Sackville St <1>
22d Nov. 1823
I was delighted to find my uncle Ilchester <2> in town, but it was owing to a bad cut on his hand from a billhook,<3> for which he thought it best to take advice – He returned to Dorsetshire & William <4> came up from Lincolnshire from Sir R. Sheffields <5> the next morning – Ly Ilchester is there with Julia <6> whose accouchement is daily expected – William is uncertain when he goes, whether he shall carry despatches, & whether his expenses will be paid – He intends at present to visit you at Genoa – Lord Lansdowne <7> was at Paris when I passed there, which unfortunately I did not know – I have sent your Loretto rosary to my Aunt, and she invites me to Bowood, <8> where I shall go in the course of the winter. I am going to Melbury <9> in a few days; from thence I think I shall go to Penrice <10> – Nicholl <11> was in Town the other day, I only saw him once, he was looking very well – Mrs Campbell <12> is at Melbury – Kit <13> at Oxford, going we hope to take a good degree – Giles <14> is with his regiment at Brighton he has already been capsized in a gig at Eton Montern and in a fly at Brighton, besides tumbling down stairs but these are minor accidents which he hardly deigns to mention. – I have given Caroline’s <15> drawings to her Aunt, who is delighted with them; your gold beads I left at Lady Jersey’s. <16>
Novr 25th
William is going to the Hague with Ld Granville <17> and not till January; he will accompany me in my visits to Dorsetshire & Penrice – I shall start by the mail Friday evg – I have found an excellent English master for Giovanni <18> who is very helpless in London, & no use to me: so I shall leave him here, & expect to find him an accomplished scholar on my return – I have taken a servant of Peploe’s who left him on his return to England, & has a good character from him –. He is also a friend of Giovanni’s; he is a Swiss who speaks pretty good English; I take him by the month – Maria goes on Thursday to Chester. She has some hopes of a place – Mrs Bankes <19> died lately in consequence of a fall, which was followed by an apoplectic stroke – You know of course the death of Ld Erskine <20> – William is to have a salary this time,<21> he does not know what – Giles arrives in Town tomorrow –
Your Affte Son
Henry Talbot
Miladi
Miladi Feilding
Dame Angloise
Gênes
Italie
Notes:
1. 31 Sackville Street, London residence of the Feildings, often used as a London base by WHFT.
2. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).
3. A traditional knife used in agriculture and forestry, with a bird's bill-shaped blade, primarily employed in cutting shrubbery and undergrowth.
4. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
5. Sir Robert Sheffield (1786-1862), 4th Baronet, of Normanby Park, a relative through the Digby line of the mother of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.
6. Juliana Maria Strangways, née Digby (d. 1842), and perhaps her daughter?
7. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle.
8. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
9. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there.
10. Penrice Castle and Penrice House, Gower, Glamorgan, 10 mi SW of Swansea: home of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.
11. Probably Dr John Nicholl (1797–1853), MP.
12. Alicia Campbell, née Kelly, ‘Tam’ (1768–1829).
13. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.
14. Giles Digby Robert Fox Strangways (1798–1827).
15. Caroline Leonora Fox Strangways, née Murray, Countess of Ilchester (1788–1819).
16. Sarah Sophia Villiers, née Fane, Lady Jersey (1785–1867).
17. Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Earl Granville (1773–1846).
18. Giovanni Percij.
19. Frances Woodley Bankes (1760–1823), mother of William John Bankes.
20. Thomas Erskine, 1st Baron (1750–1823).
21. In his career, WHFT's uncle (see note 4) served in a number of diplomatic posts, apparently as a public service before this time.