1871 ALFRED Duke of Edinburgh, AUCKLAND - NEW ZEALAND to Sir Henry Ponsonby

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1871 ALFRED Duke of Edinburgh, AUCKLAND - NEW ZEALAND to Sir Henry Ponsonby
This product data sheet is originally written in English.
1871 A Rare letter, ALFRED Duke of Edinburgh, on his 3rd Visit to New Zealand , letter headed AUCKLAND N.Z. 7th Jan 1871 on his personal monogrammed stationery, to Sir Henry Ponsonby
"My Dear Ponsonby,
Many thanks for your letter of the 6th & 27th Oct the latter of which I received yesterday & from the memorandum on the War which the Queen sent me. I have not time to do more than acknowledge their receipt & say how much I have been interested by them as the mail has come & goes within the 24 hours,
Believe me
Yours very Truly
Alfred"
(some paper adherance from album page to back of blank lettersheet).
The Duke of Edinburgh, Visits to NEW ZEALAND 1869–71
The first royal visitor to New Zealand, the Duke of Edinburgh, arrived at Wellington on 11 April 1869 as Captain of HMS Galatea. Prince Alfred Ernest Albert (1844–1900), Duke of Edinburgh, was the second son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and was to become Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1893. After nearly a week in Wellington, His Royal Highness proceeded to Nelson, Christchurch, Dunedin, and Auckland, being received everywhere with great enthusiasm. In the Wellington of those days it was possible to arrange for the distinguished guest to go pig shooting on Miramar Peninsula and to picnic at Howe's Farm, Newtown. The stay in Auckland was prolonged until 1 June in an unsuccessful attempt to arrange a meeting with Maori leaders with a view to improving Maori-Pakeha relations. A notable feature of the decorations for the tour was the use of locally made and designed “transparencies” – thin fabric pennants with a variety of topical designs.
In the following year, on 27 August 1870, the Galatea with the Royal captain aboard returned briefly to Wellington, departing for Sydney on 3 September.
*On a third and final visit, the Duke arrived at Auckland on 8 December 1870 and spent some time in the thermal regions and visiting the Maori people. He left for England on 16 January 1871.
Major-General Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby GCB PC (10 December 1825 – 21 November 1895), was a British soldier and royal court official who served as Queen Victoria's Private Secretary
Born in Corfu, he was the son of Major-General Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, an Anglo-Irish nobleman who was a senior commander in the British Army.
He entered the army on 27 December 1842 as an ensign in the 49th Regiment of Foot. Transferred to the Grenadier Guards, he became a lieutenant on 16 February 1844, captain on 18 July 1848, and major on 19 October 1849. From 1847 to 1858 he was aide-de-camp to Lord Clarendon and Lord St. Germans, successively lord-lieutenants of Ireland. He served through the Crimean campaigns of 1855–56, becoming lieutenant-colonel on 31 Aug. 1855; for the action before Sebastopol he received a medal with clasp, the Turkish medal, and the Order of the Medjidie, 3rd Class.
After the peace he was appointed equerry to Albert, Prince Consort, who greatly valued his services. On 2 August 1860 he became colonel, and in 1862, after the death of the prince, he was sent to Canada in command of a battalion of the Grenadier Guards which was stationed in the colony during the American Civil War. On 6 March 1868 he became a major-general.
Ponsonby embellished letters to his children at Eton with a series of illustrations in which he concealed the school's address. It was a family quirk continued by his son, Arthur Ponsonby, and recently revived by descendant Harriet Russell. His letters bore addresses appearing as doodled signposts in snowstorms or as huge envelopes shouldered by tiny people.
He served as Keeper of the Privy Purse and Private Secretary to Queen Victoria. His appointment occurred on 8 April 1870, after the death of prior Private Secretary General Sir Charles Grey, who was "a son of Earl Grey, the Prime Minister" at the time and who was wife Mary Ponsonby's "Uncle Charles." Both Arthur and Mary Ponsonby contributed pseudonymously to magazines and newspapers of the day.
On 6 January 1895 he was attacked by paralysis; in May he retired from his offices, and on 21 November he died at East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. He was buried at Whippingham.
On 30 April 1861, he married Hon. Mary Elizabeth Bulteel, Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria and a daughter of John Crocker Bulteel (1793–1843) MP. The couple had five children:
Alberta Victoria Ponsonby (6 May 1862 – 15 October 1945)
Magdalen Ponsonby (24 June 1864 – 1 July 1934)
John Ponsonby (25 March 1866 – 26 March 1952)
Frederick Edward Grey Ponsonby (16 September 1867 – 20 October 1935)
Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby (16 February 1871 – 24 March 1946)
Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby), his father's sister, had been married to Lord Melbourne, a crucial advisor to Queen Victoria during her first years on the throne
Fresh to the Market Place, from Major-General Sir John Ponsonby's Collection
For more from this collection see our shop category for SIR JOHN PONSONBY COLLECTION
John Ponsonby (British Army officer)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Major-General Sir John Ponsonby KCB CMG DSO (25 March 1866 – 26 March 1952) was a British Army officer who commanded 5th Division during World War I
Born the son of Sir Henry Ponsonby (Queen Victoria's Private Secretary), his Mother Hon. Mary Elizabeth Ponsonby, Maid of Honour to Queen Victoria and a daughter of John Crocker Bulteel.
His brothers were Frederick Ponsonby, ( Assistant Private Secretary to Edward VII & GV), and Arthur Augustus William Harry Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, (British politician, writer, and social activist).
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1871 A Rare letter, ALFRED Duke of Edinburgh, on his 3rd Visit to New Zealand , letter headed AUCKLAND N.Z. 7th Jan 1871 on his personal monogrammed stationery, to Sir Henry Ponsonby  "My Dear Ponsonby,Many thanks for your letter of the 6th & 27th Oct the latter of which I received yesterday & from the memorandum on the War which the Queen sent me. I have not time to do more than acknowledge their receipt & say how much I have been interested by them as the mail has come & goes within the 24 hours, Believe meYours very TrulyAlfred"(some paper adherance from album page to back of blank lettersheet). The Duke of Edinburgh, Visits to NEW ZEALAND 1869–71 The first royal visitor to New Zealand, the Duke of Edinburgh, arrived at Wellington on 11 April 1869 as Captain of HMS Galatea. Prince Alf
Features
Original Autograph signed letter
EAN
Does Not apply
Country
New Zealand
Royal/ Reign
Victoria (1837-1901)
Royal
Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh
City/Town/Village/Place
Auckland
Theme
Royal Visits
Royalty
UK Royalty
Era
1871-1880
Addressed to
Sir Henry Ponsonby
Year
1871
Document Type
Original Manuscript Letter