Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1818-1895 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
35 volumes.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Bertie (1812-1895) was born at Uffington House, Lincolnshire, on 19 May 1812, the daughter of Albermarle Bertie, 9th earl of Lindsey, and his wife Charlotte Susanna Elizabeth. In 1833 she married the Dowlais ironmaster Josiah John Guest (1785-1852), MP for Merthyr Tydfil. They had ten children. In 1846 the Guests purchased Canford Manor in Dorset.
Already an accomplished linguist, at Dowlais she studied Welsh and went on to translate into English the eleven Middle Welsh tales from the Red Book of Hergest collectively known (by her) as the Mabinogion. These were published in seven parts from 1838 to 1849 and collected as The Mabinogion, from the Llyfr Coch o Hergest, and other ancient Welsh Manuscripts…, 3 vols (London and Llandovery, 1849).
Following her husband's death in 1852 Lady Charlotte took on the running of the Dowlais ironworks, until April 1855 when she married her eldest son's tutor Charles Schreiber (1826-1884), a classicist and later a Tory MP. They spent much of their time travelling and collecting English and European china. She also collected fans and playing cards; in her last years, following Charles's death, she published five volumes describing and reproducing these collections.
Lady Charlotte Schreiber died 15 January 1895 at Canford Manor and was buried at Canford Church.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
4th Viscount Wimborne, great-great-great-grandson of Charlotte Guest; London; Deposit; 1994.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Manuscripts and printed works, 1818-1895, of Lady Charlotte Guest (née Bertie, other married name Schreiber), comprising journals, 1824-1891 (with gaps); papers relating to the iron and coal industries at Dowlais, 1818-1853; and copies of her printed books, 1888-1895.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged at NLW as follows: Lady Charlotte Guest journals; iron and coal; printed books.
Journals numbered according to original Roman numerals; sequence continued for remaining items.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Usual copyright laws apply.
Language of material
- Dutch
- English
- Flemish
- French
- German
- Italian
- Latin
- Spanish
Script of material
Language and script notes
English, some French, German, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Latin.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of fonds.
Note
Volumes I-II and IV-V were not included in the 1994 deposit.
Alternative identifier(s)
Alma system control number
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Description follows NLW guidelines based on ISAD(G) 2nd ed.; AACR2; and LCSH
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
May 2017.
Language(s)
Script(s)
Sources
The following sources were used in the compilation of this description: Angela V. John, 'Schreiber, Lady Charlotte Elizabeth (1812-1895)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/24832, viewed 11 May 2017]; Angela V. John, 'Guest, Sir (Josiah) John, first baronet (1785-1852)', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/11716, viewed 18 May 2017].
Archivist's note
Description compiled by Rhys M. Jones.