Hi Diane,

Like I mentioned in the Facebook message, we’re getting to the part where it is going to get harder to
figure out what I need (because all that is left is correspondence), and I don’t want you having to sort
through sheafs and sheafs of paper. I think that the best thing to do is to see if there are indexes with
the requested folders, and if there are, then take a picture of the index, and I can let you know which
letters look most interesting to me and you can take pictures of those letters. I will be up by 6 am EST—
about 11 am London time—so don’t feel bad about texting me any pictures of indexes and I can let you
know which letters look most interesting to me the day-of. I think that will help move the process along
—so you don’t have to re-order the same documents for the next day. But, if that doesn’t work out and
you do need to re-order the same documents for the next day, that’s fine, too.

If a document order does not have an index, don’t feel like you have to spend hours sorting through the
letters. Just let me know what the order looks like generally (who is writing to whom—a consul? a
minister? the Foreign Office?), and that will give me an idea if I need to order it myself at a later date.

There are 2 “series” in the documents I ordered—the Mexico series (and I start with a collection you’ve
already looked at and one which you took a picture of the index . . . I just indicated the letters I was
interested in getting pictures of), and then what I’m calling the “1850s series.” The 1850s chapter is the
chapter where I’m still trying to figure out what is even going on, but with these letters, I am mostly
interested in what the diplomatic corps is doing (in both Madrid and St. Petersburg). The first ones in
this series are from the PRO 30 series—that finding aid was pretty specific, and had details about what
to find in the letters, but I don’t know, when looking at the letters, those descriptions will be self-evident
through folders or notes in the documents . . . I just don’t know. I’m going off of the finding aids. I am
hoping that they are clear, and you’ll be able to tell which letters I am interested more easily with those
ones!

After the more specific finding aids, there is very little specificity in the 1850s documents. I put down
what I am hoping to find/timelines and names, but again, don’t spend a lot of time on them if it’s just a
mess of papers.

Also, we are getting to the point where I don’t know how helpful it will be for you to go back . . . the
most helpful thing for me at this point is 1) if there is an index, to get pictures of those letters, and 2)
getting a sense of what is in these documents so I can make more concrete plans when I am able to get
to London. If you want to go back at some point in July/when you can and look for indexes in the rest of
the documents I’m interested in, we could think about doing that, but if not, that’s also okay. Let’s just
play it by ear.

June 8th and June 9th

National Archives

Here are my notes about the Mexico documents again:

Okay, so the next 6 documents have to do with Mexico. I am including the first one I am
interested in at the BEGINNING of the document order sheet, because I want to know if I need
to order the rest of its type in the series. It looks like it might just be a list of names. If it is, I do
not need to order more of them (and that would take away about a dozen out of this series, and
make life easier for both of us). If it is more than just a list of names, I’m still interested in what
it says so that I can still judge whether or not I need to order more from that series (it is quite
possible I still won’t).
The Mexico and other correspondence documents are also where it gets trickier. These could be
huge volumes. There could be so much information that I don’t really need. Essentially, what
I’m looking at in my second chapter is how the households of Joel Poinsett (U.S. Minister) and
Henry George Ward (British charge) ended up becoming rivals in trying to influence Mexican
politics in the mid-to-late 1820s.
They have very different households: Poinsett is a bachelor, and as far as I’ve been able to figure
out, had no females who came along with him, even as enslaved people or servants. Ward, on the
other hand, had a young wife (Emily Swinburne Ward) who ended up having two children while
they were in Mexico. Both men use their household dynamics in order to try to sway Mexican
officials, especially in regards to treaty-making (Ward is able to create intimacy by inviting
officials to his daughters’ christenings, and also through more “typical” things like dinners put
on by him and his wife, etc., while Poinsett ends up forming a masonic lodge to gain more
influence among the Mexican Congress, since the British are beating him in terms of influence
on the Mexican cabinet).
I’ve learned that the tricky thing with state correspondence is that they will rarely (if ever) talk
directly about how these household dynamics impacted diplomacy, but that is, in part, because
the gendered dynamics of diplomacy are structural/infrastructural, which means that they are
taken for granted by these state actors. Occasionally things will come up. In general, however,
these state papers are useful as framing devices, so I can see in what ways a gendered
interpretation changes our understandings of treaty-making and other aspects of diplomacy.
With this correspondence, I am guessing a lot of it will include information about treaty-making.
I have found that some of the most interesting parts of state correspondence can be in the lead-up
to the mission and the days right after they get into country, since that’s when the diplomats are
trying to get their households in order. As such, for Henry Ward, he arrived in Mexico City as
chargé in March 1825, so there might be some talk about preparations in late 1824 and then in
March 1825.
Also, the issues with Joel Poinsett and masonry (which Ward is very upset about) take place
from late September 1825 until Ward’s dismissal in 1827. Ward was dismissed because he was
spending too much—more than the diplomatic missions in St. Petersburg, Paris, and Madrid
combined—and George Canning (the Foreign Secretary) was fed up with that. If that is
mentioned, it will be mentioned in early 1827, I am guessing.
In short, with these letters, I am looking for any information about preparations, household
details, the rivalry about masonry, and Canning’s ire with Ward about spending too much.
As for letters you do not have to take pictures of (because I found drafts of them in Ward’s
personal papers), here is a list:
Ward to Canning 27 Sept. 1825
Ward to Canning 30 Sept. 1825
Ward to Canning 10 Dec. 1825
Ward to Canning 29 May 1826
Ward to Canning 4 July 1826
Ward to Canning 11 July 1826
Ward to Canning 09 Sept. 1926
Again, I do not need those dispatches, if they show up in any of these volumes. I am actually
more interested in finding out Canning’s responses to Ward about these letters than I am about
Ward writing to Canning.
Also, there will be a lot of talk about Cuba in these documents, I am sure. I do not need them, no
matter how interesting they are. That is not the direction my chapter has taken.

