Thanks David,
You have hit upon Charles Robert Cattley 1817-1855 my Gt Grandfathers elder
brother who was a Vice Consul in the Crimean City of Kertch by the Black
Sea. At the start of hostilities between Russia and the UK (and others)
Charles was expelled by the Russians and returned to the UK.
Here he was summoned by the Secretary forWar and invited to join Lord Raglan
and his Allied army in Turkey, poised to strike the Crimean peninsular and
act as his head of secret military intelligence due to his fluency in
Russian language and his knowledge of the terrain in the Crimea plus his
many contacts in the Russian community there.
Charles took up the appointment but spread the cover story that he was
simply acting as Lord Raglans "Official Russian Interpreter" to safeguard
many of his Cattley relations who were deeply involved in Russian/English
trade within the Merchant community in St Petersburg. He even used a
pseudonym (Charles Calvert) to give some protection.
There are some 140 letters between Charles and Lord Raglan on file in The
National Army Museum in Chelsea giving his Intelligence reports as to the
military state of affairs "at the front" in Sevastopol (et al) and there is
much reference also in The Panmure Papers which are the Pelham-Clinton 5th
Duke of Newcastle reports which you allude to.
If you or anyone else wishes to look at a recent publication that takes all
this into perspective by way of a study of how Charles' ideas of "Military
Intelligence" had a direct influence on the outcome of the Crimean War, then
I suggest that you look at the book "British Military Intelligence in the
Crimean War 1854-1856" Author: Stephen,M.Harris Published by Frank Cass in
1999.
Stephen used the Nottingham Archives extensively in researching for his
publication and whilst I have copies of most of Charles' letters from the
National Army Museum, I confess that I have not followed in Stephens
footsteps in Nottingham but have contented myself with a signed autographed
copy of his book.
Many thanks for telegraphing your findings, nodoubt other listers who also
belong to the same tree will follow up your leads.
Best wishes Tim Cattley
----- Original Message -----
From: "Meredith-Fam-Hist" <meredith_meredith(a)ntlworld.com>
To: <catley(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2006 4:51 PM
Subject: [CATLEY] University of Nottingham : CATTLEY Papers
'Afraid this one needs a bit of work by anyone wishing to view the results,
but
basically whilst browsing records held by the University of Nottingham I
tried
for 'CATTLEY' which returned 21 matches, all for out-of-County documents.
Here's the URL:
http://longford.nottingham.ac.uk/Dserve/dserve.exe?&dsqIni=Dserve.ini...
=Archive&dsqCmd=NottSearchForm.tcl&dsqDb=Catalog
Once onscreen pop Cattley in the Free Text search box to obtain the matches.
Seems that there was a certain Mr Cattley who was not adverse to doing a bit
of
'spying/intelligence work' during the Crimean War.....
A few examples.....
Copy of letter from [H.P.F. Pelham-Clinton] 5th Duke of Newcastle under
Lyne,
Downing Street [London] to [F.J.H. Somerset] 1st Baron Raglan; 29 Jul 1854
Explains that he has information from Mr Cattley that the Russians have
massively increased the number of their forces at Sebastopol in the last two
months.
Copy of letter from [H.P.F. Pelham-Clinton] 5th Duke of Newcastle under
Lyne,
Downing Street [London] to [F.J.H. Somerset] 1st Baron Raglan; 3 Aug 1854
Explains that Mr Cattley learned a great deal of useful information during
his
time as consul at Kertsch [Kerch, Ukraine] and has agreed to be sent out to
help
Raglan; mentions that another man who speaks fluent Turkish, Arabic,
Armenian
and French is also being sent to help in any way he can.
Letter from [Fitzroy J.H. Somerset], 1st Baron Raglan, [Camp] before
Sevastopol,
Ukraine, to [Henry Pelham-Clinton], 5th Duke of Newcastle under Lyne; 11
Nov.
1854
Acknowledges the services of Major Vico; has been obliged to 'open' his
house to
Mr Cattley who knew no-one upon his arrival at Varna; comments on the new
uniform of the artillery; states that the helmet design is so similar to
that of
the Russians that British troops are being mistaken for the enemy; comments
on
the lack of sufficient numbers of medical personnel to cover both the
hospital
at Scutari and the army in the field; praises the work of the medical
officers;
says that the hospital has enough money; does not object to an independent
'investigation' into the state of Scutari hospital; asks why the entire
cavalry
should not wear 'scarlet'.
Report from Mr Cattley on 'Russian prisoners and the probable force in the
Crimea'; n.d. [c.12 Nov. 1854]
Provides details of the name and rank of Russian officers 'taken' during
late
October and the battle of Inkerman; comments on the treatment of these
prisoners; discusses the validity of intelligence reports relating to the
size
of the presence of Russian troops in the Crimea.
Cattley must have had some clout because other documents refer to 'Cattley
memos' for the Queen (Victoria) - she was particularly interested in his
opinion
on likely climatic conditions in the winter - Cattley advocated a winter
withdrawal of the British Army - not heeded I think!
The Cattley connection with Russia continues with business correspondence
for a
Mr. H. Cattley, example follows...
Letter from H. Cattley, to Sir A. Buchanan, St Petersburg, Russia; 1 Mar
1869.
Informs him that the paper had reached the Commercial Court and thanks him
for
his help in the matter.
Letter from Grieg, Russia, to Sir A. Buchanan, St Petersburg, Russia; 15 Sep
1870.
Informs him that the Excise Department had given up its claim against
Krentzer,
the man against whom Mr Cattley was fighting a law suit; apologises for the
delay in answering his letter.
And to bring things down to earth.....
Tenancy agreement (25 Jan. 1883) between George Gallard of Hove, Sussex,
gentleman and Thomas Paul Cattley of 20 Ship Street, Brighton, Sussex, coal
merchant (trading as Banfield and Company) for coal stores Nos. 10 and 12 at
Aldrington, Sussex, north of and opposite the Wharf of New Shoreham Harbour,
Sussex, for a term of 21 years from 29 Sept. 1882, determinable by the
lessees
after 7 or 14 years; rent £44 10/- p.a. Reused as draft in 1896.
David Meredith
Nottingham, ENG
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