Lot 4668

Description

Winston Churchill letters, four letters to F.W.Carter, Students Union, Marischal College, Aberdeen in response to an invitation for Churchill to deliver a Rectorial address at the University of Aberdeen in 1917, includes one handwritten letter and three typed letters all signed personally, Winston S.Churchill, dates include 22.11.16, 30.1.17 (this with handwritten envelope postmarked 31 Jan 17), 16.2.17 and 22.3.17, together with a copy of F.W.Carter's reply to Churchill's letter dated 30.1.17. Very fine and rare.

See lots 893, 3911, 3914, 3915 and 3917 for award medals to F.W.Carter.

Winston Spencer Churchill was the Lord Rector of the University of Aberdeen 1914-1918, in 1916 he was Lieutenant Colonel and Commanding Officer of the Royal Scots Fusiliers and in July 1917 he was appointed Minister of Munitions in the British Cabinet. In response to the invitation to speak at the University of Aberdeen, initially Churchill felt that since the war was ongoing it would not be appropriate to present a Rectorial address at this time. In the final paragraph of this letter he writes, 'Let me also thank you for the copy you have sent me of the Memorial of the Members of the University who have fallen gloriously in the field since the beginning of the war. The extraordinary reputation acquired by the Scottish Divisions in an army which was already representative of the flower of our race in all parts of the world was due in no small degree to the astonishing military and personal qualities of the young Scottish gentlemen who hastened from the Universities to command and lead their countrymen in the field. Aberdeen University wil rightly cherish their memory as its most precious possession.'

In his last letter, Churchill seems to have changed his stance and indicates the possibility of fulfilling his Rectorial debt to the University and requests an outline of the proposed order of proceedings, numbers expected to attend and other relevant information. On the back of this letter, F.W.Carter has made a series of notes regarding the order of proceedings together with a guideline of possible dates for the Rectorial address.

With research.