MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY VII (CHARLES VANE-TEMPEST-STEWART) - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 06/21/1918 - HFSID 53474

MARQUESS OF LONDONDERRY VII (CHARLES VANE-TEMPEST-STEWART)
He thanks a political ally for "the figures which I expect I shall quote this afternoon."
Autograph Letter signed: "Londonderry", 1 page, 8x5. Londonderry House, Park Lane [London], 1918 June 21. To "Dear Mr. Lynn", in full: "Many thanks for your letter and for the figures which I expect I shall quote this afternoon. They are very helpful. I shall have to be very restrained but I think a field-day on the subject will be beneficial. Yours very truly". Anglo-Irish peer Charles Vane-Tempest-Stewart (1898-1949) became the Seventh Marquess of Londonderry in 1915. A Member of Parliament from 1904, he served with the Royal Horse Guards on the Western Front in World War I, cited for gallantry and taking temporary command of the regiment at the Battle of Arras (1917) when the commanding general was killed. He was in the thick of the fighting, and the horrors of that war profoundly influenced his politics. As Secretary of State for War (1931-1935), he would be one of the leading appeasers, so eager for friendship with Nazi Germany that his critics dubbed him "the Londonderry Herr". (He made six personal visits to Hitler in Berlin, but did cancel a seventh after the German occupation of Prague in 1938.) His family owned coal mines, and Lord Londonderry emerged as one of the conciliatory mine owners during the General Strike of 1926, earning thereby an invitation to the Cabinets of Conservative Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and the Coalition Government of Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. When he wrote this letter, however, Lord Londonderry was principally concerned with Irish questions. He participated in the Irish Convention (1917-1918), which explored home rule, and served in the provisional Northern Ireland government as Minister of Education. The letter's recipient, Robert Lynn (later Lord Lynn), was a Unionist Member of Parliament representing a Belfast constituency. Creased and toned. Paperclip impression in top margin. Otherwise, fine condition.