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Miscellaneous documents

Reference: D/X 772 Catalogue Title: Miscellaneous documents Area: Catalogue Category: Other Records Description: Personal and Literary Papers of Virginia Surtees

Covering Dates: 1900-2017

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Catalogue Description

Virginia Surtees (born 9 January 1917) was the granddaughter of Brigadier General Sir Herbert Conyers Surtees and his wife Madeleine, the last of the Surtees family to live at Mainsforth Hall in Durham. She was born and brought up in diplomatic circles, her father being an American diplomat, Edward Bell.

In 1937 she married Ashley Clarke, also a diplomat, who, after serving in London, Lisbon and Paris, became British Ambassador in Rome in 1953. They separated in 1960 and for two years she was married to David Craig, O.B.E. She had already inherited Mainsforth from her grandmother (d.1948) and in 1962 she assumed the name of Surtees in accordance with the terms of Lady Surtees' will. In the correspondence she is addressed by turn as Mrs. Ashley Clarke, Virginia Clarke, Lady Clarke, Mrs. David Craig and Mrs. Virginia Surtees.

The documents were deposited together with Surtees family papers and items relating to the Mainsforth property. With the acquisition of more papers relating to the Surtees family the Surtees collection was listed under the reference D/X 1022 and the personal and literary papers of Mrs. Surtees are listed here under the reference D/X 772.

Part of the collection consists of records relating to Dante Gabriel Rossetti's art. In several letters Virginia Surtees describes her work on preparing the biggest Rossetti exhibition in this country (since 1883, a year after his death) for the Royal Academy in London, which had its premiere in January 1973.

Among our other holdings is her correspondence (going back to the 1950s) with individual connoisseurs re Rossetti's art, as for many years she was collecting information about his art and personal life to prepare a catalogue of Rossetti's works (ref. D/X 772/32). It was published for the great exhibition in the Royal Academy. There are also several newspaper articles with comments about the exhibition and Rossetti himself.

Virginia Surtees was personally interested in Dante G. Rossetti's work of art. One of his drawings is a portrait of her grandmother, Louisa Ruth Herbert. In one of the newspaper cuttings (ref. D/X 772/93/2/2) is a photograph of Virginia standing next to the drawing. Virginia collected several works by Rossetti, some of which she put on auction in 2014.

With time she became an expert in this particular field. She completed several other catalogues of Rossetti's works (for other exhibitions) and she also wrote reviews on books about his paintings and drawings.

The collection also includes newspaper cuttings relating to Evangeline Bruce's funeral (Virginia's sister); some private correspondence between Virginia (then Lady Clarke) and her grandmother, Madeleine Surtees, with comments on Roman Catholicism and Virginia's mother becoming a Roman Catholic; articles re Byron's carnival mask; photographs of Virginia Surtees; and a photograph of a grave stone of Robert Surtees.

Virginia died on Friday 22 September 2017, aged 100.

Catalogue Contents

Personal and Literary Papers of Mrs. Virginia Surtees (Ref: D/X 772)Photographs (Ref: D/X 772/)

58-73, 98-99

Mrs Virginia Surtees/Mrs. Ashley Clarke/Virginia Lady Clarke/Mrs. David Craig (Ref: D/X 772/58-69, 98/1-2)

Photograph portrait of Virginia Clarke, London, 1938
(1 photograph, black and white, 19 cm. x 24 cm.)


Photograph of Virginia Clarke when living at Albert Court, Kensington Gore, London, 1950-1953
(1 coloured photograph, 8 cm. x 11 cm.)


Photograph portrait of Virginia Clarke by Cecil Beaton, 1953
(1 photograph, black and white, 15 cm. x 16 cm.)


Copy photograph portrait of Lady Clarke by Cecil Beaton, reproduced in Vogue, January 1954
(1 paper)


Photograph of Virginia Clarke with Field Marshal Montgomery in the British Embassy garden, Rome, n.d. [? 1955]
(1 photograph, black and white, 10 cm. x 8 cm.)


