Series FG 1. - Diaries of Sir John Walsh. In many respects the diaries are similar in contents to his mother's (i.e. personal and ...,

Diaries of Sir John Walsh. In many respects the diaries are similar in contents to his mother's (i.e. personal and domestic) but with more emphasis on the London season and politics and they are, in general, far more detailed. The earlier diaries are dominated by his obsessive ambition to make a mark in society. By endeavouring to create a web of connexions he sought to become known to the most powerful and fashionable aristocratic families in England. Such connections would, he hoped, fulfil both his marital and political ambitions. He has some very pertinent things to say about the closing down of the avenues of advancement after the end of the Napoleonic wa[?r]s when the aristocracy closed ranks [see Fg 1/3-4]. After his marriage in 1825 the diaries, naturally, are more domestic: the pleasures and pains of parenthood and later of grand-parenthood, family holidays, his wife's relations, etc. The frequent visits which he made to co. Rad. to inspect his estates, or to reside there for a few months usually at the end of the year, to attend the Assizes, Quarter Sessions, etc., have not as a rule been included in what follows. The dates of these activities can be ascertained from the summary of his diaries in Fg 1/43. He also made frequent visits to his Irish estates in Cos Kerry and Cork, Ireland: these will also not be referred to below since the relevant entries have been published by James S. Donnelly Jr, 'The Journals of Sir John Benn-Walsh Relating to the Management of His Irish Estates, 1823-64' in the Journal of the Cork Historical and Archaeological Society, vols LXXX, No. 230 (1974), pp. 86-123, and LXXXI, No. 231 (1975), pp. 15-42. His diaries covering 31 Sept. 1816 to 21 July 1822 and 1 Jan. 1825 to 31 Dec. 1829 are missing. For a summary of their contents see Fg 1/43, pp. 62-77.