Correspondence of Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, 1896-1934

References on this page: HAMILTON: 21/1-9

HAMILTON: 21/1

1896 Jul 6-1906 Dec 16

Letters sent by Hamilton to his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, mainly seeking her advice for his speeches and for amendments to his A Staff Officer's scrap-book during the Russo-Japanese War (Edward Arnold, London, vol 2, 1907), including copy of his speech made to a ladies group in London, urging fundraising for the erection of war memorials to soldiers killed in the Second Boer War, 11 Jul 1906; copy of letter from K Nakamura, Japanese General Staff (son of Japanese Gen Takemoti Kuroki), congratulating Hamilton on his Staff Officer's scrap-book, and regretting criticism of the book in Japan, 19 Aug 1906; copy of his speech to officers of the Midland Volunteer Association, on the dangers posed by apathy and anti-militarism to the principle of voluntary military service,14 Dec 1906. With letter from her brother, Lt Thomas Byrne Sellars, advising Hamilton on shares, 6 Jul 1896. 1 file, 21 letters

HAMILTON: 21/2

1907 Jan 5-1907 Nov 25

Letters sent by Hamilton to his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, mainly seeking her advice for his speeches and for amendments to his A Staff Officer's scrap-book during the Russo-Japanese War (Edward Arnold, London, vol 2, 1907), including copy of his speech at the unveiling of a memorial dedicated to men of the Manchester Regiment who died during the Second Boer War, 5 Jan 1907; copy of his speech to the Boys' Brigade at Plymouth, calling them to defend the British Empire from external barbarism and despotism, 6 Mar 1907. 1 file, 11 letters

HAMILTON: 21/3

1908 May 14-1912 Feb 6

Correspondence between Hamilton and his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, including copy of his speech to Oxford University undergraduates, urging them to join the Officers' Training Corps, 14 May 1908; his letter, asserting that had Sir Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner of St James's and Cape Town, continued as High Commissioner for South Africa, the Boers would have been further antagonised towards the British, 14 Oct 1908; copy of his speech to the Glasgow and Lanarkshire Association of London, on the contributions made by Glasgow to the British Empire, and his hopes for a Forth-Clyde canal to be constructed, 20 Feb 1909; letter, explaining his manuscript of 'The commander', 6 Feb 1912. With letter to Eleanor from Rt Hon Richard Burdon Haldane, Secretary of State for War, disagreeing with speeches made by Milner and Leopold Stennett Amery, which proposed establishing a population of majority British extraction in South Africa, 5 Nov 1908. 1 file, 10 letters

HAMILTON: 21/4

1913 Dec 6-1934 Apr 28

Correspondence between Hamilton and his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, mainly relating to Hamilton's military and literary activities, and including letter from Hamilton, 16 Nov 1914, on the death of FM Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar, Waterford and Pretoria; letter from Hamilton, 20 Jul 1915, on the forthcoming visit of Rt Hon Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill MP to Gallipoli; letter from Hamilton, 12 Apr 1916, on the despatch by Gen Sir Charles Carmichael Monro as General Officer Commanding Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. 1 file, 54 letters

HAMILTON: 21/5

1898 Oct 28-1902 Dec 12

Letters sent by FM Sir George Stuart White to his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, including his attendance at the reception for Maj Gen Horatio Herbert Kitchener, Sirdar of the Egyptian Army, at Victoria Station, London, 28 Oct 1898; his relief that Ladysmith did not capitulate to the Boers, 5 Apr 1900; his belief that Hamilton should have been awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during the siege of Ladysmith, 5 Aug 1900; on the unpreparedness of the British Army for war in South Africa, and the unlikelihood of submitting the Boers to British rule, 22 Sep 1900; proposing that the British Army could not match the rapid mobilisation of continental European armies, and would prove too small for imperial defence, 15 Jan 1901; recommending that Hamilton should command an army corps, rather than remain as Military Secretary, and his opinion of Kim by (Joseph) Rudyard Kipling (Macmillan and Co, London, 1901), 26 Oct 1901; his recollection of meeting Gen Charles George Gordon in India in 1880, 9 Jul 1902; the publication of heliograms transmitted during the Second Boer War, incriminating the decisions taken by Gen Sir Redvers Henry Buller, 19 Jul 1902;, 1 file, 16 letters

