Description:

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley

Duke of Wellington ALS regarding Tower of London's Ceremony of Keys

 

2pp of incomplete ALS on cream watermarked paper inscribed overall and signed by Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852) as "Wellington" at bottom right verso. Written presumably in London sometime during Wellington's 25-year-long tenure as Constable of the Tower of London. Minor loss to upper corner and repair along bottom. Otherwise in very good to near fine condition, with expected paper folds and isolated edge darkening. Page measures 7.25" x 9.25".

 

This is the penultimate and last page of a letter written by the Duke of Wellington to an unknown correspondent concerning the Tower of London.  The Tower of London complex, located in the city center overlooking the Thames River, has variously served as a fortress, royal residence, jail, treasury, royal mint, jewel vault, archive, and site of an exotic animal menagerie over the last 1000 years.

 

Wellington served as its Constable between 1827-1852, during which time he reinstated military order and modernized the physical structure. The hero of Waterloo updated defenses, constructed a new barracks, and oversaw the draining and in-filling of the foul-smelling medieval moat. He expelled the animal menagerie to the London Zoo in 1835, yet grudgingly allowed visitors to tour the grounds. Wellington also eliminated the practice whereby Tower positions could be inherited or purchased.

 

In the letter, Wellington discussed the importance of maintaining defenses and ammunition depots. The last portion of the letter addressed a proposed change of protocol to the nightly gate locking, or Ceremony of Keys. With original spelling and punctuation:

 

"I certainly cannot give my consent to leave the Key of the Wicket in Charge of the head (?). If the entrance is to be opened till one o'clock the Yeoman Porter must…the Gates at eleven, attend to open the Wicket to all comers in till one.

 

But I entrust to you that this is really a very idle application; and that it would be much better to allow it to close.

 

The Consequences of it must be that the Officers of the Key on Duty in the Tower will always be about in the Evening. If they can return till one oclock in the Morning they will of course dine in Town go to the Play houses. As matters are now arranged they generally remain all the Evening in the Tower…".

 

The Ceremony of the Keys is described in an 1866 account called Memorials of the Tower of London, written by the Lieutenant Governor of the Tower, Lord de Ros. In it, the reader will recognize Wellington's terms, both the "Yeoman Porter" and the "Wicket":

 

“The ceremony which accompanies the closing of the tower Gates is of very ancient origin…A few minutes before midnight the Yeoman Porter attends at the Main Guard, and applies for the ‘escort for the keys.’ This consists of a party of six privates commanded by a sergeant, who accompany the porter to the outer gate, and assist him to close it. Having locked both the gate and wicket, the Yeoman Porter returns bearing the keys, and followed by the escort. As he passes the sentries, on his way back to the Main Guard, each of them challenges, and in reply to ‘Who goes there?’ is answered ‘The keys.’ The sentry rejoins, ‘What keys?’ to which the reply is given ‘The Queen’s keys,’ and the escort passes on…All this ceremony and precaution may seem superfluous, but it is a remarkable fact, and not the less so from the late Duke of Wellington having caused much inquiry to be made on the subject, at the Home Office, and elsewhere, that there has never been any riot or serious disturbance in London, without some plan being laid by the ringleaders, for the attack and seizure of the Tower, from the days of Jack Cade to the Chartist Riots in 1848.”

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington dominated military and political affairs in early nineteenth-century Britain. Wellington began his exceptional military career in the late 1780s, rising to hero status after his combined allied forces defeated Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815. A masterful military strategist, Wellington participated in 60 battles during his lifetime.  He later served twice as Prime Minister between 1828-1830 and in 1834.

 

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