The Stuart and Cumberland Papers: new primary sources collection:

The Library has added another significant primary source collection to to the State Papers Online series, The Stuart and Cumberland Papers from Gale Publishing.

The Stuart and the Cumberland papers cover the 17th and 18th century Jacobite struggle for the throne and the efforts to suppress it. The resource contains two remarkable collections, 

• The Stuart Papers
• The Cumberland Papers, 

The Stuart Papers covers the history of the Jacobite movement from James's II's exile in 1688 to the death of the last Stuart heir, in 1807. The papers cover the 'Glorious Revolution', the Williamite war in Ireland and include the private and diplomatic correspondence of James II alongside that of his son, James Francis Edward Stuart and grandsons Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) and Henry Benedict Stuart. 

Examples of the content and range of the historical documents:

• James II and VII and Mary of Modena’s letter books from 1688
• Plans and correspondence surrounding the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715
• Discussion over the hunt for a wife for James Edward around the courts of Europe, and subsequent letters about the Polish Princess Clementina Sobieska
• Details around a failed Jacobite plot with Spain in 1719
• Letters surrounding the Atterbury plot 1721-1723
• Details of the battles of Falkirk Muir, Prestonpans and Culloden, and the ‘pacification’ of the Scottish Highlands after the Rebellion of 1745
• Accounts of Charles Edward’s arrest at the Paris Opera in 1748, including his own
• Details of the British army under the Duke of Cumberland in the War of the Austrian Succession
• British colonial ambitions and movements in India and the Americas as seen in the Cumberland Papers
• Quarrels and religious tension between the Protestant and Catholic factions of the Stuart court-in-exile. 

The Cumberland Papers, the papers of William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, the second surviving son of George II, provide a Hanoverian counterpoint to the Stuart Papers, and an unparalleled insight into eighteenth century military matters and British foreign policy. 

As Captain-General of His Majesty’s Land Forces, the Duke of Cumberland’s correspondence relating to Jacobites provide a vital piece of the jigsaw of eighteenth century British politics and loyalties.

The Series

RA CP LR These letter registers record the Duke’s military correspondence from March 1745 to May 1752, from his appointment as Captain General in sole command of the allied army of troops from Britain, Hanover, Holland and Austria in Flanders and cover the first eight years of his 11 years in the post. 

RA CP MAIN This is the main series of correspondence and documents to and from individuals, reports on military matters, logistics and practical elements of maintaining armies and troops, warrants, receipts, and intelligence gathering. They include nine volumes of military papers, dating from 1666 to 1765, of military accounts and troop details, orders and memorandums. 

RA CP OB These Order Books cover the period May 1742 to September 1762. They contain orders from campaigns across the UK and Europe, particularly from the War of the Austrian Succession and the Seven Years War. 

RA CP VOL These miscellaneous items include information on the Duke’s library, the British Hospital in the Low Countries, the Stable Accounts and other accounts.

The Stuart and Cumberland Papers can be accessed via the Library Catalogue along with the State Papers Online,

Collection Development./ Forbairt Bailiuchán