Main content

John Lewis Guillemard Letters

Notifications

Held at: Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division [Contact Us]

This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.

Overview and metadata sections

Guillemard, John Lewis, 1764-1844

John Lewis Guillemard (1764-1844) was born into a wealthy Huguenot silk-weaving family originally from Bolbec, Normandy. The family fled to England from France during Louis XIV's reign. Born in London to Jean (John) Guillemard and Françoise Pilon, John was educated at St. John's College, Oxford, where he received his B.A. in 1786, and his M.A. in 1789. In 1804, Guillemard married Mary Philippa Davies Giddy (1769-1850), the sister of Davies Giddy (1767-1839), the scientific administrator and mathematician who later took the name of Gilbert.

Although he did not exercise any profession, Guillemard was well-traveled and moved in elite circles. A fellow and for a time president of the Royal Society, 1827-1830, Guillemard was also a member of the American Philosophical Society, the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Institution, and the Linnean Society. While staying in the United States from 1794 to 1800, Guillemard was appointed to the Jay Treaty commission charged with dealing with British property claims in America following the Revolutionary War. Apart from this brief stint of public service, he devoted himself to his family, particularly his nieces, Frances, Jane, and Mary Griffin, as he had no children of his own, and his scientific interests.

John Guillemard's sister, Jeanne Marie Jane Guillemard (1765-1795) married John Griffin (1757–1852), and they had four daughters: Frances Griffin (d. 1868), Mary Griffin, Jane Griffin (1791–1875), and Mary Griffin (1793–1854). Jane Griffin became Lady Franklin when she married Rear-Admiral Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) in 1828. From 1837 to 1843, Franklin served as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania).

This collection consists of letters, dating from 1787 to 1844, from John Lewis Guillemard, an English aristocrat, traveler, and science enthusiast, to his family and friends, specifically, his sister, Jeanne Marie Griffin, his nieces Frances, Jane and Mary Griffin, his uncles, James and Isaac Guillemard, Sir John and Lady Jane Griffin Franklin, and Sir George Thomas Staunton.

In his letters from America, Guillemard documents among other things, the country's political situation, foreign relations with France and Great Britain following the Revolutionary War, as well as his service as a commissioner to the Jay Treaty. Frequent trips to the Continent, particularly France, Italy, and Switzerland, result in Guillemard's witnessing of significant political and social upheavals, including the French Revolution, specifically the aftermath of the capture of the Bastille, and to a lesser extent, the Neapolitan War of 1815. Guillemard's letters also document the early 19th-century scientific and intellectual communities and their advancements, the British Empire, as well as family and financial affairs.

Much of the collection's description is based on dealer information and research.

Purchased, 2014, AM 2015-36.

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

This collection was processed by Faith Charlton in December 2014. Finding aid written by Faith Charlton in December 2014.

This collection was processed by Faith Charlton in December 2014. Finding aid written by Faith Charlton in December 2014.

No materials were separated during 2014 processing.

Publisher
Manuscripts Division
Finding Aid Author
Faith Charlton
Finding Aid Date
2012
Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Use Restrictions

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. For instances beyond Fair Use, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Collection Inventory

Scope and Contents

Guillemard's 80 or so letters to his family from America include correspondence primarily with this uncles, James and Isaac Guillemard, merchants in London. There are also some letters addressed to his sister, Jeanne Marie Griffin, and a few to Guillemard's nieces Frances, Jane, and Mary Griffin. There are also a couple of letters to and from Guillemard's brother-in-law, Davies Giddy. The letters are written principally from Philadelphia (Pa.), including "The Solitude," John Penn (grandson of William Penn) and his estate located on the outskirts of the city; the French émigré colony of Asylum, (Pa.); New York; Boston; Quebec; and Montreal.

Guillemard's detailed and insightful letters document a number of topics, in particular political happenings in the country as well as America's foreign relations with France and England following the Revolutionary War. Guillemard himself becomes involved in the latter when he is asked in May 1797 to serve as the fifth Commissioner to the Jay Treaty to deal with British property claims in America following the war. (While serving, Guillemard makes sure that his uncles do not forward any claims to him personally so as to avoid any hint of bias.) In his last letter dated May 6, 1800, Guillemard discusses America's current political state: "The administration here is in great confusion. The President has removed the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of War has resigned, and the Attorney General executes these offices. It is pretty clear that Mr. Adams does not even expect to be re-elected President, and it is probable Mr. Jefferson will. The measures of the... Men will be not less hostile to England than those of the present party, but they will perhaps have an air of being so, because the hatred to Great Britain which is now hypocritically concealed will then be openly avowed." His reflections on the future of the country are prescient: "This country is much divided in its real and supposed interests. – some of which are founded on geographical situation, some on commercial calculation, some on imaginary or real wrongs. Of these the former are the most likely to break up the Union, but it will not be for many years (May 2, 1797)."

