Burnet family papers

These papers pertain to members of the interrelated Burnet, West, and Williams families descended from Gilbert Burnet, Bishop of Salisbury, England, 1643-1715. The papers have been divided into three groups: the papers of Richard West, d. 1726; the papers of his son, Richard West, 1716-1742; and papers of the Burnet family. Within each group correspondence is arranged alphabetically by author.

The papers of Richard West (d. 1726) consist largely of letters received during the last two years of his life, while he was Chancellor of Ireland. There are letters from government officials concerning affairs of state, including William Wood's patent on copper coinage for Ireland, discontent in Ireland in 1725-1726, and rebellion in Scotland in 1725. Among the correspondents are Richard, Baron Edgecumbe, the receiver-general, vice-treasurer, treasurer of war, and paymaster-general of revenues in Ireland; the Duke of Newcastle, Thomas Pelham-Holles, one of the lords justices, secretary of state for the southern department, and joint secretary of state for Scotland; William Pulteney, Earl of Bath, an active parliamentarian; George Bubb Dodington, Baron of Melcombe, a lord of the treasury and clerk of the pells in Ireland; and Sir Robert Walpole. There is also a letter from West to George I requesting a pension for his family after his death, a copy of the warrant signed by George I granting the pension, and a list of West's estate.

The papers of the younger Richard West consist of three letters and of poems written by West and Daniel Gaches. The poems cover various subjects and are undated except for one "upon the Peace of 1762" written by Gaches, who was then a fellow of Kings College, Cambridge, and censor of the University. Of the three letters, one discusses the state of West's health and another, written by John Williams to West's mother, discusses his education.

The papers of the Burnet family, consisting of correspondence, genealogical papers, and wills, deal almost entirely with the Dutch estate which Bishop Burnet inherited from his wife, Mary Scott, and with the claims of John Henry Williams, great-grandson of Bishop Burnet, to that estate. Exceptions include a letter from Rudyard Kipling to S.M. Acklonby concerning a literary reference, and a letter from William Oliver (1659-1716) about medicines and physical ailments.