TEMPLEMAN LIBRARY

UNIVERSITY OF KENT, CANTERBURY

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS: THEATRE COLLECTIONS

Brief Biography; Family Tree

ITEMS IN THE CALTHROP BOUCICAULT COLLECTION

UKC/CALB/BIO : F205501

1.1876

Material relating to the death of Boucicault's eldest son, Dion William Boucicault, in a railway accident at Abbots Ripton, on January 21, 1876, including

• item 1 -- a photocopied page (p. 309) from The History of the Great Northern Railway, 1845-1902, by Charles H. Grinling, H. V. Borley and C. Hamilton Ellis, Methuen, 1903, describing the Abbots Ripton accident;

• item 2 -- Barnett's Official Streetplan of Huntingdon and Godmanchester;

• item 3 -- a brochure about Abbots Ripton Hall Gardens, listing the plants in the gardens;

• item 4 -- a leaflet about Ramsey Rural Museum, not far from Huntingdon;

• item 5 -- 1 letter from the Huntingdonshire County Librarian and 7 letters from the Huntingdonshire County Archivist responding to an enquiry by Christopher Calthrop about the Abbots Ripton disaster; these mention an Illustrated London News article, dated 29th January 1876, about the disaster; possible efforts by Dion Boucicault to commemorate the accident in Huntingdon (including restoration of the old Grammar School, a drinking fountain, and a cross at the site of the accident); and Dion William's grave;

• item 6 -- 1 letter from the editor and 2 letters from the librarian of the Peterborough Citizen and Advertiser in response to an enquiry by Christopher Calthrop about the Abbots Ripton accident; these mention photostats provided to Calthrop, but there are not as many among these documents as are mentioned in the letters;

• item 7 -- photostat of a newspaper article describing the Abbots Ripton rail accident; it is not clear from which paper, possibly the Peterborough Citizen and Advertiser; the article is incomplete and partly illegible;

• item 8 -- 1 letter from the headmaster of Huntingdon Grammar School in response to an enquiry about Boucicault's efforts to commemorate Dion William and the Abbots Ripton accident;

• item 9 -- 1 letter from the editor of the Huntingdon newspaper The Hunts Post, saying they are unable to assist in Calthrop's research;

• item 10 -- 1 letter from a Cambridgeshire County Museums Officer requesting a picture of Dion and Dion William Boucicault and information about the restoration of the old Grammar School in Huntingdon, now the Cromwell Museum, in which Boucicault was involved;

• item 11 -- 1 letter from the archivist of the British Transport Historical Records office, informing Calthrop that he can find no reference to the memorial to Dion William which Calthrop had enquired about;

• item 12 -- 1 letter from a resident of Huntingdon, possibly from a family of stonemasons, informs Calthrop that he has no information about the Boucicault memorials, as his company's records don't go sufficiently far back;

• item 13 -- 1 letter from the British Railways Eastern Region Public Relations Officer in response to an enquiry by Calthrop about a memorial etrected by Boucicault near the Abbots Ripton crash site;

• item 14 -- 2 letters from a temporary curator of a Huntingdonshire museum in response to enquiries by Calthrop about the drinking fountain and restoration of the old Grammar School;

• item 15 -- 1 newspaper cutting from The Hunts Post, 6th February, 1969, showing a photograph of a white stone cross next to a railway track, accompanied by a letter from Christopher Calthrop asking the public for information on the whereabouts of the memorial since its removal;

• item 16 -- letters from 3 correspondents in response to Calthrop's letter to The Hunts Post;

• item 17 -- 4 letters from John Hadley, a Godmanchester resident, in response to Calthrop's letter to The Hunts Post; the correspondent includes a 5-page account of the Boucicault family's involvement in the rail disaster and Dion Boucicault's subsequent efforts to commemorate the incident; Hadley has also included a phtocopy of Plate 34 of A History of London Transport by T. C. Barker and Michael Robbins, showing a large hoarding around the Kings Cross Station construction site in 1862, with a playbill for THE COLLEEN BAWN;

• item 18 -- a list by Christopher Calthrop of steps taken to gather information about the Abbots Ripton incident and subsequent events;

• item 19 -- notes by Christopher Calthrop about the Abbots Ripton disaster and subsequent events, including excerpts from various newspapers and the "Annual Register" for 1876.

