FROM THE ARCHIVES

As Holderness School’s archivist, Dr. Jennifer Martinez’s work centers around cataloging the school's historical collections of letters, photographs, and memorabilia and making them available to the school community - as well as updating the archives into the best modern archival practices. As she was going through the archives in the lower level of the Alfond Library this winter, Dr. Martinez made a truly interesting discovery: a 273-year-old letter from Robert Darcy, the 4 th Earl of Holderness, to William Pitt (The Elder). Here, Dr. Martinez explains the historical significance of the letter, and its connection to Holderness School.

By Dr. Jennifer Martinez

The Holderness School Archives has in its collections a historically significant letter from the 4 th Earl of Holderness addressed to former Prime Minister of Great Britain William Pitt (The Elder). Written on June 23, 1750, and presumably sent from The Hague (where Robert Darcy was representing his country under King George III), the letter is the perfect combination of personal and business matters that we would find in letters of the 18th century. It contains the conventional epistolary formulae typical of letters in this time period, including formal language and salutations, among others. The context refers to a mystery favor for an unnamed widow. At one point, the letter contained an enclosed paper (likely from the widow in question explaining her request) that would have given us more information about the case. Unfortunately, the woman remains unnamed and the favor remains unsaid.

The letter has connections to the school through the town. The town of Holderness is named after Robert Darcy (also D’Arcy) the fourth Earl of Holderness. Early in the town’s history, Darcy was in good relations with Governor Wentworth. When he gave land to early settler families like the Livermores he named the town “New Holderness” after

Prime Minister William Pitt (The Elder) was in office from 1766 to 1768 and was a member of the Whig Party. He was incredibly popular during his time in office and was in charge when Britain defeated the French in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Both his ascendancy into political power and the war coincided around similar times. Many of us are perhaps more familiar with his son, William Pitt (The Younger) who was also Prime Minister and was the one immersed in the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.

The very nature of the letter—meant as private correspondence—means that we have the intimate thoughts of an influential man that would not necessarily appear in modern textbooks. We know that the letter was written sixteen years before Pitt was Prime Minister and that at the time, he suffered from bouts of hereditary gout and (as PaymasterGeneral) was involved in early political squabbles with Newcastle before their coalition in 1757-1761.

Our little piece of history in this small New England town reverberates through our school still. The wellknown bull that we all love and the flowers that appear in our school logo both come from the old family crest of the Darcy/Holderness family. |

Left: Dr. Jennifer Martinez.

Right: Art students contact printed two early 1900s glass negatives from the archives using an iron process called cyanotypes.

About Dr. Jennifer Martinez

Born and raised in Puerto Rico, Dr. Martinez is a cultural Greek historian with a PhD in Classics and Ancient History from the University of Liverpool. Using modern comparative material, ancient texts, and archeology, her research focuses on the preand post-war lived experiences of women in the ancient world, philosophical wartime boundaries, and the social and economic impacts of war on women. Dr. Martinez also teaches AP European History at Holderness.