Kintore, Algernon Hawkins Thomond Keith-Falconer, Earl of, 1889-1895, Mixed material, PRG 927/2/1/1
A private letter and stamped envelope from Lord Kintore to William Anstruther-Thomson (1859-1938) of the Royal Horse Guards, London, dated 14 June 1891. Thomson had served as private secretary and aide-de-camp to Lord Kintore from 1889-1891 but returned to England after his marriage to Clayre Tennant in January 1891, and in 1892 was promoted to command of a troop in the Royal Horse Guards. The letter discusses: the deliberate suicide of 'Mansel' (Francis Montagu Mansel, 1861-1891) who had taken over the position of aide-de-camp to Lord Kintore after Thomson, and mentions Sir Edwin Smith (1830-1919), a brewer, politician, philanthropist and twice mayor of Adelaide, who took charge of arranging the funeral; Lord Kintore's return from a successful journey across Australia two days before the arrival of the ship 'Victoria' on the Queen's birthday, 25 May, and his busy day collecting his wife from the ship at Largs Bay and returning to Adelaide in time for the Levee for the Queen's birthday at 11am; the crowded lunch after the Levee and and Admiral who was there, which was followed by racing and then a Full Dress Dinner; a picnic at Marble Hill; Lord Kintore inquires about Thomson's exam; mention of Bagot (Walter Lewis Bagot who took over the position of aide-de-camp in March 1891); mention of papers about Davies and Thomson tracking him down; Hobart Place in London, an area Kintore knew well; mention of Mortlock and Michael Hawker's wedding to Bessie McFarlane in June 1891; and the disgrace of Gordon Cumming's business (Sir William Gordon-Cumming who was accused at cheating at baccarat in what became a gambling scandal involving the Prince of Wales in 1891) - Lord Kintore hoped the scandal would serve as a lesson to the Prince, the future King Edward VII. 1891. 0.5 cm.