Besides documenting American politics, Guillemard's letters also include observations and information about American society, bankruptcies and financial failures, the activities of land speculators, local insurrections against "oppressors" and tax-gatherers, and outbreaks of yellow fever, which during his stay in Philadelphia, resulted in his taking up residence at "The Solitude". His correspondence also relates to personal matters such as family and financial affairs, including Guillemard's interest in purchasing an estate in England.

Guillemard's letters also include discussions and observations of his travelling companion, the French social reformer François Alexandre Frédéric, duc de La Rochefoucauld-Liancourt. On March 25, 1795, Guillemard writes that he is going to Canada, "with a gentleman who has spent much time in England, whom Fortune once smiled upon...Now that fortune frowns upon him he is still manly and resigned, melancholy at times, but at others enjoying with unfeigned pleasure the good which are left to him." However, de Liancourt was refused entry: "The gate of Paradise was shut upon him", Guillemard supposes in order to "keep him from intercourse with the native Canadians." Guillemard also traveled with de la Rochefoucauld to the small French émigré colony of Asylum in northern Pennsylvania ("On the E. Branch of the Susquehanna, about 180 miles N.W. of Philadelphia"), "an establishment originally imagined by some Frenchmen – with the desire of collecting together the ruined French who have been driven, or have escaped, from France or the French Islands…(May 28, 1795)" (Rochefoucauld documented his American travels in Journal de voyage en Amerique et d'un sejour a Philadelphie, 1 octobre 1794-18 avril 1795.)

Physical Description

1 box

Letters from America, 1794. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes a couple of letters to and from Davies Giddy.

Physical Description

1 folder

Letters from America, 1795. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters from America, 1796. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters from America, 1797. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters from America, 1798. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes a typed transcription of a letter from John Guillemard dated November 3, 1798.

Physical Description

1 folder

Letters from America, 1799. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters from America, 1800. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Scope and Contents

These 14 letters written from Paris, Nancy, Strasbourg, Besançon, Geneva, Zurich and elsewhere and addressed to Guillemard's sister Jeanne Marie Griffin and his father Jean Guillemard, document two of Guillemard's journeys-- the first in 1787-1788 and the second in 1789-- to France and Switzerland prior to and at the outset of the French Revolution. Also included are three typed copies of Guillemard's letters written circa August and September 1789 to Newton Ogle, aide-de-camp to Earl Grey, with whom he witnessed the aftermath of the capture of the Bastille. There is also an account Guillemard wrote in 1823 detailing his experiences in France with Ogle, which includes documentation of an attack that occurred while they were staying in Roeun, and their witnessing in front of the Palais Royale the procession transporting the heads of Jacques de Flesselles and Bernard René de Launay.

Guillemard's letters during his first trip to France mostly describe tourist activities, such as visits to monuments, buildings, and performances he attended; however, they also address signs of unrest, which are made clear when an English officer orders him to leave the country. After leaving Paris, Guillemard traveled to Switzerland. In these letters, he offers accounts of fellow travelers and persons with whom he visits, including Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, and Swiss poet and physiognomist Johann Kaspar Lavater; and also discusses the trial of Warren Hastings.

Guillemard's letters documenting his second trip to France with Newton Ogle offer detailed accounts of their experiences. Writing to his sister from Paris on July 17, 1789, a few days after the storming of the Bastille, Guillemard notes, "Yesterday was a day of great distress; on Wednesday Evening deputies from the National Assembly arrived in order to dissipate the fears of the Parisians and announce the King's intention of visiting his Capital...He came today in great form, attended by the National Assembly on foot, and guarded by the Militia of Versailles...There were above 400,000 Citizens and others under arms...When he entered a dead silence prevailed...The common Guards of Paris are disbanded, and a Militia composed of Citizens perform the office of guarding the Place, and preventing disturbances. The Bastille will I hope never been seen again. It is now level with the ground." In a postscript written from Geneva on July 25, Guillemard adds, "I wrote this letter at Paris, and meant to have sent it from Versailles, but I have not been able. The whole kingdom is in a tumult not to be easily described... We have arrived safe at Geneva after much care and trouble."

Physical Description

1 box

Letters from France, 1787. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters from France and Switzerland, 1788. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters from France, 1789. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Typed Transcriptions of Guillemard's Letters to Newton Ogle, Circa 1789, undated. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Account of Guillemard's Personal Experiences during the French Revolution, 1823. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters to Sir John and Lady Jane Griffin Franklin, 1830 October-1844 July. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Serving as her teacher when she was a child, John Guillemard was particularly close to his niece Jane Griffin Franklin (1792-1875), the second wife of naval officer, Arctic explorer, and lieutenant-governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) Sir John Franklin (1786-1847).

During Franklin's period of service in Tasmania (1837-1843), the couple did much to encourage social and intellectual development, establishing a scientific society, the Royal Society of Tasmania, and a school. The Franklins' scientific interests account for much of the content of Guillemard's letters, which include news of the latest scientific developments in Europe. For example, in his letter dating December 20, 1839, Guillemard discusses the invention of the daguerreotype process of photography. "I wish I could give you an account of a striking or amusing fact connected with the advancement of our theoretical & practical sciences. The question of the inventor of the new art of producing drawings without the eye or hand of a designer is not within my jurisdiction, but I have seen some designs on Silvered Copper which are remarkable for their precision and delicacy & which have marked the minutest lines with an accuracy superior to that of human observation and to now traced in the phatogenic [sic] lines only by high power microscopes or lenses. Nothing has been yet produced in England equal to the recent plates executed under the superintendence of Daguerre."

Guillemard's letters also relate to family matters, the political situation in England (agitation over Reform, etc.), as well as issues John Franklin was facing as lieutenant-governor of Tasmania, including Franklin's decision to dismiss his private secretary, Captain Alexander Maconochie, in 1838.

Physical Description

1 folder

Letters to Sir George Thomas Staunton, 1810 July-1817 July. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Writing from London, Clavering, Rome, Naples, Liancourt (France) and elsewhere, Guillemard's 11 letters to Sir George Thomas Staunton (1781-1859) in Canton (Guangzhou) primarily relate to the latest scientific discoveries, such as Humphry Davy's electrical battery; news about the Royal Society and the Royal Institution; his financial affairs as well as Staunton's; and the political and economic situations in England, France, and Italy. Writing from Italy during the Neapolitan War, some of Guillemard's letters include accounts of his experiences. While visiting Mount Vesuvius, Guillemard writes that he is, "surrounded...by dust and smoke and flame and the thunder of artillery and the uproar of a people mad with novelty and joy...(May 23, 1815)"

Physical Description

1 folder

Scope and Contents

Consists of about 50 letters to Guillemard's nieces, Frances Griffin (d. 1868), Jane Griffin Franklin (1791–1875), and Mary Griffin (1793–1854), from London, Tredrea (the Cornish home of Guillemard's brother-in-law Davies Giddy), Clavering, Paris, Florence, Rome, Naples and elsewhere.

Childless himself, Guillemard treated his nieces as though they were his own children. He was very interested in their education, and his letters include discussion of ideas and developments in the intellectual milieu in which he moves; book recommendations; and reports on meetings with the savants of Europe, Constantin François de Chassebœuf, comte de Volney in particular.

His letters document his time on the Continent, primarily France and Italy, between 1814 and 1818. While in the former, he stays with his friend, François Alexandre Frédéric de la Rochefoucauld-Liancourt, renews his acquaintance with some of the country's aristocratic families, and visit scientists and a number of the English residents in Paris. Letters of his trip to Italy include descriptions of the Neapolitan War.

Physical Description

1 box

Letters to Nieces, 1801 September-1813. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters to Nieces, 1814-1815. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters to Nieces, 1816-1817. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Letters to Nieces, 1818-1823 June. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Other Letters to Family and Friends, 1790-1840. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Consists of about 20 letters from Guillemard mainly to his father, John Guillemard, sister, Jeanne Marie Griffin, cousins, and uncles, James and Isaac Guillemard. Also included are a couple of letters written by his father, John Guillemard, to family members.

Physical Description

1 folder

Account of a Visit to Liancourt, Paris, and Geneva in 1816, circa 1823. 1 folder.
Physical Description

1 folder

Account of a Voyage from Geneva to Leghorn in 1819, circa 1823. 1 folder.
Scope and Contents

Includes a description of Guillemard's detainment in quarantine in the Lazaretto of Leghorn.

Physical Description

1 folder

Print, Suggest