Sandringham Letters, 1785-1871

These letters, while not related to Clarkson's anti-slavery works, do fall in the bounds of familial relations. This series of letters and an unpublished typescript were written by Mrs. Mary Dickinson, who was the daughter-in-law of Thomas Clarkson. Several years after the death of her husband, Thomas Clarkson II, Mary Clarkson married Willoughby Dickinson. As wife of a rector and teacher, Mary Dickinson was invited to Sandringham Palace, where the British royal family maintains a hunting lodge. The letters describe festivities of the household of Edward, Prince of Wales, son of Queen Victoria, at Sandringham Palace from 1863 to 1871.

There is a mimeographed typescript that appears to be a direct transcription of the accompanying letters. This typescript, entitled Life at Sandringham in the "Sixties" by the late Mrs. Dickinson, Wife of the Rector of Wolferton, seems to never have been published. There is no indication as to who transcribed the letters and assembled them into a booklet.