Collection of Letters to and from Petrus Johannes Truter of Swellendam etc.

A volume containing upwards of 100 letters addressed to John Barrow or his elder brother George from uncles in South Africa, Petrus Johannes Truter of Swellendam and Henricus Andreas Truter of Cape Town. Commencing in 1858 when Sir John Barrow's wife Anna Maria (nee Truter) died, continuing until the deaths of the uncles and thereafter by cousins, 1858-1867.

These documents bound together in a large book, half leather and cloth boards. Marbled endpapers. Bookplate of John Barrow (Junior) on front endpaper. Enclosed a copy of the Overberg Courant and General Advertiser for Swellendam, George and Neighbouring Divisions, dated Wednesday 8 March, 1865.         

Letters sent from Swellendam and Tulbagh, and Dorp Street in Cape Town, Buiten Singel in Cape Town. One letter addressed to His Excellency Sir George Grey, Governor &amp      Commander in Chief of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, regarding the Memorial of Henricus Truter. Also a few letters from Caledon. And some from the Colonial Office. 

John Barrow senior married Anna Maria Truter (1777 - 1857), a botanical artist from the Cape, in South Africa on 26 August 1799. The couple had four sons and two daughters, one of whom, Johanna, married the artist Robert Batty. His son George succeeded to his title. His second son, John Barrow (28 June 1808 -&nbsp      &nbsp   9 December 1898), was appointed head of the Admiralty Records Office as a reward for developing a system for recording naval correspondence, and for rescuing documents dating back to the Elizabethan period. (wikipedia)

John Barrow (junior) was educated at Charterhouse, and entered the Admiralty as a clerk in 1824 through the influence of John Wilson Croker. He became the Head of The Admiralty Record Office in 1844. He was the only civilian member of the Arctic council (which was established by him in 1851) to co-ordinate the search for the missing explorer Admiral Sir John Franklin.