1. FO203/2 To British ministers 1823-1826 --let's get this one again, I included 5 letters I'm
interested in (although I think you already did the one about Waldegreave--Oct. 27th, 1826, so
that will just be 4 letters) 

-October 27th, 1825 (you already took a picture of this one)

-October 28th, 1825—about Waldegreave’s property
-June 20th, 1826—New regulations about passports
June 20th, 1826—Book and papers left in Mr. Ward’s possession
June 23rd, 1826—Respecting salary, etc. for the vice consulate at Tampico

With these ones—if there is an index, great. Take a picture of the index, ask to
keep it for the next day (if that’s possible), and I can let you know specific letters
I want to read (or, you can send me a picture of the index via Facebook
Messenger the day of, I can look at the index and tell you which letters I am
interested in and then you can take pictures of them there. That might also work.)

2. Reference: FO 204/4
Description: Foreign Office (to British Ministers in Mexico)
Date: 1825
If there is not an index on this one, I would be most interested in letters to Ward
(if available) from March-May 1825 and from October-December 1825.

3. Reference: FO 204/6
Description: From Foreign Office (1826 Jan-April) To Foreign Office (1826)
Date: 1826
This one could have things about Poinsett and masonry. If there is not an index, I
would be interested in letters to Ward from Jan-April 1826, and from Ward to the
FO from the same dates. I am hoping there would be an index for this one,
though, because that would help narrow down the letters I would need.

4. Reference: FO 204/7
Description: To Foreign Office
Date: 1826 May-Dec.
Same as above. Both of my main actors—Ward and Poinsett—are around in
Mexico City during all of 1826, so if Ward is writing letters to the Foreign Office, I
would be interested in those (barring the ones which I already have: see above).
It’s quite possible that these will be similar to what you saw before—that they
mostly deal with consular issues. If that’s the case, then I probably have the
wrong series and will want the ones dealing with British ministers and not
consuls (which was/is not self-explanatory on the website).

5. Reference: FO 204/12
Description: Foreign Office: (to British Ministers in Mexico)
Date: 1827
Again, might be mostly consular things. But if there are letters from Ward up until
April 1827, I am interested in those.

6. Reference: FO 204/16
Description: Foreign Office (to British Ministers in Mexico)
Date: 1828
With this one, I am also hoping for an index, since I don’t know exactly what to
find. I would hope that something would mention Poinsett, but it’s impossible to
tell from this description. If there’s not an index, just let me know what the
documents look like generally, so I can make a decision about whether to come
back to them later.

1850s series: With these ones, when they are about Russia, I am most interested in information about
their opinions about the U.S. ministers (so, Francis W. Pickens at this time), or their general griping
about finding homes/about the diplomatic networks. In Spain, I am interested in what Sir Andrew
Buchanan has to say about William Preston (U.S. Minister). When they are in the U.S., I am interested
in what they have to say in general.

With the PRO 30 series, it looks like they are pretty specific about the letters, so I indicated which
letters I am most interested in.

7. PRO 30/22/83/19

Description: Folios 119-126: Sir J. Crampton: Asks for marriage leave. Savoy: Russian government
“thoroughly French”; her desire to break up Anglo-French alliance. Political gossip.
Note: 2 letters

Date: 1860 April 13-14

(particularly interested in how the Russian government is “thoroughly French”; his marriage leave and
the political gossip.)

8. Reference: PRO 30/22/83/25

Description: Folios 153-158: Sir J. Crampton: Sardinian minister has received his passport. Relations of
Russia to France and Austria. As to raising the mission at St. Petersburg to an embassy.

Date: 1860 Oct 20

(Interested in the “raising the mission at St. Petersburg to an embassy” bit.)

