Correspondence and other papers of William Baker and his family, of Bayfordbury,...

This artificial collection of letters and other papers was formed by Rev Robert George Baker, (1788-1878) second son of William Baker of Bayfordbury (1743-1824). His index [see C62 below] was made before all the letters had come into his possession; consequently a number of letters included in this inventory do not appear in the index.

Because of the duplication of Christian names in the family the following arbitrary rules have been observed: William Baker (1743-1824) is always referred to as WB, his father as Sir William Baker. WB's second wife is called Sophia Conyers before marriage and Sophia Baker afterwards, WB's sons and daughters are referred to by their Christian names only except for married daughters. (Eg Sophia before marriage, Sophia Trower afterwards.) In two cases the letters themselves 'break' this rule: WB's eldest daughter, Juliana, is called by her father both by that name and Julia; since in the letters the latter name takes over completely after a time, only Julia is used here. Secondly, in the letters Charles Adolphus is called by each of his names indiscriminately for a time; again the name which preponderates, Charles, is used exclusively in the inventory. William, son of William and Estina Fagan, is called William (grandson).

Within each year the letters are arranged, where possible, under the names of the recipients (where WB is the writer) or under the writers, if other than WB. The general order in each annual group is as follows:

1. To or from Sophia Baker;

2. To or from WB's children;

3. To or from other members of the family;

4. To or from others;

5. Miscellaneous documents

Letters within each entry in the inventory are arranged in date order, but the order of entry depends upon the above pattern and not on chronology

[Accession 452]

Deposited 1953