Andrew James Cochrane Johnstone letters to Viscount Melville, 1792-1812.

0.42 linear feet (1 box) + 1 broadside.

English

Purchased from William Reese Co. on the James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Fund, 2000.

Arranged chronologically.

This material is open for research.

Andrew James Cochrane Johnstone (1767-1833?) was the eighth son of the heavily indebted Thomas Cochrane, Earl of Dundonald. He entered the Army in 1783; ten years later he married Lady Georgiana Hope Johnstone (d. 1797) and obtained the patronage of Henry Dundas (later Lord Melville). He became governor of Dominica in 1797 and was recalled in 1803 after the Dominica assembly petitioned the Crown against him. Court-martialed on corruption charges, he was acquitted in 1805 but resigned his commission. After his conviction for fraud in the stock exchange scandal of 1814, he fled England and never returned, settling first in the West Indies and finally in Paris, where he died, probably in 1833.

The collection consists of over fifty letters from Johnstone to his patron Henry Dundas, Lord Melville, some accompanied by enclosures or letters copy and most docketed by Melville. Many date from the period of Johnstone's controversial governorship of Dominica, and subjects include the death of Lady Johnstone on the voyage to Dominica; Johnstone's repeated demands to be allowed to form a "Black Corps" of soldiers on the island; and the legal struggles between holders of leasehold lands and the British government. Letters dating from 1800-05 are primarily concerned with Johnstone's court-martial for misconduct while governor, and include repeated requests for Lord Melville's support and official documents of the tribunal. Other topics include Johnstone's repeated applications for promotions for himself and for offices for several of his relatives, and his disputed elections to Parliament in 1800 and 1807.

April 08, 2005

Accompanied by a container list.

Andrew James Cochrane Johnstone, Letters to Viscount Melville. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Andrew James Cochrane Johnstone, Letters to Viscount Melville. James Marshall and Marie-Louise Osborn Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.