9. Reference: PRO 30/22/83/27

Description: Folios 163-166: Sir J. Crampton: Relieved to learn from Gorchakov that objections to him
(Crampton) as ambassador were only due to his “marriage of inclination and affection”. Accepts Madrid.

Date: 1860 Dec 14

(Interested in the first part—that Gorchakov was unhappy with him due to his marriage.)

10. PRO 30/22/83/28

Description: Folios 167-169. Sir J. Crampton: Gorchakov and Montebello. Conjectures of corps
diplomatique.

Date: 1860 Dec 14

(Interested in the “conjectures of the corps diplomatique”)

11. PRO 30/22/32/14

Description: Folio 35.1. Correspondence with diplomatists about their postings; Sir J. Crampton.

1860 Nov 24

(Interested to see what is in this folio in general)

12. PRO 30/22/83/29

Description: Folios 170-177: Lord Napier. Arrangements about going to St. Petersburg; question of his
salary and house rent. Would like to take W. Hope with him; not quite happy about appointment of
Lumley as embassy secretary. Date and place: 1860 Dec. 10-26 the Hague

Note: 2 letters

Date: 1860 Dec 10-26

(If there are just 2 letters, just take pictures of both of them. If there are more, I am interested mostly
in the questions about his arrangements to St. Petersburg and about his house rent.)
June 9th:

1. PRO 30/22/83/39

Description: Folios 218-222: Lord Napier: Reporting his arrival. Arrangements about house. Welcome
from old friends. Audience of the emperor and empress.

Note: 2 letters

Date: 1861 Mar 8-13

(Same here—if it is just 2 letters, take pictures of both of them.)

2. PRO 30/22/83/47

Description: Folios 256-258: Lord Napier: Naples. His insufficient salary and want of a house.

Date: 1861 June 19

(11 in series 30)

(Interested in this one, especially the “want of a house”)

Not sure what to do with the other letters—I was hoping to have gotten to London by now, since the
rest of the documents are kind of a mess. One possibility is that we could order some of these larger
volumes, and you could let me know if there are indexes, and if not, what the folders generally look like
so I might have an idea if I would need to come back and actually look at them or not. I don’t want you
to have to sift through hundreds upon hundreds of letters, looking for names/places. That is, indeed,
way beyond your pay grade. Again, I think for these next ones in the “1850s series,” let’s see if there’s
an index, and if not, just let me know what the collection looks like in general, and I can decide whether
or not I need to come back and look at them.

3. Reference FO 519/203
:

Description:
Semi-Official and Private Correspondence: From Loftus Charles
Otway (Chargé d'Affaires, British Embassy at Madrid; Minister
Plenipotentiary to Mexico); Hon.Charles Murray, later Sir
Charles (Consul-General, Egypt, Minister Plenipotentiary to
Switzerland,Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to
Persia and Denmark); Sir Andrew Buchanan (Minister
Plenipotentiary to Switzerland, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary to Denmark and Spain); Hon. George Jerningham
(Chargé d'Affaires, British Embassy at Paris; Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to Wurtemberg,
Sweden and Norway); Sir John Crampton (Envoy Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary to U.S.A. Russia and Spain); Lord
Howard de Walden (Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary to Belgium).
Dates: 1852-1867
I am specifically interested in Buchanan’s time from March
1858-December 1860 in Spain. Based on the letters I have
from William Preston (the U.S. Minister to Spain at the same
time), he and Buchanan’s family were pretty close, and they
interacted. But, these are more likely to be state papers, and I
don’t know if the U.S. minister will be mentioned at all.
Perhaps American interests will be? The Ostend Manifesto
had recently been written (in 1854), and Spain was very upset
that the U.S. was trying to purchase Cuba, so maybe there
would be information about that, but who knows. Sometimes
these letters also have information about their
families/include their passports, which will have their
dependents on them, so that might be a possibility, too. Like I
said, I just don’t know how these documents are going to be
organized.
As for John Crampton, his time in the U.S. (from 1852-1856)
is fascinating to me, but I don’t think it is what I need for my
dissertation at this time (but something that I want to look
into more detail is how he tried to recruit U.S. citizens to fight
for the UK during the Crimean War—which lead to his
dismissal in 1856—if there is an index, and if there are letters
about that, I might just want to see a few of those letters).
What is more important to my dissertation, however, is his
time in Russia and seeing what his experiences were like with
the diplomatic corps from March 1858 to December 1860. If
Francis W. Pickens is mentioned (the U.S. minister to Russia
during that same time), that is what I am most interested in.
 4. PRO 30/22/115

Description:
(a) Spain. Legation in Madrid and London. (b) Morocco. Legation in
Tangier. (c) Portugal. Legation in Lisbon and London. Private
correspondence (drafts). Lord John (from 1861 earl) Russell,
foreign secretary, to A. (from 1860 Sir Andrew) Buchanan,
envoy, Madrid; to Don J. de Comyn, Spanish envoy, London; to
J.D. (from 1862 Sir John Drummond-) Hay, minister, Tangier; to
Sir Arthur Magenis, envoy, Lisbon; to Count Lavradio,
Portuguese envoy, London, and others.

