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Auction: 26066 - Historical Documents, Autographs and Ephemera
Lot: 1037

The Siege of Bristol, 1645
1645 (4 Sept.), a retained copy letter from Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron headed "For his Highness Prince Rupert" in which he claims Bristol for the Parliamentarian forces, a full transcription of which is given below and included in the lot:

"Sir

For the service of the Parlia'mt, I have brought this Army before this Citty of Bristoll, and do sumon you in their names to render it with all the fforts belonging to the same into my hands for their use.

Having used this plain language as the bussiness requires I wish it may be as effectual with you as it is satisfactory to myself, that I do a little expostulate with you about the surrender of the same, which I confess is not comon, and which I should not have used but in respect to such a person and to such a place.

I take into consideration your Royall birth and relation to the Crowns of England, your honour, courage and the virtue of your person, and the strength of the place which you may think yourself bound and able to maytaine.

Sir, the Crown of England is and will be where it ought to be, we fight to mayntaine it there, but the King misled by evill Counsellors, or through a seduced heart, hath left his Parliamt, and his people, under God the best assurance of his Crown and familie, the mayntaining of this secure is the ground of this unhappy Warr on your part, and what sad effects it hath produced on the three Kingdoms, is visible to all men.

To maintaine the rights and Crown and Kingdoms jointly, a principall whereof is that the King is supreame, concerning the whole state, is not to be advised by men of whom the Law takes no notice, but by his Parliam't, the great Counsell of the Kingdoms, in whom as such a man is capable off, he hears all his people as it were at once advising him, and in such multitude of Counsellors lyes his safetie, and his peoples interest.

And to set him right in this has been the constant and faithfull endeavours of his Parliamt, and to bring those wicked instruments to justice that have misled him, are a principall ground of our fighting.

Sir, if God makes this clear to you as he hath to us, I doubt not but he will give you a heart to deliver this place, notwithstanding all the other considerations of honor, courage, fidelitie, because their consistency and use in the present bussiness depends upon the right and wrongfullness of this that has beene said, and if upon such condition you shall surrender it and save the loss of blood, on hazard of spoiling such a Citty, it would be an occassion glorious in itself and joyfull to us, for the restoring of you to the endeavoured affection of the Parliamt and people of England, the truest friends to your familie, it hath in this world.

But if this be hid from your eyes, and that through your willfullness this so great and so famous and ancient Citty, and so full of people, be by your putting us to force the same, exposed to ruin and the extremity of warr (which yet we shall in that case as much as possible endeavour to prevent) then I appeale to the righteous God to be judge between you and us, and to requite the wronged.

And let all England judge, whether the burning of its towns, ruining of its citties, and destroying its people be a good requitall, from a person of your familie which hath had the prayers, tears, pursses, and blood of its Parliamt and people, And (if you look on either as now divided, which hath had that same party, both in parliamt and amongst the people) most zealous for their assistance and restiturtion which you now oppose and seek to destroy, and whose constant griefe hath been that their desires to returne your familie hath been ever hindered, or made fruitlesse by that same party about his Majesty, whose Counsell you are, and whose interest you pursue in this unnaturall warr.

I expect your speedy answer to this summons, with the returne of the bearer this evening,
And remayne,

Your Highness humble servant

Tho. ffairfax

Sept 4 : 1645

The document is now contained in a custom, red cloth bound box (350x495x30mm.) and is sold with 2013 (4 Jan.) letter from Etherington Conservation Services confirming the professional conservation work carried out on the document, as well as 2010 (13 Dec.) letter from the Head of Manuscripts at the British Library in relation to its Export License to the USA.

A remarkable document of utmost importance in the history of the English Civil War and a serious addition to even the most advanced and studious of collections.


Provenance:

The Jerome Platt Collection: Dr. Platt is a recognised collector of the 17th Century, in particular the English Civil Wars, spanning medals and documents. He has been published by Harvard, Yale, Wiley-Interscience, MacMillan and Spink

Bloomsbury Auctions, 28 October, 2010

Notes: By this time in the Civil War the Royalists had the majority control over the southwest, and Bristol itself had been held by Rupert since 1643. Bristol was to be the Royalist headquarters and plans were made between the King and Rupert as late as the summer of the same year for the King and the Royalist forces to be headquartered there. Defeat at Bridgewater on the 23 July had put paid to that and thrown the Royalist plans into confusion.

Fairfax had begun his slow encirclement of this city in August and, by the 3 September the Parliamentarian forces had gained the support of some sympathetic residents and readied themselves for attack. As was custom, Fairfax sent the original of this letter to Rupert making clear that he would accept surrender instead of conflict. Rupert stalled, trying to caveat the surrender and, on the 10 September at 2am, the Parliamentarian forces lost patience and struck; by 9am Rupert had surrendered.

The King was deeply wounded by the loss of Bristol, and wrote personally to Rupert: "…for what is to be done after one that is so near me as you are, both in blood and friendship, submits himself to so mean an action?" (Bennett, 72)". The ill feeling was such that Rupert felt the need to court martial himself to prove he was not guilty of cowardice.

This document, and the Siege of Bristol represent a significant turning point in the course of the English Civil War and the fate of the Royalists, and its importance is impossible to overstate.

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Estimate
£3,000 to £6,000

Starting price
£2400

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