Malvern Wells <1>
July 11
My dear Henry
I received your letter a few days ago & find by what you say in it that you never received mine which I directed to Venice I wrote it last May & I gave you a full account of all the grand doings on Kits <2> birthday & of the feasting, bonfires firing of guns, fireworks & flags & [illegible] & in which I also thanked you for the music you were so kind as to send me & what pleasure it gave me to be remembered by you, for I do not like to be forgotten by any body I have once known. We are here at Malvern where we have been staying a fortnight & I suppose will continue about 3 weeks longer & then we shall go to Cheltenham for a fortnight to drink & then Home again - I believe we shall go into Dorsetshire in the Autumn - I am glad to say dear Charry <3> has gained strength from this reviving air, she & I walk up the hills every day once & I go again with Sir Christopher <4> I am his constant companion, & a few days ago I walked up to the top of the Herefordshire beacon with him just 6 miles there & back & the next day we went to the Worcestershire beacon & were caught in a violent storm when we were quite on the top & not a bit of Shelter near - so we were obliged to weather it as well as we could & of course got well drenched - We enjoy ourselves extremely on the top of these hills, I think the air is so delightful, it is as good as drinking a dram, but I think the distant view of my own dear country contributes as much as the air to make me feel light & gay. We see many of our mountains the Brecon
Fans, the the Blorenge the Skirrid views & the sugar loaf mountain rising in the distance far above the Herefordshire hills - We have the pleasure of Aunt Charlotte's & Mr Lemon's <5> company, they are here, living in Mrs Barry's Cottage not far from us, the name of our house is Knoll Lodge a Swiss cottage with a great deal of shade about it & very pleasant but very small, so small that Mary <6> sleeps at Aunt Charlotte's house there being no room for her here here. We came up Neath Valley to Merthyr & then to Abergavenny the road between these two places is beautiful. You gradually descend from the tops of the mountains above Merthyr into a ravine, very high mountains of on each side, barren at the top but towards the bottom cloathed with beeches growing wild & hanging over a mountain stream that rushes over the rocks at the bottom, on one side of this cleft in the mountains the road winds down & at one place turn you see a bridge of on the other side [ill. del.] over a narrow deep Cleft, about 200 feet perpendicular from the bridge to the stream below it - Charry took 2 or 3 views of different parts of the Cwm so I hope when you come to Penrice <7> again you will see some likeness of this beautiful place, though they give but a faint idea of the terrific depth of the ravine, birds-eye views are so very difficult to take. the whole of the journey was lovely & the weather so fine we saw Ragland [sic] Castle to perfection -
Jane <8> is coming here, for a few days in her way down into Dorset at [sic] Glamorganshire - Kit is at Cowes preparing for a sailing match - My Uncle Charles & my Aunt Susan Fanny, Tom & Edward <9> are at Cheltenham - Mary Anne Shakespear <10> is at Cowes Aunt Harriot <11> & suite there too - Uncle Harry <12> gone down to Melbury <13> - I think now I have given you a tolerable account of the proceedings of the different branches of the family & have fulfilled my duty & added to my pleasure by telling you of all that interests us as I think that rather likely to interest you too - Pray give my love to Caroline & Horatia <14> & tell Caroline I hope she will draw something for me as well as Emma <15> though I cannot draw landscapes in return for her but I will paint something as well as I can -
Goodbye dear Henry
I am your affte coz
Isabella Talbot
W. H. Fox Talbot Esqre
Baden Baden
Radtstatt
Allemagne
[illegible]
Germany
July 13th
Notes:
1. Malvern, or Great Malvern, 9 mi SW of Worcestershire.
2. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803-1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT's Welsh cousin. His birthdate dates this letter to 1824.
3. Charlotte Louisa 'Charry' Traherne, née Talbot (1800-1880), WHFT's cousin.
4. Sir Christopher Cole (1770-1836), Captain, MP & naval officer.
5. Lady Charlotte Anne Lemon, née Strangways (d. 1826), WHFT's aunt, and Lady Charlotte Anne Lemon, née Strangways (d. 1826), WHFT's aunt.
6. Mary Thereza Talbot (1795-1861), WHFT's cousin.
7. Penrice Castle and Penrice House, Gower, Glamorgan, 10 mi SW of Swansea: home of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.
8. Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796-1874).
9. Probably the Rev the Hon Charles Strangways, brother of the 2nd Earl of Ilchester, his wife Susan, and their children Fanny, Tom and Edward.
10. Mary Anne Thackeray, née Shakespear (1793-1850).
11. Lady Harriet Frampton, née Fox Strangways (d. 1844) .
12. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787-1858).
13. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there.
14. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808-1881); WHFT's half-sister, and Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810-1851), WHFT's half-sister.
15. Emma Thomasina Llewelyn, née Talbot (1806-1881), photographer; WHFT's Welsh cousin.