A group of important documents from the Aberdare family, previously on loan, have been permanently acquired by the Glamorgan Archives. These include a number of letters from Edward Lear to Henry Bruce and his wife, Arabella Beadon. One of these features a self caricature showing Lear riding his cat Foss.

Henry Austin Bruce, whom Lear met in Rome about 1844 (Levi 108) was created first Baron Aberdare by Queen Victoria in 1873. The family’s large fortune was due to the coal mines they owned in Wales and Bruce was one of Lear’s most generous patrons.

For more information on the acquisition see BBC News, BristolWired, or walesonline.co.uk.