HAMILTON: 21/6

1903 Mar 26-1910 Jul 24

Letters sent by FM Sir George Stuart White to his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, including his criticism of the writings of Leopold Stennett Amery on the siege of Ladysmith [for The Times history of the war in South Africa (Sampson, Low and Co, London, 1900-1909)], 2 May 1903; disputing the evidence given by Lt Gen Sir Archibald Hunter to the Royal Commission on the war in South Africa, relating to the Boer attack of 6 Jan 1900 upon Ladysmith, 3 Oct 1903; the visit of William II, Kaiser of Germany, to Gibraltar, and his criticism of reforms undertaken at the War Office and the creation of the Army Council, 6 May 1904; recent Anglo-Russian tensions, and the threat of a Russian invasion of India through Afghanistan, 19 Dec 1904; his despondency at the decision of his son, Capt James Robert 'Jack' White, to resign from the army, 4 Nov 1908; Hamilton's appointment as Inspector General of Overseas Forces, and his relief that FM Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, was not appointed Viceroy of India, 24 Jul 1910. With letter from Maj Walter Dennistoun Sellar, on his work assessing claims for war damage in South Africa, 19 Jun 1903. 1 file, 23 letters

HAMILTON: 21/7

1899 Aug 29-1901 Oct 22

Letters sent by FM Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain to his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, including his criticism of the latest trial of Alfred Dreyfuss, and his discussing the First Boer War with Hamilton, 29 Aug 1899; the remarks made by FM Sir Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Baron Roberts of Kandahar and Waterford, Commander-in-Chief South Africa, in his dispatches seeming to criticise Gen Sir Redvers Henry Buller, 20 Apr 1900; the possible abandoning of the 'forward policy' by Rt Hon Sir George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Curzon of Kedleston, Viceroy of India, leading to the withdrawal of British troops from the North West Frontier, 28 Apr 1899; the visit of his nephew, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, 12 Jan 1901; his allegations of unnecessary savagery towards the Boers, caused by British policies and conduct of the war in South Africa, 22 Oct 1901. 1 file, 21 letters

HAMILTON: 21/8

1899 Nov 7-1902 Mar 3

Letters sent by Gen Sir Crawford Trotter Chamberlain to his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, including his congratulations on Hamilton's actions at Ladysmith during the Second Boer War, 24 May [1900]; his tribute to his recently deceased brother, FM Sir Neville Bowles Chamberlain, 3 Mar 1902. 1 file, 3 letters

HAMILTON: 21/9

1914 Apr 12-[1919 Jul]

Letters sent by Gen Sir (Henry Macleod) Leslie Rundle to his friend Eleanor Charlotte Sellar, including the Curragh Incident, and his disappointment that Hamilton was not appointed Chief of the Imperial General Staff or Commander-in-Chief, India, 12 Apr 1914; his allegations of cliques and divisions in the army, and his admiration for Hamilton's command of the Dardanelles Expedition, 15 Jun 1915; his new command (Central Force), and prospects for a German invasion of Britain, 25 Aug 1915; his dismissal as General Officer Commanding Eastern Command by FM Sir John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Viscount French of Ypres and High Lake, General Officer Commanding Home Forces, with copy of Rundle's letter regarding his dismissal to FM Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener of Khartoum and Broome, Secretary of State for War, 1 May 1916; his indignation at the public criticism of Rt Hon Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane of Cloan, and his belief that the USA should control the Allied high command, 17 Nov 1917. 1 file, 10 letters