Photograph of Mrs. Ashley Clarke launching the British Star at Trieste, Italy, summer 1958
(1 colour photograph, 18 cm. x 23 cm.)


Photograph of Mrs. Ashley Clarke attending ceremony to launch the British Star at Trieste, Italy, summer 1958
(1 photograph, black and white, 17 cm. x 21 cm.)


Photographs of bronze head of Virginia Clarke by John Harvey, Rome, c. 1958-9
(2 photographs, black and white, 6 cm. x 9 cm.)


Magazine illustration showing British ambassador Sir Ashley Clarke and his wife arriving at the Palazzo Pallavicini - Rospigliosi, Rome, February 1959
(1 paper, coloured)


Photograph of Virginia Clarke with Daily Telegraph reporter, Anthony Mann, in British Embassy garden, Rome, June 1959
(1 photograph, black and white, 10 cm. x 10 cm.)


Photograph of Virginia Clarke, Rome, August 1959
(1 photograph, black and white, 13 cm. x 8 cm.)


Photograph of Virginia Surtees, London, ? 1963
(1 colour photograph, 7 cm. x 8 cm., lacking right margin)


Fragment of photograph of Mrs Virginia Surtees, n.d. [1980s]
(1 photograph, 6 cm x 10 cm, colour)


Passport photograph of Mrs Virginia Surtees, n.d. [1980s]
(1 photograph, 4 cm x 5 cm, colour)


Photograph portrait of Ashley Clarke, London, 1941
(1 photograph, black and white, 14 cm. x 19 cm.)


Photograph portrait of Sir Ashley Clarke, Foreign Office, 1953
(1 photograph, black and white, 18 cm. x 24 cm.)


Photographs of drawing room, 7 Palace Gate, [London; Virginia Surtees' residence 1962 - December 1975], February 1971
(7 colour photographs, 12 cm. x 8 cm.)


Photographs of drawing room of Virginia Surtees' London residence [from 1976], 1976 and 1987
(8 colour photographs, 13 cm. x 9 cm., and 2 colour photographs, 15 cm. x 10 cm., one lacking left margin)


Photograph of a grave stone of Robert Surtees of Mainsforth Hall, n.d. On the reverse, there is information that the stone was placed in Bishop Middleham churchyard behind the church in 1959
(1 photograph, 16.5 cm x 21 cm, black and white)


Photograph of Sir John Brabazon, close friend of the Surtees family, relaxing in a chair in the garden at Mainsforth, n.d. [c. 1920]
(1 photograph, 14.5 cm x 20.5 cm, black and white)


Portrait photograph of Brigadier-General Sir Conyers Surtees, Mrs Surtees' grandfather, taken in the Lafayette Studio in London, n.d. [1920s]
(1 photograph, 14.5 cm x 20.5 cm, black and white)

Correspondence of Mrs. Virginia Surtees/Mrs. Ashley Clarke/Virginia Lady Clarke/Mrs. David Craig (Ref: D/X 772/1-29)

Letter from Cecil Beaton, London, SW7, to Virginia, Lady Clarke, asking her opinion on the proofs for her photographic portrait, (August/September 1953)
(1 paper)


Letter from R.A. Butler, the British Embassy, Paris to Virginia, Lady Clarke, expressing thanks for her hospitality in Rome and on a sightseeing excursion to Florence, 8 May 1955
(1 paper)


Letters and cards from Sir Sydney Cockerell, 21 Kew Gardens, Richmond, Surrey: one letter to his friend "Obby" (Osborne, 12th Duke of) St. Albans telling him of a visit from Virginia Clarke (27 July 1951); 29 letters, a card and a New Year's Card to Mrs. Surtees mostly reponding to her letters on her social life and interest in Rossetti and the pre-Raphaelites, thanking her for gifts, mentioning people he has known and anticipating her visits; with references to his declining health and the death of Walter de la Mare (28 June 1956), 14 May 1951 - 25 April 1962
(31 papers and 2 cards)


