Sir Francis Beaufort Papers

This collection contains the papers of British admiral and hydrographer Sir Francis Beaufort and members of the Beaufort and Edgeworth families dating from 1710-1953 (bulk 1780-1890) and consisting of diaries, journals, account books and correspondence. Subject matter includes the Beaufort and Edgeworth families; British naval history of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in particular the period of the Napoleonic Wars; geography and hydrography, particularly of the Eastern Mediterranean; Irish affair of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, particularly related to economic and commercial issues; and the Royal Society and scientific affairs in England in the early 19th century.

The bulk of the collection is comprised of the papers of Sir Francis and includes journals of his naval service (1791-1812); journals, notes, and working papers for his survey of Karamania (or Caramania), along the southern coast of Turkey (1813-1817); his professional diaries as hydrographer to the British Navy (1840-1857); and 854 letters by Sir Francis.

Notable topics included in the correspondence of Sir Francis includes a letter-journal of his first sea-voyage, to Indonesia (1789, July 24); a description of the Battle of San Joseph, in which he was critically wounded (1800, Oct. 28); letters to Richard Lovell Edgeworth detailing the construction of the Dublin-Galway telegraph (1803) and later discussing various projects for navigation mensuration (1808, May 5); commentary at length on the death of Lord Nelson (1805, Nov. 9); a voyage to Cape of Good Hope (1806, May 16-22); Malta (1808, Oct. 21); Quebec and French Canada (1809, Oct.-Nov.); and an explanation of a naval cause celebre in which he opposed the Admiralty by asserting that an escaped slave that had served 2 years on his ship was by definition enfranchised (1814, Feb. 3); a visit with Sir Walter Scott (1821, Apr. 23); the intellectual community in Paris (Laplace, Cuvier, etc.) (1825, Nov. 4); an eyewitness description of the Coronation of William IV (1831, Sep. 9); Sir Francis's knighthood ceremony (1848, May 7); and attempts to locate Sir John Franklin by balloon (1850, Jan. 9).

Notable correspondence about science written to Beaufort includes:

In addition to the papers of Sir Francis, the collection also includes the papers of other members of the Beaufort family including thirty-seven letters and four diaries of Sir Francis's father, Daniel Augustus Beaufort; seventeen letters and a journal of family history by Sir Francis's first wife, Alicia Magdalena Wilson Beaufort (d. 1834); a volume of original botanical watercolor paintings by Frances Anne Beaufort Edgeworth (1769-1865); and correspondence with and about writer Maria Edgeworth, including a series of letters from her to Sir Francis discussing literary maters and the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, dating from 1814-1827. There are also two letters by Sir Francis describing in detail the critical response to Maria Edgeworth's Patronage (1814, Feb. 3), and a letter discussing details of the publication of Edgeworth's novel Ormond (1817, June 12). Additional family correspondents include: William Lewis Beaufort (21 letters); Frances Anne Beaufort Edgeworth (3 letters); and Richard Lovell Edgeworth (7 letters). The oldest item in the collection is a grant of nobility to Francis de Beaufort (Sir Francis's ancestor) from Holy Roman Emperor Joseph I Hapsburg, dated March 4, 1710.

Some interesting or important items include:

Some additional significant persons represented in the collection include: Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (2 letters); Thomas Arnold (7 letters); Sir Joseph Banks (3 letters); Sir John Barrow (9 letters); William Bligh (1 letter); Robert Cadell (3 letters); Stratford Canning (7 letters); Charles Robert Cockerell (4 letters); Cuthbert Collingwood (2 letters); John Wilson Croker (12 letters); Sir Roger Curtis (2 letters); Sir Humphrey Davy (1 letter); James Gambier, Baron Gambier (1 letter); Davies Gilbert (5 letters); Sir Charles Hamilton (4 letters); Sir William Rowan Hamilton (1 letter); Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1 letter); John Jervis, Earl of St. Vincent (1 letter); Alicia Le Fanu (1 letter); Edward Hawke Locker (2 letters); Sir Thomas Erskine May (2 letters); Sir James Nicoll Morris (2 letters); Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1 letter); Horatio Nelson (1 letter); Sir William Edward Parry (2 letters); Sir Edward Pellew (7 letters); Lady Jane Spencer-Wilson Perceval (2 letters); Sir Henry Prescott (2 letters); James Rennell (29 letters); George Cecil Renouard (4 letters); Elisabeth-Paul-Edouard, Chevalier de Rossel (3 letters); Sir James South (4 letters); Thomas Spring-Rice (1 letter); Leslie Stephen (1 letter); Sir Robert Stopford (4 letters); Victoria, Queen of Great Britain (2 letters); Robert Walpole (7 letters); Sir John Borlase Warren (2 letters); John Washington (4 letters); William Wellesley-Pole, 1st Baron Maryborough (2 letters); Joseph Blanco White (1 letter); Lestock Wilson (12 letters).