CHURCHILL, Winston S.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Secretarial letter signed, asking for aid in historical research, to prove Ireland supported and had benefited from free trade. A lengthy letter, marked in Churchill's hand "private", addressed "My Dear Mr. Strong", and signed "Winston S. Churchill"; the rest was dictated by Churchill and is in the hand of his secretary, Annette Anning.The letter is on the question of free trade, the defining issue of Churchill's early parliamentary career. Just four days earlier, on 8 January 1904, Churchill's constituency of Oldham passed a resolution of no confidence in Churchill due to his support for free trade, resulting in him leaving the Conservative Party for the Liberals in May. Churchill writes to the recipient, possibly Sandford Arthur Strong (1863-1904), the librarian of the House of Lords and a noted historian, for aid in his historical observations on free trade in an upcoming speech. "I have undertaken to address the Institute of Bankers of Ireland on the 25th instant on 'Ireland and the Fiscal Problem' and I feel considerable misgivings as to my ability to make out a good case. I am fully acquainted with the English aspect of the problem, and speeches on that point of view are no labour to me; but the Irish aspect is entirely new to me and I wonder if you would be so kind as to help me. I think you might enable me to introduce some historical touches".Churchill wishes to make the case that free trade is tied to Ireland's prosperity and to the national cause. He asks, "Surely

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