Guide to the Papers of the Vyvyan Family of Trelowarren, Mawgan in Meneage (as filmed by the AJCP)
M402
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Created: 2018
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Vyvyan (Family)
- Title
- Papers of the Vyvyan Family of Trelowarren, Mawgan in Meneage (as filmed by the AJCP)
- Date Range
- 1857 - 1868
- Collection Number
- M402
- Extent
- 67 items
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- Australian Joint Copying Project
- Sponsor
- The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) online portal was created with the assistance of the Australian Public Service Modernisation Fund, 2017-2020. The National Library of Australia gratefully acknowledges the contribution of the other foundation AJCP partners, the State Library of New South Wales and The National Archives of the UK, and all other organisations which supported the work of the AJCP, the world's most extensive collaborative copying project, operating from 1948 to 1997.
Introduction
Scope and Contents
64 letters, including eight from J. Henry Vyvyan to his uncle Sir Richard Vyvyan, describing: conditions in New Zealand; land regulations; copper mining; the difficulties of his farming life; and the obstacles to his return to England. Most of the remaining letters are from J.H. Vyvyan's father, Rev. Vyell Vyvyan, and his uncle Sir Richard Vyvyan concerning family affairs, especially J. Henry Vyvyan's position in New Zealand. The other four items include memorandums and receipts.
Conditions Governing Access
Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use
Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.
Preferred Citation
Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.
Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.
Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)
Archival History
Material selectively filmed at the Cornwall Record Office as part of the Australian Joint Copying Project, 1960 (AJCP Reel: M402). Original microfilm digitised as part of the AJCP Online Delivery Project, 2017-2020.
Existence and Location of Originals
Cornwall County Record Office. County Hall, Truro, Cornwall TR1 3AY, England.
For more information see Papers of H.Vyvyan and Vyvyan Family at the Cornwall County Record Office (http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/DServe/searchpage.htm)
Collection Reference: V.
Existence and Location of Copies
The original AJCP microfilm of the records filmed from this collection is available at the National Library of Australia [https://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn725516] as well as other institutions holding AJCP microfilm.
Finding-aid Notes
This finding aid is a revised online version of the original finding aid prepared by the Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP), published by the National Library of Australia in 2018. The original AJCP finding aids were unpublished typescripts or photocopies available from libraries that held copies of the original microfilm.
Dates used in this finding aid refer to the date range of the records selected for filming rather than to the date range of the Series or Files.
This collection was previously titled Correspondence of J. Henry Vyvyan and Vyvyan Family (as filmed by the AJCP).
Advisory Statement
Maori people are advised that this Finding Aid contains material and descriptive information which may be considered culturally sensitive and may cause distress. This Finding Aid contains terms that reflect authors' views or those of the historical period, but which may not be considered appropriate today. While the information may not reflect current understanding, it is provided in an historical context.
Subjects
Copper mining; Farms and farming: New Zealand; Land: New Zealand; Mines and mining; Motueka, New Zealand; Nelson, New Zealand; New Zealand; New Zealand: economic conditions; Vyvyan, J. Henry; Vyvyan, Sir Richard R.; Vyvyan, Vyell, Rev.; Wool and woolgrowing: New Zealand
Bibliography
Originally cited in Australian Joint Copying Project Handbook. Part 8: Miscellaneous (M) Series. Third Edition, published 1998. Entry 475, p185.
Biographical / Historical
Sir Richard Rawlinson Vyvyan (1800-1879), 8th Baronet, the son of Sir Vyell Vyvyan, 7th Baronet, was born at Trelowarren, Cornwall. He was educated at Harrow and Christ Church, Oxford, although he did not graduate. He succeeded to the family estates in Cornwall on the death of his father in 1820. He was a Tory parliamentarian, representing Cornwall (1825-31), Okehampton (1831-32), Bristol (1832-37) and Helston (1841-57). He was the High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1840-41. Vyvian had a strong interest in metaphysics and carried out experiments on light, heat and magnetism. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1826 and he was also a Fellow of the Geological Society. He was unmarried.
Vyell Francis Vyvyan (1801-1877), the brother of Sir Richard Vyvyan, was educated at Ottery St Mary, Devon, and Trinity College, Cambridge. He was ordained as a priest in 1825 and was the rector of Withiel, near Bodmin in Cornwall, from 1825 until his death. He married Anna Taylor in 1825 and they had nine sons and four daughters.
Sir Vyell Donnithorne Vyvyan (1826-1917), 9th Baronet, was the eldest son of Rev. Vyell Vyvyan and his wife Anna. He was educated at St John's College, Cambridge. He was ordained as a priest in 1855 and was the rector of Winterbourne-Monkton, Dorset (1856-66), the vicar of Broad Hinton, Wiltshire (1866-77) and the rector of Withiel, Cornwall (1877-79). He succeeded to the baronetcy on the death of his uncle in 1879. He married Louisa Bourchier in 1857 and they had four children.
