Beschreibung
This item is original condolence correspondence from Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill to the family of his close friend, the publishing magnate Viscount Camrose, who died on 15 June 1954 - the day after Churchill had attended the ceremony at Windsor at which he was installed as a Knight and had an Audience with the Queen. The correspondence includes an original 15 June 1954 telegram from Churchill and a 17 June 1954 typed letter signed by Churchill on his 10 Downing Street stationery to the eldest son of Lord Camrose, including Churchill s autograph salutation, valediction, and signature. Accompanying Churchill s letter is the original, franked, 10 Downing Street envelope, posted on 18 June 1954. This correspondence is accompanied by original file copies of 13 and 22 June, 1954 correspondence from Camrose s eldest son, Seymour, to Churchill. These documents came to us together as part of an archive of Churchill correspondence compiled by the Camrose family. The recipients, Seymour and Michael, were the sons of Lord Camrose. John Seymour Berry, 2nd Viscount Camrose (1909-1995) inherited not only his father s title, but his newspaper business. Seymour was Deputy Chairman, Daily Telegraph, from 1954-1987 and Vice-Chairman, Amalgamated Press, 1942-1959. He also served as a Conservative Member of Parliament from 1941-1945, during Winston Churchill s wartime premiership. William Michael Berry (1911-2001), later Baron Hartwell (1968), was the second son of Viscount Camrose. Michael was Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Telegraph from 1954-1987.The date-stamped 15 June 1954 telegram message reads, in five printed lines: "THE HON SEYMOUR AND THE HON MICHAEL BERRY | THE DAILY TELEGRAPH 138 FLEET ST EC4 | YOU HAVE MY DEEPEST SYMPATHY IN YOUR TERRIBLE LOSS I | SHARE YOUR SORROW I AM WRITING TO YOUR MOTHER | WINSTON CHURCHILL". The office of origin is printed as "WHITEHALL TS". Pencil notation at the top center, presumably that made by the Camrose family before this was filed, reads "PRESERVE". The telegram is inevitably age-toned with light wear and minor chipping to the left and bottom edges.The "June 17, 1954" typed letter signed by Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill on his "10, Downing Street, Whitehall" stationery features Churchill s autograph salutation "My dear Seymour," the valediction "Yours sincerely," and signature "Winston S. Churchill". The letter is clearly much more than a pro forma condolence; Churchill tells Seymour and Michael that their father "was one of my true and most valued friends for more than thirty years". Also preserved is the letter s original, franked envelope, posted "18 JU 54", with "10, Downing Street, Whitehall" printed on the flap and "PRIME MINISTER" at the lower left. Condition of the letter is very good plus, entirely complete and only mildly wrinkled and soiled, with a single horizontal and single vertical crease from original posting. The envelope was roughly slit with some consequent loss.The two other documents are typed file copies of 22 June and 13 July 1954 letters from Seymour to Churchill, the latter with extensive inked emendations and Seymour s signature. The 22 June letter conveys "grateful thanks for your letter of sympathy in the loss of my father." Seymour states "particular solace to Michael and myself, coming from one for whom my father had such a profound affection and veneration." The 13 July letter thanks Churchill for "the very moving and generous words you spoke at the Other Club" and for "the great happiness" his mother had on hearing about "what you said about my Father." Seymour also thanked Churchill for "the compliment to my Father… implicit in my election to the Club." Churchill had founded the Other Club in 1911 with his great friend, F.E. Smith, and it is difficult to overstate the club s importance to Churchill and indeed to British Politics over the ensuing half century of Churchill s life. Both file copies are in very good condition, with some margin w. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 008044
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