The Heywood Manuscript is a collection of handwritten copies of letters and poems of the Heywood family, and letters from their relatives and friends, which was completed in 1798, and to which some explanatory passages have been added. Most of the letters and poems are by Nessy and

Peter Heywood Peter Heywood (6 June 1772 – 10 February 1831) was a British naval officer who was on board during the mutiny of 28 April 1789. He was later captured in Tahiti, tried and condemned to death as a mutineer, but subsequently pardoned. He ...

, and the transcription and reproduction of their correspondence and poetry may have been instigated by Peter as a lasting monument to his sister Nessy, who had devoted herself to him and his release when he was imprisoned on ''

HMS Hector Eleven ships of the British Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Hector'', named after the Trojan hero Hector in the Iliad. * The first was a 22-gun ship sold in 1656. * The second was a 30-gun ship sold in 1657. * The third was a 22-gun ship ...

'' awaiting his court-martial in connection with the

Mutiny on the Bounty The mutiny on the Royal Navy vessel occurred in the South Pacific Ocean on 28 April 1789. Disaffected crewmen, led by acting-Lieutenant Fletcher Christian, seized control of the ship from their captain, Lieutenant William Bligh, and set h ...

, and had died very young. There are five known versions of the manuscript, which were produced for members of the Heywood family. Two are privately owned, the other three are in libraries: * Manx National Heritage Library, Heywood Manuscript cc No. 9519/1/1-186* Newberry Library, Chicago, Nessy Heywood, Correspondence 1790-92 ase MS E 5 .H 5078* State Library of New South Wales, Mary Heywood, Letterbook icrofilm : CY 2809 The Manx National Heritage copy consists of a preface page with the name of the owner, E. C. Fleetwood, whose wife Elizabeth was Nessy's niece, and several unbound small books and additional loose leaves which are numbered from 1 to 397, and which include a total of 184 different documents. Some pages are missing, and the last 110 pages are blank. One poem is dated 1786, others have no date. Most of the documents are dated between 1790 and 1793 and deal with Peter’s alleged participation in the

and the court proceedings against the mutineers. In the early 20th century the manuscript was in the possession of A. R. Allinson, a relation of the Heywoods. In the 1920s it was sold to a private collector in London. Manx National Heritage obtained the Heywood Manuscript as well as letters and poems by Peter Heywood and returned them to the

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

, when

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

in London auctioned off letters and manuscripts by members of the Bounty expedition in 1996. In the library catalogue of the New South Wales State Library there is a note that the manuscript was possibly produced by Nessy's older sister, Mary Heywood. It is assumed that the inscription Mary Heywood on the first page is Mary’s handwriting. A second inscription Aunt to Bessie Fleetwood Castle Lawn Douglas suggests that Mary left the manuscript to her niece Elizabeth Fleetwood, the daughter of Mary's and Nessy's youngest brother Edwin Holwell.

References

* Christiane Conway, ''Letters from the Isle of Man''. Published by The Manx Experience, Isle of Man 2005, 182 pages.

External links

Letters
of the Heywood Manuscript. {{Authority control Letters (message) 18th-century manuscripts 18th-century poems Mutiny on the Bounty