Tryon, William

including his explanation of the mood in the colonies ("...The inhabitants ... have great Elbow Room in their Plantations, Live in great freedom and Independency ... upon an equality in Circumstances and Manners..."), giving a dramatic account of his family's narrow escape from the fire that destroyed New York's Government House  ("...In two or three minutes after we were out of the House, the flame Ran up the Principal staircase and Reached the Door through which we made our Escape...", 31 December 1773), after the outbreak of war expressing his wish for military command and with news of the surrender of Ticonderoga, 32 pages, folio and 4to, Brunswick, North Carolina, New York, and Kings Bridge Camp, 2 August 1766 to 16 July 1777, occasional nicks at folds

[with:] a series of seven copy letters by Benjamin Barons, deputy Post-Master of North Carolina, to Tryon, Charlestown, North Carolina, 1765-66, and a related letter by Barons to Lord Hyde, 1766; [also with:] small bundle of correspondence between Tryon and James Stansfield, carpenter, about the establishment of a saw mill in North Carolina, 1764

This is one of 22 lots that have been removed from Holywell House, Hampshire, the home of the Villiers family, Earls of Clarendon. They chiefly relate to the life and careers of two contemporaries: Henry Hyde, Viscount Cornbury (1710-53), and Thomas Villiers (1709-86), created successively Baron Hyde of Hindon (1756) and Earl of Clarendon (1776).

Cornbury was the last heir to the Earldom of Clarendon that had been created for the statesman and historian Edward Hyde (1609-1674). Cornbury had Jacobite sympathies but was MP for the University of Oxford – with which his family had powerful connections – from 1732 until 1751. He became disillusioned with politics in the later 1740s and spent his final years in France. Cornbury counted Pope and Swift amongst his friends, and was himself the author of pamphlets and at least two plays (see lots 6 and 7). He died, unmarried, in Paris in 1753. Most of Cornbury’s property was inherited by his niece, Charlotte (née Capel). Thomas Villiers, second son of the Earl of Jersey, was her husband. Villiers had spent the 1730s and ‘40s as a diplomat mostly in the German-speaking world (none of his diplomatic papers are included in this offering) and, following his retirement from the diplomatic service, he entered government in the 1760s. As Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1771-82 and 1783-86), Clarendon was in Cabinet during the American War of Independence (see lots 14-19).

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where 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."

William Tryon (1729-1788), a well-connected gentleman with a distinguished military record, moved to America in 1764 and became Governor of North Carolina the following year. In 1771 was appointed Governor of New York, where he attempted to counter growing unrest by enhancing the power of aristocratic landowners. At the outbreak of war he joined the military and was engaged in a number of campaigns in Connecticut, but returned to Britain in 1780.