Telegram from Samuel Cleland Davidson (1846-1921) to Frederick Ponsonby (1867-1935) thanking the King and Queen for their sympathy regarding the death of his son, Captain James Davidson (1877-1916).Sir Samuel Cleland Davidson was an Irish inventor and founder of the Sirocco Engineering Works in Belfast. During the First World War the Sirocco Engineering Works manufactured and exported equipment for cooling, drying, dust collecting, heating, ventilating, pneumatic conveyance for the Royal and Merchant Navy. Frederick Edward Ponsonby, first Baron Sysonby, was an author and courtier. From 1914 until 1935 Ponsonby served as the Keeper of the Privy Purse, introducing heavy reductions in the royal household's expenditure during the First World War. This letter is part of a large correspondence from Captain James Davidson to his parents. Davidson, who was Managing Director of the Sirocco Engineering Works in Belfast, served with 13 Royal Irish Rifles and the Machine Gun Corps. His letters describe his experiences while training in England and serving in France. He was killed on 1 July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme.