Call Number:

C1542

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

Spanish; Castilian

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Title of Collection, Box and Folder Number; Manuscripts Division, Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1813-1890 (inclusive)

Creator:

Blanckley family

Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century and Family papers -- 19th century.

Abstract:

Consists of family correspondence and documents of the Blanckley family, centering on Henry Stanyford Blanckley (1752-1820), British consul in Algeria and the Balearic Islands, and his children and grandchildren. Materials also document the Tonna, Philippides Cammenos, Androutsos, and Rogers families in Great Britain, Malta, the Balearic Islands, France, and Greece.

Henry Stanyford Blanckley (1752-1820) was an army officer who served as British consul in Algeria and the Balearic Islands. He married Mary Rogers in 1779, with whom he had three children: Maria Blanckley (later, Tonna), Edward Blanckley (d. 1845), and Henry Stanyford Blanckley, Jr. (1785-1819). In 1800, he married Mary Richards, with whom he had two more daughters, Elizabeth Blanckley (1802-1859), and Henrietta Blanckley (b. 1813).

Blanckley's youngest daughter, Elizabeth, who became known under her married name, Elizabeth Broughton, achieved literary fame in 1839 with the publication of her book Six Years Residence in Algiers, which was based on a diary her mother kept during the family's residence in the city. Both of Blanckley's sons achieved distinction in the armed services, Edward as a naval officer, and Henry, Jr., as an army officer who saw action at the Battle of Waterloo. Edward married Harriett Matcham (1799-1838), and Henry, Jr., married Elizabeth Diana Blanckley (d. 1859), with whom he had four sons and a daughter, Henrietta (Henriette) Elizabeth Blanckley (b. 1820), who became a teacher at Versailles in France.

Maria became known as Maria Tonna after marrying Lewis Tonna (d. 1828) of Liverpool, who served as Spanish vice-consul and joined his father-in-law as his secretary in Algeria. The Tonna family later made a home in Malta with their two children, Mary Louisa Tonna (later, Philippides Cammenos) and Lewis Hippolytus Joseph Tonna (1812-1857). Mary Louisa married Evangeli Philippides Cammenos, a native of Malta, in 1831. Her husband's half-brother was Odysseus Androutsos (b. 1788), a hero of the Greek War of Independence who was executed in 1825. Their sister, Tersitsa, was married at thirteen to Edward John Trelawny (1792–1881), who traveled to Greece with Lord Byron to fight on behalf of Greek independence. Lewis Hippolytus Joseph Tonna worked abroad as a translator and later returned to England to join the Royal United Services Institute. His fervent Protestant religious views brought him into contact with Charlotte Elizabeth Browne (1790-1846), the evangelical writer and social reformer, whom he married in 1841.

Consists of a group of assorted family papers of the Blanckley family, primarily relating to Henry Stanyford Blanckley (1752-1820), British consul in Algeria and the Balearic Islands, along with his children and grandchildren in Great Britain, Malta, the Balearic Islands, France, and Greece. While this group of materials centers around Blanckley and his descendents, the Tonna, Philippides Cammenos, Androutsos, and Rogers families are also represented. Materials follow three generations of the family from the early 1800s until the century's close and relate to subjects including British involvement in the Mediterranean, the Greek War of Independence, and the final years of the Napoleonic Wars.

Materials include correspondence between Henry Stanyford Blanckley and his children, Edward, Henry, Jr., and Maria Tonna; correspondence and documents of Maria Tonna, including letters from her sister-in-law Elizabeth Diana Blanckley and from various Rogers family members, as well as a school report card for one of her children; and correspondence and documents of Mary Louisa Philippides Cammenos, including letters from her brother, Lewis Hippolytus Joseph Tonna, and from various Greek and American consular officials, letters she wrote to her cousin Henriette Blanckley at Versailles, and her will. There are also single letters to the elder Lewis Tonna from a Spanish duke and to Henriette Blanckley. Additional documents include a list of family members of Odysseus and Tersitsa Androutsos and an unsigned seven-page poem about life in Malta. The majority of materials are in English, though several letters are written in French or Spanish.

Materials are grouped by family member.