Typed letter signed by Governor-General of Sudan Sir Reginald Wingate 1931

Sir Reginald Wingate (1861-1953). Typed letter signed, Queen Anne's Mansions, St James's Park, S.W.1., 22 May 1931, to W. Blodgett of Seattle.
 
Single sheet, 180 x 230 mm. Typed and signed. Old horizontal and vertical folds, otherwise very good. Signed in black ink, with an additional autograph note at the foot of the page, "Enclosed from Lady Wingate."
 
Wingate writes to accompany an envelope bearing the signature of his close colleague Sir Rudolf Slatin Pasha (now no longer with the letter), explaining that although Slatin's surviving letters were "of such an intimate nature that I cannot well send you one", the enclosed envelope was in Slatin's own handwriting and signed on the reverse. He recalls Slatin's remarkable career, describing him as that wonderful man who had been held prisoner by the Mahdist Dervishes for twelve years before escaping in 1895. Wingate notes that Slatin served alongside him for "the best part of 20 years", first in the Intelligence Department and later as Inspector General of the Sudan during part of his own tenure as Governor-General. He concludes by promising to search for a Kitchener signature during an impending visit to Scotland. 
 
Sir Reginald Wingate was one of the leading figures of the British administration in the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, serving as Governor-General from 1899 to 1916 after working closely with Lord Kitchener during the reconquest of the Sudan. Sir Rudolf Slatin Pasha (1857-1932), the Austrian soldier and administrator mentioned throughout the letter, achieved international fame following his twelve-year captivity under the Mahdists and dramatic escape in 1895.