Letter from R.C.H. Briggs, honorary secretary of the William Morris Society, to Virginia Surtees informing her as to the serious state of Sir Sydney Cockerell's health; with postscript note of his death on 1 May, 30 April 1962
(1 paper)


Testimony and appeal from the will of Sydney Cockerell, addressed to Mrs. V. Surtees and posted the day after his death, 2 May 1962
(1 paper, printed and envelope)


Obituary of Sir Sydney Cockerell, compiled by R.H.C. Briggs for the William Morris Society, 5 May 1962
(1 file, typescript)


Newspaper obituaries and recollections of Sir Sydney Cockerell (1867­1962), former director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and connoisseur book collector, May 1962
(6 papers, printed)


Letter from the actor, Robert Eddison, London SW3, to Mrs. Virginia Surtees concerning her visit to the Mermaid Theatre to see Richard II in which he played the Duke of York, 5 October [1969]
(1 paper)


19 letters from Margot Fonteyn to Virginia, Lady Clarke thanking her for gifts, containing arrangements for various social engagements and references to reactions to the ballets Daphnis & Chloe, first performed 5 April 1951 and Sleeping Beauty in Naples (1954); with two notes from Frederick Ashton (7 April 1951 and 1 September 1952), October (1948) - December 1956
(27 papers)


Letter from E.M. Forster, King's College, Cambridge to Virginia, Lady Clarke concerning his impending visit to Rome and concerning E.K. Bennett of Caius College, Cambridge, 29 September 1955
(1 paper)


Letter from John Gielgud, London SW1, to Virginia, Lady Clarke, concerning the difficulty of fixing a date for giving a recital in Rome, 1 August 1957
(1 paper)


Letter from L.P. Hartley, Bath, to Virginia, Lady Clarke concerning the receipt of a snapshot and the current heatwave in Rome, 27 June 1955
(1 paper)


Letters from L.S. Lowry, Mattram-in-Longdendale, Cheshire, to Mrs. Virginia Surtees, London, concerning his collection of Rossetti drawings, 7 April 1963 - 15 December 1964
(3 papers)


Letters from Percy Lubbock, Gli Scafari, Lerici, to Virginia, Lady Clarke, in expectation of her visits and mentioning the illness of Max Beerbohm, 18 June 1954 - 3 May 1956
(3 papers)


Seventy four letters from Field-Marshal, the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, K.G., G.C.B., D.S.O., to Mrs. Virginia Surtees on national events, social and personal matters: arranging visits, exchanging photographs, expressing thanks for birthday presents, arranging theatre visits etc; with mention of: his meeting with the Pope (19 September 1955), a visit to President Eisenhower (23 November 1955) the Garter Ceremony at Windsor on 18 June 1956 (23 April 1956), his aborted visit to Baghdad (2 October 1956), the Suez crisis (17 November 1956), Harold Macmillan (18 June 1963), the health of the Churchills (7 September 1964) and his life in retirement (18 May 1970), 1 February 1954 - 18 May 1970
(75 papers)


Christmas cards from Viscount Montgomery of Alamein containing photographs of himself during the relevant years including several with Sir Winston Churchill and one of the state opening of Parliament (1966), 1961­1967
(7 cards)


Signed photographs of Viscount Montgomery of Alamein including two of portraits painted by Oswald Birley (1948) and Denis Fildes (1956?), 1945, 1954, 1956
(5 photographs)


Letter from the Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Classiebawn Castle, Cliffoney, Co. Sligo, to Mrs. Virginia Surtees, London, responding to her request for information about his Rossetti pictures at Broadlands, 10 August 1963
(1 paper)


Letter from Anthony Quayle, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, to Virginia, Lady Clarke, concerning the performance of Titus Andronicus at Stratford and his plans for performing Tambourlaine in [New York] in the New Year, 17 November 1955
(1 paper)


Letter from the Queen of Spain to Virginia, Lady Clarke, concerning the illness of the Queen's daughter, 8 January 1956
(1 paper)


Letter from Ninette De Valois, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden to Virginia, Lady Clarke, expressing thanks for hospitality during a stay in Italy, 30 October (1954)
(1 paper)


