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Flat 5, 1 Hyde Park Street, W.2
13/9/61

Dear Lady Pethick Lawrence.…

I feel I must write to you about the loss of your husband, which must have been a great sorrow to you; & to assure you of our real sympathy during this week. To me it came as a great shock, as I had not even heard he was ill. He was probably my very oldest friend, & I had known him for well over 70 years. He was Captain of the Oppidans when I was at Eton & though (being much younger than he) I hardly knew him then, we did meet personally several times, because a) we both frequented the School Library, and b) we were both members of the Literary Society. Our real friendship began during the first decade of this century, as I was a great supporter of women’s suffrage & gave large sums to his collections, & also went to prison in 1914. Since then Emmeline & he were among my very dearest friends; we stayed with them when they lived in Holmwood—they stayed with us in Buckinghamshire—& more recently he frequently dined with us in town, & we used often to lunch at the House of Lords. I shall miss him more than I can say, & this week I have thought of little else. His was a very noble mind, & though he never was as far left as I am, it was always a joy & privilege to discuss real questions with him especially economics, which so few of the Labour Party leaders really understand. I was one of the original governors of the London School of Economics, which I helped Sidney Webb to found—so, as well as the Suffrage, we had all that in common.… I remember we dined together the night before he left for India on his great mission, & he said words that I shall never forget. “You & I have both fought for Freedom all our lives; to-morrow I am going to give Freedom to 400 million people.” Dear, dear Fred—his splendid brain, his modest retiring manner, his absolute integrity, were a combination that I have never met in anyone else. God rest his Soul! … Please forgive my unburdening my feelings to you for once

Yours sincerely & affectionately
Henry D. Harben

I need hardly say Miss Mulock joins me in all our feelings of sympathy & friendship to you.

Prime Minister’s House, New Delhi.—Agrees to the use of an excerpt from his letter (see 5/91a-b) at a meeting in memory of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

(Extracts from 5/91a, prepared for a meeting in memory of Lady Pethick-Lawrence (cf. 5/92).)

Claridge’s, Brook Street, W.1.—Thanks him for his kindness during her stay in England. Has missed the presence of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

Bangalore.—Thanks him for a copy of the address he gave at the cremation of Lady Pethick-Lawrence. Comments on the political situations in India and Pakistan.

Office of the Leader of the Opposition, House of Representatives, Wellington, New Zealand.—Thanks him for his letter, and praises the address he gave at Lady Pethick-Lawrence's cremation.

Bangalore.—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

Prime Minister’s House, New Delhi.—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence, and refers to her involvement with the India League.

West Dene, 3 Charteris Road, Woodford Green, Essex.—She was too upset to attend Lady Pethick-Lawrence’s cremation, but has written tributes for the press.

(Letter-head of the New Times and Ethiopia News. Sylvia Pankhurst is named as Editor.)

House of Lords.—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

Office of the Leader of the Opposition, House of Representatives, Wellington, New Zealand.—Expresses sympathy, on behalf of his party and himself, on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

East and West Friendship Council, 101 Gower Street, London, W.C.1.—Expresses sympathy on the Council’s behalf (on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence). Agatha Harrison has commended Pethick-Lawrence’s tribute.

Thanks him for his letter of sympathy (5/88) and for sending a representative, Mr Chatterjee, to yesterday’s cremation. Thanks the Prime Minister (Nehru) for his message.

India House.—Communicates a personal message of condolence from the Prime Minister of India (Nehru) on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

Wenlyn, 2837 Bagan Jermal, Butterworth, P.W., Penang.—She and her husband send their sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence. Pays tribute to her memory.

32 Porchester Terrace, W.2.—Expresses sympathy (on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence).

Melbourne.—They send their sympathy (on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence).

Calcutta.—They send sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

(New Delhi.)—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

‘The Hindu’, Kasturi Buildings, Mount Road, Madras.—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

United Kingdom High Commission, Karachi.—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

House of Commons.—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

Nether Worton House, Middle Barton, Oxon.—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

House of Commons.—He and his wife send their sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

India House.—Expresses condolences, on behalf of his countrymen and himself, on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

70 Ferndene Road, Herne Hill, S.E.24.—He and his wife were sad to learn of the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.

Victor Gollancz Ltd, 14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2.—Expresses sympathy (on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence).

‘The Hindu’, 2/3 Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, London, E.C.4.—Expresses sympathy on the death of Lady Pethick-Lawrence.