Thomas Henry Vyvyan (1827-1908) was the second son of Rev. Vyell Vyvyan and his wife Anna. He enlisted in the 52nd Regiment in 1846 and was made a lieutenant in 1848. He married Mary Ellen Salisbury in 1850 and they had three sons and five daughters. They lived in New Zealand from 1853 to 1867.
Item Descriptions
Series 1. Correspondence, 1857 - 1868
Rev. Vyell F. Vyvyan (Withiel) to his brother Sir Richard Vyvyan, 17 April 1860 (File 1)
Letter sent to his son Henry Vyvyan calling on him to return home from New Zealand; with five children he will need a definite object; question of farming.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 30 April 1857 (File 2)
Payment of rent; seeks allowance for his eldest son, Vyell Donnithorne Vyvyan; his trip to New Zealand; low returns from New Zealand; cattle prices declining; financial matters.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 18 May 1860 (File 3)
Drafting of a will; meaning of 'widow' and 'duty'; G. Garibaldi.
Anna Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 13 November [1860] (File 5)
Marriage of her fifth son, Herbert Vyvyan.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 9 January 1861 (File 7)
Acknowledges allowance for Henry Vyvyan; other financial matters.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 9 November 1860 (File 8)
Thanks for allowance for his son Herbert Vyvyan on occasion of his marriage; marriage settlement.
Sir Richard Vyvyan (Trelowarren) to Rev. Vyell Vyvyan, 10 January 1861 (File 9)
Advises no further communication with Miss Hoare; her threat of legal proceedings.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 3 April 1861 (File 11)
Requests Richard use his influence with Lord Palmerston to secure for him the deanery of Exeter.
Sir Richard Vyvyan to Rev. Vyell Vyvyan, 6 April 1861 (File 12)
Refuses to approach Lord Palmerston; no chance of the application being successful.
Sir Richard Vyvyan to Rev. Vyell Vyvyan, 5 January 1861 (File 14)
Reginald Vyvyan; income from land made over to him.
Bill for £100 payable to account of Henry Vyvyan at Union Bank of Australia, Nelson, New Zealand, 11 July 1861 (File 15)
Sir Richard Vyvyan to Henry Vyvyan, 14 July 1861 (File 16)
Encloses bill; from the outset he thought Henry's prospects in New Zealand were poor; has tried not to interfere with his father's decisions; Henry's determination to remain in New Zealand. (copy)
Anna Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 16 April 1861 (File 17)
Sir Richard's unkind letter to her husband about Reginald Vyvyan. (very long letter)
Sir Richard Vyvyan to Rev Vyell Vyvyan, 19 July 1861 (File 18)
Letter of Anna Vyvyan 'evidently written under strong excitement'; recalls visit of Vyell and Reginald Vyvyan in January 1859; corrects misstatements.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 27 July 1861 (File 19)
Defends his wife's statements concerning visit in 1859.
Anna Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 4 March 1862 (File 21)
Sir Richard's kindness in sending money to Henry Vyvyan; afflictions of Henry's wife; his land grant; Herbert's engagement and other family news.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 1 May 1863 (File 22)
Difficulties of his son Vyell D. Vyvyan and his family; need to find him a better living; the living was procured by his father-in-law from Lord Ilchester.
Sir Richard Vyvyan to Rev. Vyell Vyvyan, 6 May 1863 (File 23)
Attaches letter from R.J. Bourchier concerning financial difficulties of Vyell D. Vyvyan; enquires about names of children of Vyell and Henry.
Rev. Vyell Donnithorne Vyvyan to his uncle Sir Richard Vyvyan, 21 October 1863 (File 25)
Thanks for generous assistance.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 24 December 1863 (File 27)
Decision of Henry Vyvyan and his wife to return to England; education of their boys; news of Edmund Vyvyan working as a surgeon on the New South Wales goldfields; he should come home provided he can continue with his medical training.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 28 December 1863 (File 28)
Ambition of Edmund Vyvyan during eight years on goldfields to raise a sufficiency to come home and return to the medical profession; he did not write to his parents for five years.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 24 Feb (File 29)
Letter from Henry Vyvyan; Miss Hoare's onslaught on Vyell D. Bonython.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 27 April 1864 (File 30)
His visit to Vyell D.Vyvyan; return to their schoolboy haunts; melancholy associations.
Rev. Vyell D. Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 5 January 1865 (File 31)
Miss Hoare has taken up residence in Dorchester; intends to have no communication with her.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 28 January 1865 (File 33)
Letter from Courtenay Vyvyan, son of Vyell D. Vyvyan; Richard is right not to answer it; no news from Henry in New Zealand.