Note:
Letters are from Foreign Office or Lord John's private residence,
Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, unless otherwise stated. Queen of
Spain = Isabella II 1 vol

Based on this description, it looks like these are letters from the
Foreign Office or Lord John Russell (the Foreign Secretary) to
different ministers and envoys. It looks like the letters I am
interested in are in “Series A” (whatever that means) from June
1859-December 11 1860 to Andrew Buchanan.

Reference:
PRO 30/22/86

Description:
(a) Spain and Morocco Spain: legation in Madrid and including
 correspondence from Gibraltar. (b) Morocco: legation in Tangier.
Private correspondence. Spain: Andrew (from 1860 Sir Andrew)
Buchanan, envoy; Sir John Crampton, envoy; Hon. Richard Edwardes,
legation secretary. Gibraltar: General Sir William Codrington, governor.
Morocco: Sir John Drummond Hay, minister, and others, to Lord John
(from 1861 earl) Russell, foreign secretary.

Note:
Letters are from Madrid unless otherwise stated. queen of Spain =
Isabella II sultan of Morocco = Sidi Mohammed 1 vol.

Date: (a) 1859 Aug. - 1862 Dec. (b) 1860 July - 1862 Apr.

Similar to above—looking for letters to/from/about Buchanan (or

about the United States). I’m hoping that there is an index. If not,
the dates I am interested in are August 1859-June 1861.

6. Reference: PRO 30/22/114

Description: Russia. Legation (from Oct. 1860 embassy) in St.

Petersburg. Private correspondence (drafts). Lord/Earl John Russell,
foreign secretary to Sir John Crampton, envoy, St. Petersburg; to Baron
Brunnow, Russian envoy/ambassador London; to Lord Napier,
ambassador, St. Petersburg; to Sir Andrew Buchanan, ambassador, St.
Petersburg and others.

Note: Letters are from Foreign Office or Lord John’s private residence,
Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park unless otherwise stated. Emperor =
Alexander II 1 vol.
Date: 1859 June 24-1865 Sept. 16

This is similar to the Madrid papers, but in St. Petersburg. Looking

for letters to/from/about John Crampton, or Pickens, or the United
States from dates June 24, 1859-January 1, 1861.

7. PRO 30/22/39

Description: United States. Legation in London and miscellaneous

Correspondence of Lord John Russell, foreign secretary.

Note: All letters are to Lord Russell unless otherwise stated. 1 vol.

Date: 1859 Aug 15-1865 Sept. 30

(now 15)

(This one is hard because I would be interested in seeing all of

what’s in here to know what I need, but I don’t know what’s going
to be in here. Sooo, let’s just plan on this one for sure being one
where if there is an index, take a picture of the index, and if not, just
give me a general idea of what’s going on. I am particularly
interested in letters from Charles Francis Adams, just in case the
folder is organized by name somehow? (so that would be from 1861-
1865)
8. Reference: FO 881/687

Description: United States: Desp. French and English Consulates at New York.
Organization, Salaries, etc.

Note: Bound: America 49.

Date: 1858

What does it mean by “organization/salaries”? Interested in this one

because I want to see a bit of the structure that is going on for British
consuls at this time. It’s one of those folders which is probably going to be a
bust, but I am curious about what might be in here. I’m guessing a bunch of
lists.

9. Reference: FO 881/701

Description: General: Memo. Salaries of Home Service Messengers.

Date: 1858

(same as above)

10. Reference: FO 881/1757

Description: United States: Act of Congress. Diplomatic and Consular Systems

of the United States.

Date: 1856

(This one might just be what it says . . . an Act of Congress. If it is, I could
probably find it online. But if there are other notes/commentary on it, that
would be particularly interesting to me. Either way, I am interested in what
this one is about, since it has to do with the professionalization of the
diplomatic system in the United States.)

11. Reference: FO 96/27/76

Description: Foreign Office—Russia

Date: 1867 (interested specifically in talk about the U.S. purchase of Alaska) –
with these last two, again, see if there is an index. If not, that’s okay, and
just let me know generally what’s in here. The purchase of Alaska happened
on March 30th, 1867, and it was a secret among the U.S. and Russia, so I am
curious if there was a lot of talk about this on the British side/in the
diplomatic corps in April and May of 1867.)

12. Reference: FO 96/26/38

Description: Foreign Office—Russia

Date: 1860 (again see if there is an index. I’m interested in diplomatic corps
issues and any mention of the U.S. minister, Francis Pickens, but I think this
one will be a lot of papers and not very much direction.)