| Description | This section contains letters written to members of over four generations of the Galton family, including Samuel Galton; his brother John Galton; his wife Mary Galton (nee Farmer); his mother Sarah Galton; his sister Elizabeth Galton; his sister-in-law Hannah Galton, and his son Samuel Galton jnr. It also contains letters to Samuel Galton jnr's wife Lucy Galton (nee Barclay) and their children, Adele Booth (nee Galton), Sophia Brewin (nee Galton), Hubert Galton, John Howard Galton, Samuel Tertius Galton and Mary Anne Schimmelpenninck (nee Galton); and letters written to John Howard Galton's wife Isabella Galton (nee Strutt), their children, Theodore Howard Galton and Douglas Galton, and their grandson George Hubert Galton. The section also includes letters to Samuel Galton jnr's employee and the Galton family's companion Lucy Ann Patterson, and a letter written by Samuel Tertius Galton's daughter Elizabeth Anne Wheler (nee Galton). Together these letters cover the period from the mid eighteenth century to the late nineteenth century, and provide a detailed record of the family's dynastic, business and social relationships during this period. The most significant sections of correspondence include letters to and from Samuel Galton which deal predominantly with the administration of the Birmingham based gun manufacturing business he owned with James Farmer. Together with his letters and those of James Farmer to his brother John Galton which contain references to the supply of materials and the transportation of guns to fulfil customer orders and to the financial affairs of the business, and James Farmer's letters to Mary Galton (nee Farmer) which also contain information about the gun business, this correspondence is a valuable source of information for the growth and success of the firm, its network of business contacts, and its connections with the slave trade in the mid eighteenth century. The most substantial section of correspondence is the extensive set of letters to John Howard Galton, particularly those from his parents and siblings and from Lucy Ann Patterson, written between about 1800 and 1820. Taken as a group, these letters provide a rich source of information about family life at Dudson House, Birmingham, their interests and social activities, and their friendships. Letters to John Howard Galton from other correspondents provide information about his personal network of friends, including several individuals connected with the Roman Catholic college at Oscott. Significant themes in letters to other members of the Galton family include the administration of property and of the financial affairs of various family members, the education of children, accounts of travels in Europe and matters relating to domestic and estate management. |