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Papers of Montagu Rousseau Emanuel

Biographical note

Born 24 July 1873. Elder son of Joel Emanuel of London. Educated: Harrow, Balliol 1891- 5; 4th in Classics. Tutor: J.A. Smith. Barrister, Inner Temple 1897. Employed under War Office 1914- 18; Postal Censorship and War Trade Intelligence Department. Attached to British Delegation, Peace Conference Versailles. Returned to practice as barrister 1919. Assistant Tutor, Law Society; Lecturer Institute of Bankers 1927. Published Legal Text books and Tales from the Talmud, 1906. Married Florence Helena daughter of Alexander Leon 1904. One son, two daughters.

Provenance

The letters were in the possession of Elizabeth Emanuel, 2025 Hill Crest, Hollywood, CA 90068, U.S.A., sole survivor of Montagu Rousseau Emanuel's immediate family. They were passed to Balliol by Professor J.H.Judah.

Abbreviation .

MRE Montagu Rousseau Emanuel.

List

A. 1 ALS from Professor J.D.Judah to Dr Bulloch concerning MRE's letters. 17 June 1992. 1l. Envelope.

B. Letters from MRE written mainly at Balliol. The letters were found inside a red cover with "Letters from Oxford. M.R.E." inscribed on the front in gold lettering . Most of the letters have broken away from the binding and so have been placed in acid free envelopes. Each leaf was found to be numbered in pencil; they are numbered from 1- 117. The numbers 110 and 111 are used for the same leaf; leaf 117 has obviously been numbered out of sequence. It appears that not all the letters had been bound in the cover.

B1. 2 ALS from Benjamin Jowett to Joel Emanuel. 4 Aug. 1891 and 16 Jan. 1892. 2l. Found at the front of the red cover.

B2. Letters from MRE. Dates: 16 Oct. [1891]- 24 Aug. 1895.

• 54 letters from MRE at Balliol and on a holiday in Scotland and Germany
• 33 ALS to Joel Emanuel.
• 1 ALU [incomplete] to Joel Emanuel.
• 19 ALS to MRE's mother.
• 1 ALU [incomplete] to MRE's mother.

The letters provide a full account of many aspects of undergraduate life. They mention many of MRE's contemporaries at Balliol including George Douglas Brown (Balliol 1891- 1895), author of The House with the Green Shutters; Brown and Alfred Edward Britton (Balliol 1891- 5) appeared to be MRE's closest friends. Others whose names are mentioned at least twice in the correspondence are listed below with dates at Balliol placed in brackets:

Cyril Bailey (1890- 4; fellow 1902); Capt. Morton Brown Paton (1890- 4); Henry William Carless Davis (1891- 5; Fellow 1902; Henry Francis Halifax (1891- 3); Wilfred Byng Kenwick (1891- 4); Alexander Matheson (1891- 5); David Maughan (1891); Russell Scott (1891- 5); Leslie Alexander St. Lawrence Toke 1891- 5); Theodore Hunter Hastings Walrond; Arthur Burroughs Evans (1892- 5); Tomotake Minami- Iwakura (1892-5); Sir Albion Rajkumar Banarji (1892- 5); William Caine (1893- 5).

The following fellows and masters are mentioned:

Evelyn Abbott; Edward Caird; John Conroy; William Henry Forbes; William Henry Fremantle; William Ross Hardie; Benjamin Jowett; Richard Lewis Nettleship; James Leigh Strachan Davidson; James Alexander Smith.

4 ALS and 1 ALU [incomplete] were written while MRE was on holiday in Scotland, and Germany. 13- 24 Aug. 1895.

C. 1 TL copy from MRE to George Emanuel, MRE's son. Written to record MRE' s experiences at the Versailles Peace Conference: "My friend Jack Armstrong, thinks I ought to write an account of my visit to Paris for your benefit, for he says this Peace Conference will be a historic event." Mentions: Michael Thomas Harvey Sadler (Balliol 1908- 12); a Balliol dinner with 30 ex members of the college who were at the Conference; H.W.C. Davis; Derwent Wood and Augustus John. According to Professor Judah's writing on the cardboard in which the letter was enclosed George Emanuel was later "a member of the Parachute Regiment, 1st Airborne Division and was killed at the battle for Arnhem Bridge." 24 May 1919. 13l.

- Charlotte Fisher, Modern MSS Asst 1992.