Global Encounters and the Archives: Britain’s Empire in the Age of Horace Walpole

Observations on Trade in Europe after Peace, 1748

Coming in the wake of a long period of peace, the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 –1748) engulfed Britain's empire in the most expensive war in its history to that date. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which ended conflict in 1748, was therefore not simply a diplomatic accord but also an economic blueprint for future prosperity in trade. Here Charles Hanbury Williams captures this interplay of diplomacy and political economy, writing that "trade is a tacit war" and expressing concern over "how far a commercial people, oppress'd with debts & loaded with taxes, ought or ought not to meddle upon the continent."

Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University Library

Charles Hanbury Williams

Charles Hanbury Williams Papers (1708-1759)This massive and underused collection is an invaluable resource for scholars interested in diplomatic history and politics during a crucial period in Britain's imperial formation. Boasting over 6,000 texts, it is the largest Hanbury Williams archive in the world. The collection also contains material relating to the language of polite society, the Grand Tour and both political and literary circles of the mid-eighteenth century.Extent: 99 volumesSummary: Sir Charles Hanbury Williams (1708-1759) was a vitally important cultural and political figure in mid-18th century Britain and Europe. This collection of his papers, with over 90 volumes and 6,000 texts, provides insight into Britain's diplomatic relations at a key moment in Britain's formation as an Empire. Hanbury Williams was a diplomat and a successful satirical poet who published several best-sellers in the eighteenth century. While the majority of the collection centers on the lifetime of Hanbury Williams, there are documents as early as 1584 and as late as 1808, so the collection spans over two centuries. The collection comprises personal and diplomatic correspondence in English and French as well as papers on a variety of topics, including the parliamentary debates in the 1740s and 1750s, personal correspondence with his children, correspondence with Sir Sidney Godolphin and the Duke of Marlborough, social and cultural life in Vienna in the 1740s, diplomatic travels to Poland, library catalogues and unpublished poetry.