Letters from Evelyn Waugh, Combe Florey House, to Mrs. David Craig/Mrs. Virginia Surtees concerning Waugh's Rossetti drawings, 28 October 1961 and 13 April 1964
(2 papers)


Sixty five letters from the actor, Donald Wolfit, expressing thanks for gifts and hospitality, arranging visits etc. and containing brief comments on: his tours during and after the war, productions and roles including Falstaff, Lear, Othello, Tambourlaine, Captain Hook, filmwork (3 September 1955), The Strong are Lonely , Oedipus and other people's work notably Tyrone Guthrie's productions, Badel's Hamlet, Olivier's Richard III , his dispute with the management of the Old Vic; drama on television (30 April 1956); and the Mermaid Theatre's celebrations for the 90th birthday of the theatre critic, Gordon Craig, 1 January 1941 - September 1966
(66 papers)


Programme for The Merry Wives of Windsor with Donald Wolfit as Falstaff, at the King's Theatre, Glasgow, commencing 24 March (1941)
(1 paper)


Signed photograph of Donald Wolfit, February 1942
(1 photograph mounted on card)


Press cutting containing review of Donald Wolfit as King Lear by James Agate, taken from The Sunday Times, 16 April 1944
(1 paper, printed)


Three press cuttings containing the notice of Donald Wolfit's death and obituaries from the Telegraph and the Times, 19 and 21 February 1968
(3 papers, printed)


Four letters from the stage designer and producer, Laurence Irving, concerning Wolfit's role as Gainsborough in a play by Cecil Beaton and after Wolfit's death, 3 November 1959, 18 - 21 February 1968
(5 papers)


Order of service in memory of Donald Wolfit held at the Royal Parish Church of St. Martin in the Fields, 20 March 1968
(2 papers, printed)

Literary Papers (Ref: D/X 772/30-89)

"Godfather to Venice", article on John Ruskin's views on the upbringing of young girls, by Virginia Surtees, published in The Times Literary Supplement, 28 January 1965
(1 paper,printed)


Article by Virginia Surtees, published in The Manchester Guardian , giving light-hearted description of her jury service at the Old Bailey, 10 April 1967
(1 paper, printed)


Catalogue with commentary written by Virginia Surtees, for an exhibition on Dante Gabriel Rossetti, painter and poet, held at the Royal Academy of Arts and in Birmingham, 1973
(1 volume, card bound)


Typescript copy of the biography Charlotte Canning by Mrs. Virginia Surtees, published by John Murray Ltd., of London, 1975
(472 papers, typescript)


Manuscript, printed page proofs including one page of photographs, and designs for dust jacket and title pages, of A Beckford Inheritance -­ The Lady Lincoln Scandal by Virginia Surtees, 1977
(262 papers)


Four letters from Pauline Dower, Cambo House, Morpeth, to Virginia Surtees concerning the proposal that the latter should edit the letters from John Ruskin to Pauline Trevelyan and correspondence with an assistant librarian at Newcastle concerning papers held there, 30 October - 31 December 1975
(9 papers)


Letters to Virginia Surtees from individuals and institutions responding to her requests for information in connection with her research on the letters of John Ruskin, 3 May 1976 - 18 August 1977
(18 papers)


Letters to Virginia Surtees from Yale University Press and the National Trust concerning acknowledgements and permission to quote (in connection with her edition of the Ruskin - Trevelyan letters), 28 September 1977 and 1 April 1978
(3 papers)


Sixteen letters from the publishers George Allen & Unwin to Virginia Surtees concerning the commercial viability of her edition of Ruskin's letters to Lady [Pauline] Trevelyan, and technical details concerning the publication, 11 October 1977 - 12 February 1979
(23 papers)


Letter from W.D. Paden, University of Kansas, to Virginia Surtees indicating that the diaries and journals of Lady Pauline Trevelyan are held by the Department of Special Collections of the University of Kansas, 29 March 1978
(1 paper)


Notebook containing notes and references by Virginia Surtees for her edition of the Ruskin - Trevelyan letters, 1976 - 1977
(1 volume, card bound)


