henry Lewis Wickham

38M49/C - William Wickham, MP

38M49/D - Sophia Emma Wickham

38M49/E - Lucy Ogilvy

38M49/F - Charlotte Bonham Carter

38M49/G - Edgar Bonham Carter

38M49/H - Eléonore Clements

38M49/J - William Wickham Ogilvy

38M49/K - Shaw Lefevre family

Foreign affairs 1793-1802

Correspondence with Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs and Secretary at War

Correspondence with Duke of Portland

Swiss correspondence and papers

French correspondence and papers

Austrian correspondence and papers

Other foreign countries

Commissariat and support of European armies

Irish papers 1798-1804

Correspondence with named individuals

General correspondence

Papers relating to Ireland

Treasury papers

Miscellaneous papers

Published correspondence

Eleanore Wickham

Henry Wickham

38M49 12t Hon William Wickham 1761 - 1840

A - Rt Hon William Wickham 1761 - 1840

1. Official

2. Estate/financial

3. Correspondence

4. Miscellaneous/printed

5. Eléonore Bertrand

6. Maps

B - Henry Lewis Wickham 1789 - 1864

1. Correspondence

2. Estate/financial/settlement papers

3. Non-family deeds and settlement papers

4. Miscellaneous

5. Lucy Markham

C - William Wickham MP 1831 - 1897

1. Diaries

2. Estate/financial

3. Hampshire County Council

4. MP and parliamentary papers

5. Local interests

6. Family and personal correspondence

7. Printed

8. Botanical

9. Genealogical

10. Photographs

11. Miscellaneous - notebooks, programmes, invitations etc

12. Executors

D - Sophia Emma Wickham (née Shaw Lefevre) 1833 - 1929

1. Diaries

2. Household/financial

3. Estate

4. Family correspondence

5. General correspondence

6. Local interests

7. Photographs

8. Printed

9. Miscellaneous - notebooks etc

E - Lucy Ogilvy (née Wickham) 1863 - 1946

1. Diaries

2. Estate

3. Financial

4. Household

5. Family correspondence

6. General correspondence

7. Local interests

8. East London Nursing Society

9. Colonel William Lewis Kinloch Ogilvy

10. Photographs

11. Miscellaneous - notebooks etc

12. Printed and newscuttings

F - Charlotte Bonham Carter (née Ogilvy) 1893 - 1989

1. Diaries

2. Estate/financial

3. Paddington Council

4. RAF and Foreign Office

5. Non-Hampshire interests

6. Local interests

7. 'Nice letters'

8. Other correspondence

9. Personal and printed miscellanea

G - Edgar Bonham Carter 1870 - 1956

1. Diaries

2. Wyck estate

3. Financial

4. Correspondence

5. Sudan and Iraq

6. First Garden City (Letchworth) papers

7. London County Council and housing associations

8. Other committee work and interests

9. Photographs

10. Miscellaneous and printed

H - Eléonore Clements (née Wickham) 1875 - 1955

1. Letters from LO

2. Other letters

3. Genealogical and miscellaneous

J - William Wickham Ogilvy 1896 - 1918

1. Childhood and school years

2. Letters to WWO

3. Army papers

4. Financial and personal

5. Miscellaneous and printed

K - Shaw Lefevre family

1. Henry Francis

2. Charles Viscount Eversley

3. Helen Mason

4. Miscellaneous and other family members

William Wickham senior was an intimate friend of Lord Grenville (Foreign Secretary 1791-1801), he was used, largely unofficially, to set up a complex communications network in Europe during the French Wars. He was appointed chargé d'affaires in Switzerland in 1794 and the following year minister of the Swiss cantons. In 1797 his expulsion was demanded by the French Directory. In 1798 he was appointed under-secretary of state for the home department and was involved in extensive correspondence about the Irish rebellion. He returned to Europe as envoy to the Swiss cantons and Russian and Austrian armies in 1799, while retaining his under-secretaryship. From 1802 to 1804 he was Chief Secretary for Ireland. Thereafter he was out of office, except for a year (1806-7) when he was a member of the Treasury Board under Lord Grenville. (See DNB for further details)

Photocopies of most of the Irish papers in the collection (except deposit 8) were made for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, whose staff compiled a detailed catalogue. The catalogue is arranged under groups of correspondents, and by date order within each group. A copy is available on the Hampshire Record Office reference room shelves and has been annotated with the full reference numbers of the original documents.