George Lovell Harrison, 1910

A travel diary written by British artist and amateur historian George Lovell Harrison, describing a trip to Italy he took with his friend, Conservative MP Robert Yerburgh (1953-1916) and their wives in the spring of 1910. The account, titled “A few notes on our little jaunt to ITALY via LUCERNE, Friday, 20 May - Tuesday 7 June, 1910” is full of rich color and often humorous detail. It begins on the 1st of May, 1910 with Harrison commenting on the Yerburgh’s invitation for the couple “to accompany them to the Italian Lakes – to put in other words, a short respite from the unusually heavy strain forced upon the world of politics by the wild cat schemes of the Radical Government.” Their trip was delayed, however, by the illness and death of King Edward VII on the 6th of that same month, and perhaps the most compelling anecdote in the travelogue is Harrison’s description of that historic moment: “On Wednesday evening, 18 May, Dorothy + I went to Edgeware Road + Paddington to see if it would be possible to obtain any seats at a reasonable price for the funeral procession, as we wished Dorothy + Joyce to see what we considered one of the most interesting historic events of their lifetime. We found three seats on a stand erected in Oxford Terrace, commanding the turn into London Street – price 2 guineas each: one for each of the children, + one for their Aunt Edith, who was to take them. On the Thursday night I engaged a Hansom to call at 6:30 am to take them to their places – it cost me another ‘sovereign’ (£1). They had no difficulty in getting to their seats: it was a most lovely day, and they all had an excellent view.” The mentioned Dorothy and Joyce were the Harrisons’ two teenage daughters. The remainder of the document traces the two couples’ train journey through Europe, featuring “many interesting little towns and villages,” a variety of chateaus and churches, and a number of jaunts by boat and horse. George Harrison and Robert Yerburgh appear to have been connected through their wives: Florence Harrison and Elma Yerburgh were both born members of the Thwaites family of Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland and were likely cousins. 18 A4 pages, handwritten in black ink with some red detailing.