Notes and references accumulated by Virginia Surtees in the course of her work on the Ruskin - Trevelyan correspondence, including photocopy drawings of decorative stones for balconies by John Ruskin; photocopies of review of performance of Mendelssohn's Elijah with Jenny Lind; "Ruskin at Wallington" by Raleigh Trevelyan, National Trust 1975; photocopy of article on the inauguration of St. Paul's Church, Dundee, 1905; letter from Raleigh Trevelyan concerning his current work; letter from the Irish Victorian Society concerning an alleged design for a bank by John Ruskin, n.d.; letter from The Ruskin Association concerning the project, 26 May 1976; letter from Joan Browne Swinburne concerning the Turners formerly owned by Sir John Swinburne of Capheaton, 26 August 1976; letter from Wellesley College Library, Massachusetts concerning the Mitford correspondence, 17 December 1976; letter from Josephine Hawkes concerning the renovation of Norham Castle, 14 June 1977; 1975 - 1977
(93 papers)


Typescript and manuscript draft of commentaries on John Ruskin's letters to Pauline Trevelyan by Virginia Surtees, n.d.
(281 papers)


Thirty three letters and one postcard to Virginia Surtees from individuals and institutions responding to her requests for information in connection with her research on the diaries of G.P. Boyce containing among other things: information about the family of G.P. Boyce, the parish of Prestbury, Gloucestershire and a house in Queen Anne's Gate, London, from John Street, Michael Harvey and others; and the indentification or whereabouts of paintings and drawings by Boyce, T.C. Girtin, Turner, Millais and H.T. Wells, 2 August 1974 - 5 May 1978
(42 papers)


Thirteen letters and one postcard from Professor Hamish A.D. Miles, Barber Institute of Fine Arts, the University of Birmingham, to Virginia Surtees concerning proposal for the re-printing, editing and amplification of The Diaries of G.P. Boyce in the Old Water Colour Society's volume 1941, in conjunction with E.P. Publishing Ltd., later problems and suggestions for other publishers, 27 October 1977 - 16 June 1980
(15 papers)


Ten letters from E.P. Publishing Ltd. to Virginia Surtees concerning their agreement and subsequent refusal to publish her edition of the diaries of G.P. Boyce, 3 February 1978 - 20 November 1979
(10 papers)


Letters from the University Library of Illinois, Urbana - Champaign; from the Department of Western Manuscripts, Bodleian Library, Oxford; from D.M.S. Watson Library, University College, London; and from the Oxford University Press to Virginia Surtees, giving her permission to quote from manuscripts or publications, 14 June - 10 July 1978
(5 papers)


Notes and references by Virginia Surtees for her edition of the diaries of G.P. Boyce including photocopies of a chapter "Splendid Strolling, 1847-­1852" from The Life of Charles Dickens ; a printed photograph of a painting of Kirkstall Abbey by T. Girtin 1775-­1802; a printed advertisement for the sale of an 18th century house in Prestbury Old Village; Parish Magazine for St. Mary's Church, Prestbury 1974, 1970s
(98 papers)


Typescript copy of The Diaries of G.P. Boyce edited by Virginia Surtees, 1981
(143 papers)


Typescript and manuscript draft of The Diaries of G.P. Boyce edited by Virginia Surtees, 1981
(129 papers)


Manuscript index to The Diaries of G.P. Boyce, c. 1981
(23 papers)


Book review of Virginia Surtees, The Paintings and Drawings of Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882), 2 vols., Clarendon Press : Oxford University Press, 1971, and notices of an exhibition of Rossetti's portrait drawings of his wife, Elizabeth Siddal, at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1991 The exhibition catalogue was by Virginia Surtees
(4 papers)


Reprint of an article by Virginia Surtees entitled 'The Early Italian Poets by D.G. Rossetti with his Illustrations' in The Princeton University Library Chronicle, vol. xxxiii, no. 3, Spring 1972
(1 booklet, printed)


Book review of Virginia Surtees, Charlotte Canning, Murray, 1975
(10 papers)


