Lewin, Henry Frederick Elliot, 1872-1946

The collection comprises letters from Rudyard Kipling to Field Marshal Earl Roberts and his wife, and (in the great majority) their son-in-law Harry Lewin.

Field Marshall Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts (1832-1914) served mainly in India, 1852-93, and was successively commander-in-chief in India (1885-93), Ireland (1895-99), South Africa (1899-1900) and Britain (1900-04). In India, Kipling was greatly impressed by his rapport with ordinary soldiers, and his high opinion of Roberts led him to coin the term Bobs to describe the calibre of commander he felt was needed throughout the British Army. On his death, Kipling wrote an elegy Roberts, 1914 .

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