| Description | Group of letters written by Henri de Massue, first Marquis de Ruvigny, and his son, relating to political, business and personal affairs, as well as referring to refugees and religious questions.
F/RU/2-9 form a group written in 1688-1691 by Henry de Massue, second Marquis de Ruvigny (1648-1720), afterwards Earl of Galway. These letters are address to a 'Monsieur Muysson', identified with some certainty by Winifred Turner with Jacques Muisson who had been a Conseiller of the Paris Parlement and after being persecuted as a Protestant, had fled to Holland in 1687. F/RU/7-8 refer to the Battle of Boyne, at which Ruvigny's younger brother Pierre had been mortally wounded in command of a regiment in William III's army. |
| AdminHistory | The first marquis de Ruvigny, Henri de Massue (1599/1610-1689) was deputy general of the Huguenots to Louis XIV, a general and diplomat. His son, Henri (1648-1720) was born in Paris, and acted as a soldier and diplomat for Louis XIV, but following the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes emigrated to England with his father and younger brother Pierre, seigneur de Caillemotte. The second marquis was influential in the forming of Huguenot regiments for William III's army, and took a leading role in the campaigns in Ireland (his brother Pierre having been killed at the Battle of Boyne whilst in command of a regiment). In 1692 Henri de Massue II was created Baron Portarlington and Viscount Galway, becoming a Lord Justice of Ireland in 1697. |
| CustodialHistory | Since the letters are written by and not to members of the Ruvigny family, it is suggested that they cannot have been handed down in the family. They were acquired by the ninth marquis de Ruvigny, of Chertsey, at the sale of whose library in 1921 they were bought by a bookseller, being resold at Sotheby's in June 1943. |