Book reviews of Virginia Surtees, A Beckford Inheritance: the Lady Lincoln Scandal, Michael Russell, 1977
(3 papers)


Copy review of Virginia Surtees, 'Portrait Head of Jane Morris by Dante Gabriel Rossetti', published in Philadelphia Museum of Art Bulletin, June 1977
(2 papers)


Book reviews of Virginia Surtees ed , Reflections of a Friendship : Ruskin's Letters to Pauline Trevelyan 1848-1866 , Allen and Unwin, [1979]
(3 papers)


Book reviews of Virginia Surtees ed, The Diary of Ford Madox Brown , New Haven and London, Yale University Press, 1981
(6 papers)


Review of Virginia Surtees, A Study of La Pia de 'Tolomei by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1982
(1 paper, printed)


Book reviews of Virginia Surtees, The Ludovisi Goddess : The Life of Louisa, Lady Ashburton , Michael Russell, [1985]
(3 papers)


Book reviews of Virginia Surtees, Jane Welsh Carlyle , Michael Russell, [1986]
(6 papers)


Book reviews of Virginia Surtees ed, A Second Self : the Letters of Harriet Granville, 1810-1845 , Michael Russell, 1990
(2 papers)


Book reviews of Virginia Surtees, Coutts Lindsay 1824-1913 , Michael Russell, [1993]
(2 papers)


Book review of Virginia Surtees ed, The Grace of Friendship : Horace Walpole and the Misses Berry, Michael Russell, [1995]
(1 paper)


Newscuttings of various contributions made by Virginia Surtees to the letters columns of the national press, etc., 1969-1986
(7 papers)


Copy contributions by Virginia Surtees to the Ruskin Newsletter , September 1979 and October 1981
(2 papers)


Newscutting referring to Virginia Surtees' account [1975] of Lady Canning's life, 1986
(1 paper)

Personal Papers (Ref: D/X 772/49-57, 100-101, 106)

The Poetry Society: Shakespeare Recitals certificate and audition form, awarded to Virginia Ashley Clarke, 29 December 1941
(2 papers)


Magazine articles and illustrations relating to Lady Virginia Clarke, and her separation from Sir Ashley Clarke, April 1959
(Italian; 2 papers, printed)


Newscutting relating to Sir Ashley Clarke's petition for divorce from Lady Virginia Clarke, n.d. [1959]
(1 paper)


Certified copy certificate of marriage, David Leonard Craig to Virginia Bell Clarke, 5 November 1960
(1 paper)


Newspaper notice 'in memoriam' of Ashley Clarke, British ambassador to Rome 1953-1962, n.d. [ post 1985]
(1 paper, printed)


Newspaper obituary of David Craig (1914-1995), 22 December 1995
(1 paper, printed)


Newspaper cutting showing Mrs. Virginia Surtees in front of the drawing of her great grandmother by Rossetti, at the Rossetti exhibition, Royal Academy, London, 19 January 1973
(1 paper)


Photograph of mid-1860s' ball dress, made by Worth, on display at the Museum of Costume, Shambellie, Dumfries, with covering letter from the curator, 9 August 1984 The dress belonged to Adelaide M. Bell of New York, great-grandmother of Virginia Clarke and was worn by the latter in 1947
(1 colour photograph, 19 cm. x 24 cm., and 1 paper)


Cuttings relating to photographs and a locket presented to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, by Mrs. Virginia Surtees, 1993-94
(2 papers)


Virginia's recollections on a lunch party in Rome with Robert Graves and Audrey Hepburn with anecdotes about Audrey Hepburn's foreign husband and Landor's blessing to Swinburne that was passed on to Robert Graves, who blessed Virginia in the same manner during lunch, n.d. [Virginia was in Rome in the 1950s, when she was married to Ashley Clarke, ambassador]
(1 paper, printed)


Virginia's recollections on a dinner party held at Mainsforth Hall with Lady Eden as one of the guests in 1930s. Virginia also recalls her time spent there as a child with her sister and grandparents, n.d. [2017]
(1 paper, printed)