Courtenay Vyvyan (London) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 25 January 1865 (File 34)
Requests financial assistance.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 12 October 1865 (File 35)
Sends details of sons of Vyell, Henry and Herbert Vyvyan.
Rev. Vyell D. Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 2 January 1866 (File 36)
Epidemic of scarlet fever in his parish; local affairs.
Henry Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 6 April 1868 (File 37)
Investments; illness of his father; New Zealand papers; British Government has treated Sir George Grey very badly.
Henry Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 7 August 1868 (File 38)
Improved health of his father; harvesting.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 1 September 1868 (File 39)
Proposed visit to Richard; all his children will be home at the same time, an occurrence that might never be repeated.
Henry Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 5 September 1868 (File 41)
Accepts invitation; death of Vyell's sister-in-law.
Sir Richard Vyvyan. Memorandum on his relations with his nephew Henry Vyvyan and the offer of the farm at Polwin which Henry rejected, 25 February 1868 (File 42)
Henry Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 13 November 1868 (File 44)
Birth of his daughter; proposed visit.
Rev. Vyell D. Vyvyan (Broad Hinton) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 4 November 1868 (File 45)
Lessons in Hebrew advertised by Miss Hoare; has moved into vicarage.
Henry Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 29 September 1868 (File 47)
Move to Treviades; rental of house and garden.
Thomas Salisbury (Lancaster) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 16 October 1868 (File 48)
Poverty of his sister Mary Ellen married to Thomas Vyvyan; her approaching confinement; they cannot be blamed for their circumstances.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 13 March 1860 (File 49)
Herbert Vyvyan ordained by Archbishop of Canterbury; curacy near Tonbridge; supports Lord Palmerston in his foreign politics; financial assistance to Henry Vyvyan.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 12 January 1860 (File 50)
Receipt of allowance for Henry Vyvyan.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, n.d. (File 51)
News of Henry in New Zealand in letter from Major Gascoyne; his prospects of success in occupying new land; he has a highly favourable position in the neighbourhood.
Sir Richard Vyvyan to Rev. Vyell Vyvyan, 20 October 1859 (File 52)
His opposition to Henry going to New Zealand; no knowledge of position of his affianced bride; he married debts rather than a fortune; Richard relinquishes all responsibility for Vyell's family; information about Vyell's children obtained from other quarters. [not sent]
Sir Richard Vyvyan to Rev. Vyell Vyvyan, 22 October 1859 (File 53)
Henry Vyvyan's plan to invest £5000 in a sheep farm; letter from Elizabeth Dodson; the longer Henry remains in New Zealand the greater the complications.
Elizabeth Dodson (Lancaster) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 18 October 1859 (File 54)
Sends letter from Henry Vyvyan, married to Dodson's niece.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 17 October 1859 (File 55)
charge against his son Reginald Vyvyan; letter from Henry Vyvyan; 'a noble-hearted young man of high and tried principle'; need to discourage him from borrowing £5000.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 26 November 1857 (File 57)
Interest rates; financial matters concerning his children.
Rev. Vyell Vyvyan to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 10-24 (File 58)
Money sent to Vyell D. Vyvyan; refers to peaceful nature of Maoris in South Island, where Henry and his family live.
Henry Vyvyan (Motueka, near Nelson) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 1 December 1864 (File 60)
Sir Richard's offer of a Cornish farm; Henry will return to England if he can sell his New Zealand farm; progress in fencing and cultivation; considerable sum of money lent to him by his mother.
Henry Vyvyan (Motueka) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 8 October 1863 (File 61)
Sale of upper property; his wife's poor health had made a voyage to England impracticable; he would need to borrow capital at 10% to remain in New Zealand.
Henry Vyvyan (Motueka) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 6 June 1862 (File 62)
Thanks for £100; view of mountains from his home; goldfields continue to be productive; work of Sir George Grey in improving relations with Maoris; his wife still an invalid.
Henry Vyvyan (Motueka) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 1 November 1861 (File 63)
Thanks for £100; agrees he should have returned to England soon after his arrival in New Zealand; application for a grant as a retired military officer; his wife's poor health; difficulties in selling their property.
Henry Vyvyan (Motueka) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 3 April 1860 (File 64)
Commencement of war with Maoris in Taranaki; Maoris in the South Island unlikely to threaten; evacuation of mothers and children from New Plymouth to Nelson; outdoor life; exploration and surveys of the west coast; gold and copper deposits.
Henry Vyvyan (Motueka) to Sir Richard Vyvyan, 6 June 1859 (File 65)
Six years since he left England; events in Europe; arrival of the first Bishop of Nelson; steam communication with Sydney; sheep farming the only real profitable investment; gold and copper workings; healthy climate of New Zealand.