An Original Signed and Written Letter by Edward White Benson Archbishop of Canterbury to the Clergy of the Deanery of Croydon. Dated 1889. A long letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury to the clergy of Croydon upon the death of Rev John Masterson Braithwaite. He was the Vicar of Croydon and died of a heart attcek in 1889. Edward White Benson 1829-1896 was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1883 until his death. Before this, he was the first Bishop of Truro, serving from 1877 to 1883, and began construction of Truro Cathedral.He was previously a schoolmaster and was the first Master of Wellington College from 1859 to 1872. He was a great friend of Henry James and had told him a simple, rather inexpert story he had heard about the ghosts of evil servants who tried to lure young children to their deaths. James recorded the idea in his Notebooks and eventually used it as the starting-point for his classic ghost story, The Turn of the Screw. Size of letter is 255mm x 205mm. Condition is good. Light folding creases.