Surtees family, including Sir Herbert Conyers Surtees (Ref: D/X 772/90)

Text of a talk given by Alan Thompson in September and December 1998, on 'Masonic Links with the Surtees Family' (mainly concerning Sir Herbert Conyers Surtees), 1998
(1 file)

Sir Herbert Conyers Surtees (Ref: D/X 772/91-92, 103)

Copy of a letter from Sir Herbert Conyers Surtees, Hotel Excellent, Montreux, Switzerland, to Winston Churchill, concerning the death of 'Brab', Major-General Sir John Brabazon, 21 [September] 1922, copy made c.2004 The original of this letter is held in the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge
(1 paper)


Copy of a sketch by Max Beerbohm of 'Major-General Sir John Brabazon and others including Lord Rosebery and Winston Churchill', n.d. [c.1910], copy made c.1990 The original of this sketch is held in the Collection of Humanities Research Center, University of Texas, United States of America
(1 paper)


Printed pages taken out from an unknown publication containing a description of a funeral service after the death of Sir Conyers Surtees (1933) followed by a lengthy description of his family and his connection to Robert Surtees and Mainsforth Hall, n.d. [1990s]
(7 papers, printed)

Correspondence and newspaper cuttings relating to Dante Gabriel Rossetti exhibition in the Royal Academy (Ref: D/X 772/93-94)Newspaper cuttings (Ref: D/X 772/93/1-2)

Article re Mrs Surtees cataloguing Rossetti's works, Sunday Times, 5 October 1969
(1 paper, printed)


Newspaper articles relating to the exhibition and works of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 12 January - 24 March 1973 and 21 August 1994
(21 papers, printed)

Correspondence (Ref: D/X 772/94/1-6)

Letter from Mrs Surtees to her sister Evangeline concerning her impressions from the opening of the Rossetti exhibition in the Royal Academy, 11 January 1973
(1 paper)


Letter from Professor Quentin Bell, Beddingham, Sussex to Mrs Surtees regarding his 'trifle inaccuracies' while giving an interview on Dante G. Rossetti to a BBC journalist during the opening of the exhibition, 15 January 1973
(1 paper)


Letter from Mrs Surtees, London to the stage designer and producer Laurence Irving and his wife Ros, unveiling, in a very humorous way, details of disputes over hanging the Rossetti exhibition, January 1973
(1 paper)


Letter from Sir Thomas Monnington, Groombridge, Kent to Mrs Surtees thanking her for her effort and commitment in the preparation of the exhibition, 15 January 1973
(1 paper)


Letter from Kenneth Rose, London, author of George Curzon's biography, to Mrs Surtees mentioning 'slow and painful' progress on his next book about the Cecil family. He also expresses his interest in the catalogue of Dante G. Rossetti's works, on which Mrs Surtees was working for several years, 16 January 1973
(2 papers)


Letter from Kevin Whitney, London to Mrs Surtees thanking her and enthusiastically expressing his delight in the Rossetti exhibition, n.d. [1973]
(2 papers)

Correspondence and newspaper cuttings relating to the funeral of Mrs Evangeline Bruce, Mrs Surtees' sister (Ref: D/X 772/95/1-3)

Newspaper article describing in a very disfavourable light the way Mrs Surtees had organised her sister's funeral service, 1995
(1 paper, printed)


Newspaper article with comments on Mrs Evangeline Bruce's funeral service in Washington D.C., U.S.A., n.d. [1995]
(1 paper, printed)


Copy of a letter from Mrs Surtees to one of the journalists from 'a magazine', being an answer to one of the articles, in which Mrs Surtees explains why she does not agree with the journalist's comments on the way the church service was organised after Mrs Bruce's death, 29 May 1996
(1 paper, printed)


Print from Internet edition of 'The Independent' (dated 15 December 1995) entitled: Obituary: Evangeline Bruce, remembering her fascinating life with its tragedies and successes, 29 May 2014
(2 papers, printed)


