[PENNSYLVANIA] [POSTAL HISTORY]

Transatlantic Ship Letter, Liverpool, England to Pittsburgh, PA, 1815

[Liverpool: 1815]. Holograph letter with content. About 100 lines (ca. 750 words), dated June 23, 1815. From John Cunliffe, a weaver in Bolton and Liverpool, UK; to his brother Edward, a recent emigré to Pittsburgh, PA. Single folded sheet, opening to approximately 12" x 14"; three pages used; addressed on verso, with Liverpool postal strike. Postal strike weak but legible. Remnants of wax-paper seal; old folds, some splits and staining causing loss of a few characters without loss of sense; Good.

A lengthy and illuminating letter, written by John Cunliffe, a handloom weaver in the north of England, datemarked just five days after the British victory at the Battle of Waterloo, which is referenced. The addressee is John's brother Robert, an early British emigré to Pittsburgh, which at this time was a small (though rapidly expanding) industrial outpost, not yet incorporated as a city, with a population of less than 5,000. It was in this second decade of the 19th century that Pittsburgh's expansion into a major industrial hub was underway, and Edward Cunliffe, to whom this letter is addressed, was doubtless one of many thousands of recent immigrants to America who found their way across the Alleghenies to find work in the mills, boatyards, and glass factories of this "Gateway to the West."

The uncertainties of transatlantic postal communications in this era are evident from the letter's first line: "Dear brother. We rec'd your letter of Feb'ry 1813 more than a year after the date, and have received none since. I think there are two letters of ours that you have not answered and perhaps not received..." John Cunliffe goes on to give news of doings in and around both Bolton and Liverpool, where he practices his trade as a weaver, offering some insight to economic life in the English industrial cities on the cusp of the Industrial Revolution: "Nothing however very material has happened...unless it be the great fluctuation of trade - and since the peace weaver wages have beeen as low as ever...we had a child born last summer...our tenth, seven of which are living and well - the three oldest weave with me in the cellar..."

The letter goes on to elucidate the family's finances and the fluctuating fortunes of the families around them. From context we conclude that Robert was the eldest brother, as he seems to have retained control of the family's landholdings and fortune, both of which appear to have been not inconsiderable – John sends reassurance that "Your money is safe at Jone's Bank and at Liverpool near three hundred pounds all together..." John goes on to discuss Robert's rents and the sale of some properties, at one point inserting: "Can you put us in the way of sending money instead of goods we have made such mistakes - But if you still prefer goods we will try again..." When John picks up his letter about a month letter, it is to say (in addition to the laundry list of marriages, business failures, and deaths), "...we have just finish [sic] rejoicing at the defeat of Bonaparte by the Allys. We have a fine summer and provisions cheap and trade is going to mend..." A rare piece of postal history as well as an attractive, content-filled letter.

Price: $300.00

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