Earl George Macartney papers

MS Shelf: 
MACA
MS Date: 
1795 - 1798
MS Original collection number: 
Old KC no. of KCM 55076 was 13760
MS Extent: 
3 files, 1 elephant folder
MS File list: 
Available at KCAL
MS Historical note: 

George Macartney, first Earl Macartney, was born in Ireland on 14th May 1737. Educated at Trinity College, Dublin, he entered parliament and was knighted in 1764, and sent on a mission to Russia where he concluded a commercial treaty with the Czar. Later he served as Chief Secretary for Ireland (1769-72), Governor of the Antilles (West Indies) (1775-80), and Governor of Madras (1781-85). Later he was sent as British envoy to the Emperor of China (1792-94). In 1797 he was chosen to be the first British civilian Governor of the recently-occupied Cape of Good Hope, a position he held for eighteen months. During this time law and order were firmly maintained and he laid the foundations for a devoted and honest civil service. Macartney was an intelligent, scholarly and charming person, of strikingly handsome appearance. Despite ill health, he held high office for some 34 years and had a reputation for honest and efficient government. He married Lady Jane Stuart (1742-1828) but they had no children. He died in Chiswick, England on 31st May 1806.

MS Title: 
Earl George Macartney papers
MS Scope and Content: 

The collection consists of 18 items, all manuscripts, many with watermarks dated, for example 1796 or thereabouts, but they are presumably copies of the originals since none bears an original signature. File 2 contains correspondence between Lord Macartney and Egbertus Bergh, and file 3 contains a report on the defences at the Cape of Good Hope, 1798, prepared at the request of Lord Macartney.

MS Provenance: 
Original Collection
MS Local system number: 
KCAL350776
MS Physical description: 
manuscripts

Manuscript Inventory:

INSPIRING GREATNESS