Virginia Surtees' recollection of sabotaged arrangements of her sister, Evangeline's, funeral in Washington and subsequent memorial service in London that took place against their wishes, July 2014
(1 paper, printed)

Mrs Virginia Surtees' private correspondence (Ref: D/X 772/96/1-5)

Fragment of a letter from Lady Surtees, Virginia's grandmother, Hove, East Sussex to Virginia [Lady Clarke], London referring to Virginia's mother's letters, n.d. [1941/1942]
(1 paper, printed)


Letter from Lady Surtees, Hove, East Sussex to her granddaughter Virginia, London with her comments on Roman Catholicism, n.d. [1941/1942]
(2 papers, printed)


Letter from Lady Surtees, Hove, East Sussex to Virginia, London concerning her daughter (Virginia's mother) becoming a Roman Catholic, n.d. [1942]
(2 papers, printed)


Letter from Lady Surtees, Hove, East Sussex to Virginia, London saying goodbye before she left with her husband for Lisbon, 26 June 1944
(2 papers, printed)


Correspondence between Virginia Surtees, London and Frances Clarke, Bushy Cottage, The Green, Hampton Court, Surrye, wife of Virginia's first husband Ashley Clarke, concerning Virginia's wish to see her former husband when he was dying, together with notes, 1993-1994
(4 papers)


Letter from Sacheverell Sitwell to Virginia relating to his recollections of an old portrait painting representing Miss Herbert that was owned by his aunt Blanche, 23 October 1969
(1 paper)

Miscellaneous newspaper cuttings (Ref: D/X 772/97/1-4)

Article from 'The Times' entitled 'Mask of Byron displays new face' with a short description of the mask worn by Byron during the Ravenna carnival in 1820 and his romantic affair with an Italian countess. The mask was given to Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome by Virginia Surtees [Lady Clarke] in 1957, n.d. [1997] Also includes cutting with a correction to the main article
(2 papers, printed)


Newspaper photograph showing the Countess of Essex looking at Byron's carnival mask on display in the National Portrait Gallery, January 2003
(1 paper, printed)


Published comment by Virginia Surtees on the way D.G. Rossetti's house was described in Sir Paul Getty's obituary, The Times, 2004
(1 paper, printed)


Copy of Col. J.P. Brabazon's portrait made with pencil from 1895. He was a friend of the Surtees family before he died in 1922, n.d.
(1 paper, printed)


Prints from Christies' website and catalogue pages relating to the sale of Virginia Surtees' paintings, including works by Rossetti, May 2014
(5 papers, printed)

Virginia Surtees' death (Ref: D/X 772/102)

Newspaper cutting from the Guardian with an obituary remembering Virginia Surtees after she died in London on 22 September 2017, aged 100, 13 December 2017
(1 paper)

Mainsforth Hall (Ref: D/X 772/104)

Photograph of the gate to Mainsforth Hall, overgrown with bushes, n.d. [1990s]
(1 photograph, 15 cm x 10 cm, colour)


Photograph of a plaque dedicated to Robert Surtees located on the wall next to the entrance gate to Mainsforth Hall, n.d. [1990s]
(1 photograph, 10 cm x 15 cm, colour)

Bishop Middleham St Michael's Church (Ref: D/X 772/105)

Card with a reprint of a watercolour drawing of St Michael's church in Bishop Middleham by Linda Clemens sent to Virginia Surtees by an unknown person with thanks for her financial support in the church restoration efforts, 16 December 1998
(1 card, 21 cm x 15 cm, colour)


Photograph of a stone table located outside of St Michael's church in Bishop Middleham with a note from Virginia Surtees on the back explaining that her family members' ashes are buried under the table and their names are inscribed on the top, n.d. [1990s]
(1 photograph, 15 cm x 10 cm, colour)


Unknown newspaper cutting showing colour photographs of two wall memorials dedicated to the Surtees family (Robert Surtees and Conyers Surtees) and on the reverse is a ground plan of St Michael's church showing original 12th Century Norman fragments and later 13th Century additions, n.d. [1990s]
(1 paper, printed)