This is a signed letter by Hugh Fortescue,
3rd Earl Fortescue (1818-1905), known
as Viscount Ebrington from 1841 to 1861.
He was a British peer, and a Liberal Party
politician. He was the eldest son of Hugh
Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue (1783-1861),
by his first wife, Lady Susan (died 1827),
the eldest daughter of Dudley Ryder, the
1st Earl of Harrowby.
He was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of
Devon in 1839. He was known until his
grandfather's death in 1841 as the Hon.
Hugh Fortescue. Then, for the next twenty
years he was known as Viscount Ebrington.
He was private secretary to Prime Minister
Melbourne in 1840 and 1841. He was then
elected a Member of Parliament for Plymouth
in 1841. He held the seat for eleven years,
until 1852, but returned for Marylebone
in 1854, which seat he held until 1859,
when he resigned. In December of that
year, however, he was called up to the
House of Lords by a writ of acceleration.
He succeeded to his father's earldom in 1861.
A social reformer of much earnestness,
Lord Fortescue was the author of many
speeches and pamphlets on education,
health, government, and other subjects.
Fortescue was a good horseman, and
was the last man who habitually paid calls
in London, and who made his way to the
House of Lords, on horseback.
The letter is addressed to " Dear Sir ".
At the bottom of the second page he
wrote the name "Roth". This letter was
originally part of a group of letters from
the same general period of time that
were sent to members of the Roth family.
One of those members was a homeopathic
physician named Bernard Roth, who lived
at least part of the year in London. It may
be that this letter was addressed to that man.
The letter is handwritten in ink on a sheet of
stationery, with Earl Fortescue's address
embossed at the top (20 Charles Street,
Berkeley Square).
The letter appears to be dated August 25, 1880.
Unfolded, the letter is about 7" by 9".
It is in good condition, with moderate wear.
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