Plays Mentioned in these Documents

COLLEEN BAWN, THE

Names Mentioned in these Documents

: Boucicault, Dion, (Dionysius Lardner), Mr., 1820-1890
: Boucicault, Dion William, Mr., 1855-1876
: Bourcicault, George Darley, Mr.
: Boucicault, Darley George, Mr.

Organisations Mentioned in these Documents

: Huntingdonshire County Library
: Huntingdonshire County Records Office (later County of Huntingdon and Peterborough County Records Office)
: Peterborough Citizen and Advertiser
: The Hunts Post
: Cambridgeshire Libraries and Information Service
: Cromwell Museum, Huntingdon
: British Transport Historical Records Office
: British Railway Eastern Region Regional Headquarters

UKC/CALB/BIO/PHO : F205505

1.1876

Image material relating to the death of Boucicault's eldest son, Dion William Boucicault, in a railway accident at Abbots Ripton, on January 21, 1876, including

• item 1 -- 3 letters from a Huntingdonshire correspondents explaining the provenance of several of the images below, and receipts from the photographer reproducing them for Christopher Calthrop;

• item 2 -- a photograph of Dion William's grave in the Huntingdon cemetery;

• item 3 -- a photograph of the urn on Dion William's grave;

• item 4 -- a photograph of a donations board (probably in the old Grammar School building), listing donations made by Dion Boucicault and others after the Abbotts Riptin accident;

• item 5 -- a photograph of a plaque noting Dion Boucicault's contribution to the restoration of the old Grammar School building;

• item 6 -- a damaged photograph of the old Grammar School building in the 1960s;

• item 7 -- a negative of a photograph of the Huntingdon Grammar School before the restoration;

• item 8 -- a negative of a photograph of a commemorative cross at the site of the Abbots Ripton accident;

• item 9 -- a postcard showing Huntingdon County Hospital;

• item 10 -- a postcard showing Huntingdon County Hospital;

Names Mentioned in these Documents

: Boucicault, Dion, (Dionysius Lardner), Mr., 1820-1890
: Boucicault, Dion William, Mr., 1855-1876

Organisations Mentioned in these Documents

: Huntingdon County Hospital

UKC/CALB/BIO : F205472

1.1876

Material relating to the professional and scientific career of Dr. Dionysius Lardner, including

• item 4 -- a letter from L. T. C. Rolt, author of a book on Isambard Kingdom Brunel, mentioning the relationship of Lardner and Brunel, and Lardner's railway experiments; there is also a passing reference to the Abbots Ripton accident, in which Dion Boucicault's son Dion William was killed;

Names Mentioned in these Documents

: Lardner, Dionysius, Dr., 1793-1859
: Byron, Augusta Ada, Miss
: Babbage, Charles, Mr.
: Boucicault, Dion, (Dionysius Lardner), Mr., 1820-1890
: Brunel, Isambard Kingdom, Mr.
: Boucicault, Dion William, Mr., 1855-1876

Organisations Mentioned in these Documents

: University of London
: University College London (and Library)
: London and Brighton Railway
: London and Birmingham Railway
: British Transport Commission

ITEMS IN THE FAWKES BOUCICAULT COLLECTION

UKC/BOUC/CUT : 0648481

Essay entitled "Boucicault and Huntingdon" by J. Hadley concerning the death of Boucicault's son William. Undated.

(1950)

Names Mentioned in this Document

: Boucicault, Dion, (Dionysius Lardner), Mr., 1820-1890
: Boucicault, Dion William, Mr, died 1876 (son of Dion Bouciault)

Photocopy of a note from Dion and Agnes Boucicault thanking the writer for their sympathy on the death of the Boucicault's son. Includes transcript.

correspondent : Boucicault, Dion, (Dionysius Lardner), 1820-1890

correspondent : Boucicault, Agnes, Mrs., 1833-1916 (nee Agnes Kelly Robertson, wife of Dion Boucicault)

Please email specialcollections@kent.ac.uk with any enquiries.
(Last updated 31st May, 2007)

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