Description:A particularly poignant series of letters were sent to the Duke of Sutherland both directly and through his agent Thomas Jackson in December 1848. The letters came from a man named Edward Price and his wife Emma. Edward had previously been employed by the Duke, but by December 1848 he was desperately poor and in great distress.
Earlier letters in the Sutherland Collection suggest that Edward was a painter. Letters from December 1836 refer to Edward’s paining of a ‘Picture of Trentham’ commissioned by the Duke. In a letter dated 6th December 1836 he informs the Duke that the picture is ‘further advanced towards completion’. However, Price was already experiencing financial difficulties. In the same letter he appeals to the Duke ‘for a small advance of money’, writing that his efforts were ‘crippled by pecuniary difficulty’.
Click on the images on the left to learn more about Edward Price and his family in the Sutherland Papers.