WHYTE'S THE ECLECTIC COLLECTOR SATURDAY & SUNDAY 25 & 26 July 2020

40 History 45 1813-1815 (i) Letter of instruction by Frederick, Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, issued to Lieutenant-General Sir George Hewett, Bt., on his being given ‘Command of the Army in Ireland by HRH the Prince Regent (‘...In regard to the General System of Defence of the Country, whether connected with the prospect of Invasion from the Enemy, or that of Interior Commotion, it is recommended to you, in the first instance, to pursue the Plan, which has been so ably laid down by Lord Cornwallis...’), docketed: ‘the last sheet with the signature given to the Miss Carey’s - 2 December 1827’, 10 pages, foolscap, on Whatman paper watermarked 1811, blue silk ties, folio, Horse Guards, 25 September 1813. (ii) Heavily revised autograph draft of a memorandum by Hewett on the state of military preparation in Ireland in the event of invasion, with separate sections for individual districts, 23 pages, with inlays, etc., on paper watermarked with a crowned lion within a circle J Budgen/1813, foolscap, [June 1815]. (iii) Fair copy of the foregoing comprising a memorandum with accompanying ‘Remarks on the present Distribution of the Force in Ireland with reference to Invasion’, divided into sections for the Northern District, Western District, Lower Shannon, South West, South East, Centre and Eastern; with neat revisions made to the text, especially troop numbers and the like, through scraping-out and additions written in darker ink, 38 pages in two gatherings, plus blanks, foolscap, stitched with blue silk ribbon, on paper with the crowned encircled lion watermark, Ruse & Turner/1813, folio, Royal Hospital, 22 June 1815 Adjutant-General Sir George Hewett; Thence by descent; Bonhams, London, 26 June 2019, lot 17; Private collection. Condition: A few slight faults, otherwise generally fine. Sir George E.B. Hewett (1750-1840) was Adjutant-General in Ireland from 1791 to 1799, and based at ‘The Barracks’, or the Royal Barracks [later Collins Barracks] during the Rebellion. Thus he was ideally situated to gain access to the (mostly incriminating) documents linked to United Irish involvement in the French expeditions to Ireland (1796 and 1798) in this lot, namely those directly linked to TheobaldWolfe Tone, held prisoner in the barracks until his death in his cell on 19 November. Whether Hewett initially held these documents as proof of high treason, or as private trophies, is not clear. He was promoted Major-General in his own regiment in 1796 (4rd) and full general in June 1813. From December 1813 to 1816, he served as commander of the Crown forces in Ireland. (Source: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). Though his surname is occasionally spelled Hewitt, British sources confirm the correct spelling is Hewett. Dr Sylvie Kleinman, March 2020 Estimate €500-€700 (approx £450-£640) Click here for more images and to bid on this lot 45