Thomas Erskine May retired from the post of Clerk of the House of Commons in April 1886.  May had been knighted in 1866 and on 11th May 1886  he was created Baron Farnborough, but just 6 days later  May died in the Palace of Westminster.  He was buried in Chippenham in Cambridgeshire. 

This letter written to his wife Lady Farnborough only a day after May's death was from his friend and former Speaker of the House Charles Shaw-Lefevre (Viscount Eversley).  The friendship between May and Eversley had had a profound impact on both men as they had supported each other in their personal and political endeavours. This is evident in May's dedication of the first edition of his famous Treatise to Eversley. 

‘A treatise on the law, privileges, proceedings and usage of Parliament' is now in its 24th edition.

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