4 Autograph Letters Signed from John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley, and 8 Autograph Letters Signed, Autograph Card Signed, and 5 invitations from his wife Harriet Mary, Countess of Darnley, all to Rev. Charles William Shepherd of Trotterscliffe.

The Earl of Darnley's four letters (all signed 'Darnley') total 27 pp in 12mo; Lady Darnley's eight letters (all signed 'H. Darnley') total 26 pp in 12mo. All items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Darnley's first letter, 16 September 1853 (12mo, 12 pp), is unusually blunt for the period, and revealing on the etiquette of the period. It begins: 'I trust that the change in your mode of addressing me was accidental, and I have therefore not imitated it, and have used one word which you omitted [presumably 'Dear']. I have ascertained by a reference to my pigeonholes that I am not mistaken as to there being a change, and am therefore very anxious to have your assurance that it was not intentional.' The letter has resulted from an argument over the interpretation of an act of parliament, with Darnley accusing Shepherd of being 'the party who declined resisting the appeal made by the Cobham Vestry against the decision of the Magistrates': He reminds Shepherd that he 'copied out the clause verbatim, and distinctly specified the act, chapter, and section, and proceeded to demonstrate by the most simple and intelligible process of induction, that the spirit of the act of Parliament was not as Mr. Hayward interpreted it; and I added that the Lord Chancellor himself wd. never convince me to the contrary. [...] Had I not been writing to one whom I decided to be of a logical mind and a reasonable disposition, I should not have taken so much trouble to argue my case, and I can hardly suppose that you will content yourself with evading the question at issue, having neither impugned my premises nor in anywise disproved my conclusions.' He refers to 'two gentlemen influencing a Vestry to prevent [Darnley] having 130 yards of road widened' 'As I said before, at your house, I was not, at the time of the Vestry meeting, aware that you were the real prosecutor of the Cobham Surveyor [Shearman]; I thought it was all Mr. Barber's doing'. He considers that 'a prosecution apparently so vindictive, the retrospective and penal character of which indicated, - or rather I should say appeared to indicate, - rather a feeling of personal animosity to the Parish of Cobham than a desire to attain any beneficial object.' The other three letters from Darnley total 15 pages in 12mo. Two, from 1855, concern 'rates and valuations' set (illegally, in Darnley's view) by 'Mr. Barber'. The last item is undated; it acknowledges Shepherd's congratulations on the birth of one of the Darnleys' five daughters. None of Lady Darnley's letters is dated; one is in an envelope with a penny lilac stamp postmarked 1889. Shepherd was a noted naturalist, and her letters reflect a shared interest in natural history. Topics include: his gift of 'curious' orchises; 'Macmillan's book', with 'chapters on Trees and Stars', which she has found for Shepherd at Hatchard's; her gift of 'green winged orchises' ('I have found them in meadows in Suffolk in great numbers, & in various shades of colour - we also found Adder's tongue, and what we think to be Haut bois [sic] Strawberry'); his 'beautiful blue pimpernel'; 'Canon Colson's letter', the 'antiquarian part' of which will interest Shepherd, but which she does not want returned ('I don't think it is at all interesting to hear about bones.'); her son Lord Clifton's letter in the 'Field', 'about his golden Orchis and Hoopoe'. In one letter ('Cobham | Wednesday') she lists Shepherd's 'different visits' to the Darnleys: 'The first in 1879 - when you met my Father and we went to some wood expeditions | 1881 was the Yellowley time - | 1882 Miss Lee Warner | 1886 - you me the Hablers here - I should be so glad if you could come here every year as long as we are all alive! - I think a yearly visit is so satisfactory'. The Autograph Card Signed is in an envelope with Gravesend postmark of 1891. She thanks him for the botanical information ('Clifton was puzzled at first'), and is 'wickedly rejoicing' in his 'being beaten by Fusca'. Also present are five printed invitations for Shepherd to the Countess's 'At Homes'. A final item is an invitation to Shepherd to an 'At Home' of Lord Darnley's sister Lady Isabel Bligh.