Ireland--Douglas, Senator James G. His surviving archive comprising:

The archive of a key political player at the time of the establishment of the Irish Free State. The Irish senator, Quaker and businessman James Green Douglas (1887-1954) developed an early interest in politics, and assisted in the provision of relief during the Easter rising of 1916, when he developed an understanding of the aims of the executed leaders. He was instrumental in the setting up of the Irish White Cross shortly afterwards (the first funds had come from an American Quaker, Hollingsworth Wood, who had sent $5000 to assist victims of the Black and Tan outrages). In the early 1920s Douglas was the Cross's central administrative figure, and through it he met Michael Collins, who in 1922 nominated him as a member of the committee set up to draft the free state constitution; later in the same year he was appointed chairman of the postal commission: both events are well recorded and documented in the present archive. In December 1922 he was elected to the first senate, where he was seen as an expert on constitutional law, and was its vice-chairman from 1922 to 1925. As such he played a key part in the legislative provisions for divorce, which aroused great controversy (also well represented here). He served again in the senate in 1938-43, and 1944-54. When De Valera's 1937 constitution was introduced Douglas's voice was a powerful persuasive to its need to recognise other churches in addition to the Roman Catholic church. Douglas was a keen supporter of international institutions and the rule of law, and became President of the League of Nations Society of Ireland.



The archive comprises his retained drafts or copies of his own letters, correspondents including Michael Collins (at least 16, chiefly from the first half of 1922, including a number discussing his work on the draft of the new Irish Constitution, also the Irish White Cross (including a protest about the seizure of the Belfast branch's building and records by the Northern Ireland government), and his work as Chairman of the Postal Commission (as appointed by Collins); Hugh Kennedy [first Chief Justice of the Irish Free State] (several, including some from the late summer of 1922 discussing Kennedy's draft introduction to the proposed Constitution); President W.T. Cosgrave [Prime Minister of the Irish Free State] (several, including  a long letter of 3 January 1929, complaining about being highly misrepresented by the Catholic Church over his Divorce Bill; another from 1925 about the divorce bills; a further letter of 18 September 1922, as Head of the Postal Commission, concerning the proposed postal strike); Baron Glenavy [Sir James Campbell, former Lord Chief Justice of Ireland] (including 12 July 1927, joining a motion deploring the assassination of the Justice Minister Kevin O'Higgins two days previously); Ernest Blythe TD (9 December 1922, declining to support the government in adopting reprisals against De Valera); the Postmaster General (e.g. 8 September 1922, concerning the proposed postal strike); "A.E." [George Russell] (including some also about the divorce controversy); the Irish Independent (e.g. 22 June 1922, about the Irish Constitution); a number written in the capacity as Treasurer of the White Cross, to correspondents in Europe and America, concerning the distribution of funds raised in America, Argentina and elsewhere, and other matters (such as the Irish Treaty, his support for the Pro-Treaty party, and his support of elections and non-violent methods, rather than the execution of political prisoners, as a way of settling the Irish Civil War); the Catholic Truth Society (e.g. 14 September 1925, rebutting the Society's attack on Douglas and his Quaker religion); the Archbishop of Cashel (e.g. 19 September 1925, refuting the Bishop's statements on divorce), and others including Eamon De Valera, and Quaker friends such as Arnold Marsh, Edith Ellis and others (e.g. writing in the summer of 1922 about the Irish Constitution and Civil War; and another on 5 September 1922 conveying his sorrow at the death of Michael Collins); several relating to his hopes for and work with the League of Nations, the formation of an Irish Branch of the Empire Parliamentary Association (e.g. 27 October 1923, to Sir Howard d'Egville in London, recommending the replacement of "Empire" with "Commonwealth") and an early childhood letter from his boarding school at Prospect Hill, Lisburn (23 September 1898, to his father James); letters to him by Michael Collins (at least 6 typed letters signed, and a copies of others, January—May 1922, including the letter of 20th January asking him to be a member of the Constitution Committee, also letters about the operation of the White Cross, and asking him to chair the Commission enquiring into the threatened strike of postal employees); the ex-president W.T. Cosgrave (at least 7, 1935-37, about obligations to the League of Nations, reform of the Senate, the report on the Constitution etc), Eamon De Valera (at least 2: 18 December 1925 and 28 October 1931,  about a meeting of the Committee of Privileges on the Land Purchase Bill, and their different memories of a key meeting in 1923); the Justice Minister Kevin O'Higgins (at least 1, 9 May 1927, two months before his assassination); W.B. Yeats (2, relating to the Irish Parliamentary Group); Maud Gonne McBride (at least 2, undated); Hugh Kennedy [first Chief Justice of the Irish Free State] (several, including 22 September 1924 and 18 February 1929, about the differences between the British Empire, Crown Colonies and the Dominions, and the attack on Douglas's integrity in the Senate); Mrs Erskine Childers (1, 24 November 1922, enclosing an extract from her husband's last letter to her before his execution for treason); the historian and nationalist Alice Stopford Green (at least 16, 19 January 1925-- 8 April 1929, about the vellum roll of the members of the first Irish Senate, "The Real Ireland", censorship, birth control, senate business and elections); Hugh Martin (1, 3 August 1932, about the anger aroused in Britain by the removal of the oath of allegiance); James Dillon (later leader of Fine Gael, at least 1, 8 January 1937, about the impossibility of a rapprochement between De Valera and Great Britain), Ramsay Macdonald (1, 6 February no date, about the deadlock in discussions); Constance Markievich (1, 29 November 1921, asking Douglas to be available as an Arbitrator in Labour disputes); Baron Glenavy [Sir James Campbell, former Lord Chief Justice of Ireland] (a number, one about amending the Irish Constitution, c.1925); "A.E." [George Russell] (several, including an assessment of the pros and cons of Douglas's proposed Divorce reform bill); the explorer and humanitarian Fridtjof Nansen, the utopian thinker Alfred Zimmern, and many other political and religious figures and commentators including Horace Plunkett, Bryan Cooper, Lennox Robinson, the Archbishop of Tuam, Alice S. Green, the Bishop of Thurles and Cruise O'Brien (about the Irish Reconstruction Association); together with some letters on personal matters (arranging correct insulin for his son, announcing his marriage, condolences on the death of his brother Edmond in 1925, his semi-disastrous house fire in April 1929 etc; together with various manuscripts, typescripts, memoranda, reports, lists and leaflets (e.g. relating to "A.E." [George Russell]'s "Thoughts on an Irish Convention", the White Cross Council, the American Committee for Relief in Ireland, fund-raising for victims of Black and Tan atrocities in the early 1920s etc) and typescript copies of Douglas's autobiography

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, when appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Douglas's work on the Irish Constitution and for the White Cross features substantially in the correspondence and other papers: this includes the logistical problems and controversies aroused by fund-raising in America. Other key subjects include the great controversy aroused by Douglas's proposed Divorce Bill brought before the Irish Senate in 1925 (including hostile attacks from the Catholic Truth Society and other institutions, but support from Douglas Hyde and others), his work for Irish Prisoners held in Britain and elsewhere (e.g. correspondence with R. Hutchison of the British War Office in Whitehall in February 1918); and similar work on strikes, Labour disputes and civil service pensions.