An Original Letter Headed Snowdon, Simla Paper Written and Signed by Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts. Autograph letter Snowden, Simla, India (the summer residence of Roberts) signed by Roberts, 21 October 1888, to Keir, concerning plated tumblers received and saying what he need is ’10 tumblers, 10 wine glasses, 10 finger bowls, 4 peg tumblers to put one inside the other…’,. Include information about the tumblers. Field Marshal Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, 1832-1914, was a British Victorian era general who became one of the most successful British military commanders of his time. Born in India to an Anglo-Irish family, Roberts joined the East India Company Army and served as a young officer in the Indian Rebellion during which he was awarded the Victoria Cross for gallantry. He was then transferred to the British Army and fought in the Expedition to Abyssinia and the Second Anglo-Afghan War, in which his exploits earned him widespread fame. Roberts would go on to serve as the Commander-in-Chief, India before leading British Forces for a year during the Second Boer War. He also became the last Commander-in-Chief of the Forces before the post was abolished in 1904. A man of small stature, Roberts was affectionately known to his troops and the wider British public as "Bobs" and revered as one of Britain's leading military figures at a time when the British Empire reached the height of its power. He became a symbol for the British Army and in later life became an influential proponent of stronger defence in response to the increasing threat that the German Empire posed to Britain in the lead up to the First World War. Provenance: From the family of autograph collector Emily Mary Rose Lee (1869-1949), wife of Colonel William Crawford Walton (1864-1937). Emily was the daughter of William Lee, Professor of Ecclesiastical History at the University of Glasgow from 1874 to 1886, and granddaughter of John Lee (1779-1859), Principal of Edinburgh University from 1840 to 1859. Size is 178m x 115mm. Condition is good. Folding crease. Light repair to fold edges.