Description
Autograph Letter Signed, addressed ‘My dear Sir’, accepting an invitation and “will be with you, all being well with my young friends, by about ½ past 6 oclock.” 1 page 7 x 4½ inches, small blank piece torn at left margin. 11 Lloyd Street, Lloyd Square, 5 October 1840. Thomas Pyne (1801-73), clergyman. The letter is almost certainly a rare reference to the guardianship of two princes from the Gold Coast, (John) Ossoo Ansah (c1822-1884), son of the reigning king of Ashanti, and his cousin (William) Quanti Massah (Nkwantamisa) (d 1859). Pyne took on this guardianship in 1840. The princes had been taken as hostages under a peace treaty of 1831 between the Ashantis and the British government and it was felt that they would benefit from a trip to England, including her manufacturing towns. Before they left Britain in 1841 to return to the Gold Coast, the princes received an audience with Queen Victoria.