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Victoria of England Queen



Queen Victoria ALS regarding Irish Potato Famine landlord's murder: "I hope the Murderer will not escape."

 

4pp ALS on mourning stationery inscribed overall and signed by Queen Victoria (1819-1901) as "Victoria" at middle right of the fourth page. Written Saturday, November 6, 1847. The diminutive bifold paper has expected light paper folds, else in very good to near fine condition, each page measuring 3.375" x 4.25".

 

The Queen's letter to her confidante, Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely (1821-1890), concerned the sensational murder of Irish landlord Major Denis Mahon (1787-1847) just four days earlier, on November 2, 1847.

 

The murder made headlines in England and horrified Victoria, who wrote elsewhere about the barbaric character of the Irish. It put into sharp relief the ongoing turmoil in Ireland, where the Potato Famine, or Great Hunger (1845-1851), was then at its peak.

 

"My dearest Jane,

 

I was just writing to you to express my horror about the untimely + horrible death, of your Father's old friend poor Major Mahon, when I received your note! When I read [about the dreadful murder in the papers yesterday, I though directly what grief this sad news would be to your family. --

 

Poor Mrs. Mahon and her Daughter, how I pity them! He [Major Mahon was the uncle of Mrs. Phipps, the wife of Col: Phipps: She was horror struck when she heard of this unfortunate event. I hope the Murderer will not escape. --

 

I have no news Count Mensdorf [possibly Count Emmanuel von Mensdorff-Pouilly (1777-1852) and feel quite uneasy about him. My eyes are again so bad that I cannot say more, but I hope soon to hear how you are. Believe me always affectionately yours

 

Victoria

 

When you find an opportunity, pray express my heartfelt sympathy to poor Mrs. Mahon."

 

The murdered man, Major Mahon, had inherited a 10,000 acre estate near Strokestown in northern Ireland on the eve of the Potato Famine. By the spring of 1847, Mahon had opted to liquidate his estate; he paid for the transport of approximately 1,000 of his tenants to Quebec via unsanitary "coffin ships." When it was discovered that around 25-33% of these passengers died en route, and that the tenants who had stayed behind faced imminent eviction, Mahon's unpopularity increased. He was shot and killed in his carriage as he returned from a meeting after nightfall. Two local men, James Commins and Patrick Hasty, were eventually tried and executed for Mahon's murder.

 

The letter is fascinating because it juxtaposes Victoria's deep sympathy for the murdered man with her utter lack of sympathy for Potato Famine victims. Victoria does not make the connection between Mahon's murder and the context of the Potato Famine. Instead, Mahon's murder is placed in isolation. It was not motivated by the desperation of those suffering in impossible economic conditions, but ostensibly by the evil inherent in Irish nature. Of further interest is Victoria's rather ingenuous comment, "I hope the Murderer will not escape." A somewhat passive attitude for a monarch to adopt!

 

Jane Loftus, Marchioness of Ely was related to Waterloo hero the Duke of Wellington. She befriended many royals including Empress Eugenie of France, Victoria I, and Queen Sophie of the Netherlands. The Marchioness was appointed a lady of the Queen's bedchamber in 1851. She served as Victoria's confidante and private secretary until her death in 1890.

 

Victoria's letter also mentions the Phipps family. One of Victoria's other female confidantes was Harriet Lepel Phipps (1841-1922). Harriet was only 6 at the time this letter was written, but she would attend the Queen after the 1860s. Harriet's father Colonel Charles Beaumont Phipps (1801-1866) was married to Margaret Anne Bathurst, who had been the niece of the murdered Major Denis Mahon.

 

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