Collection MS139 - Eighteenth Century Newsletters collection

This collection of newsletters was written in London by John Farr and his son John Farr Junior between 25 June 1719 and 10 September 1720. They were sent periodically to Francis Thistlethwayte in Winterslow, Wiltshire. The number sent varies from five to fourteen per month. The content includes: military and naval affairs, especially the war with Spain; foreign news from Europe, Jamaica, Newfoundland, and the Americas; news from Scotland and Ireland; commerce and shipping movements; natural disasters such as earthquakes; criminal affairs, spies, murders and arrests; deaths and the funeral of Joseph Addison; legal reports, stock reports and quotations, South Sea Bubble, politics and Parliamentary affairs.

The most likely Francis Thistlethwayte to be a recipient of the newsletters was born in 1658 and attended New College Oxford. The date of his death is uncertain but his father, Alexander (1636-1715) was long-lived. John Farr signed one newsletter dated 12 December 1719. There is a note on the verso of the 17 December 1719 newsletter by John Farr Junior.