ALS signed by 1st Duke of Wellington to his brother Anglo-Mysore War dated 1842
WELLINGTON, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). Autograph letter signed to his brother Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley (1760-1842). London, April 8 1842.
1 sheet folded (185 x 115 mm), written on three pages. Signed on the final page. Central folds from posting, otherwise very good.
Wellington writes to his elder brother Richard Wellesley regarding the proposed presentation to Queen Victoria of the great seal of Tipu Sultan (here spelled "Tuppoo Sultan"). The seal was taken after the fall of Seringapatam in 1799 during the final Anglo-Mysore War, when Richard Wellesley was Governor-General of India and Arthur Wellesley commanded British forces in the campaign. Such objects were frequently retained by senior officials involved, and the seal appears to have remained in Richard Wellesley's possession for over forty years.
In the letter Wellington agrees that the object should ultimately be deposited in the royal collection at Windsor Castle. He advises that Richard Wellesley should present the seal personally to Queen Victoria, but offers, if required, to present it himself and to explain that it had been laid before Her Majesty and deposited in the apartment at Windsor appropriated for the reception of royal presents. He adds that he would attend Buckingham Palace the following morning for the reception of the Lord Mayor by the Queen, and afterwards hopes to return to Apsley House.
The seal of Tipu Sultan now preserved in the Royal Collection is believed to have been presented to Queen Victoria by Richard Wellesley. The present letter therefore records the arrangements for the transfer of a major Mysore War artifact from the possession of the Wellesley family to the Crown, more than forty years after the fall of Seringapatam.