Family correspondence, approximately 1792-1833, and undated

This series contains letters to and from William Tudor and members of his immediate family, as well as his brothers-in-law, from his college years to his final years as a diplomat in Brazil. Correspondence from Tudor to his family circa 1792-1815 relates mainly to his travels in Europe while he was an agent for various merchants, and his travels in the West Indies, where he sought to gain exclusive licenses from the local authorities to import ice. His letters from Europe include observations on politics, culture, fashion, food, society, and the weather, in addition to relaying news specifically about the Napoleonic Wars and the War of 1812. Correspondence addressed to Tudor from his family members documents their social and professional activities and travels. Many of these letters are dated in 1819, the year of his father’s death, when his mother was living with Tudor’s sister, Emma, and her husband, Robert Hallowell Gardiner, in Maine. Throughout the series, there are letters regarding the family’s precarious financial situation and the unhappy marriage of Tudor’s sister Delia to Commodore Charles Stewart. There is also interfamiliar correspondence to and from Tudor family members other than William.