Montague Square <1>
Novr 23d
My dear Henry
Your last letter has been taking a round about sort of journey, or I should have answered it before. I have been in Town with Jane <2> for the last three weeks and I shall probably remain with her some time longer, till Christmas certainly, so I hope I shall see you before you visit Dorsetshire. Mamma <3> has been drinking the waters at Bath & finds herself much stronger than she was, (we spent a fortnight there before I came here with Jane) she is to stay another week or ten days, when they all go to Moreton <4> for a fortnight or three weeks, and from thence to Melbury and Abbotsbury <5> too I daresay; the time for returning to Penrice <6> is not fixed, indeed when once they get into Dorsetshire it will be no easy matter to get out of it again I know. – Uncle Harry <7> is in London and so is William <8> who came home very ill he was quite well apparently when he returned from Dorsetshire about a fortnight ago but has been ill again, Mr Nicholl <9> & I walked to see him on Sunday & we both thought him looking ill he said he was much better but he was feverish and had fainted the day before which does not seem a trifle in a Man; Uncle Harry intends taking him down to Melbury with him tomorrow so I suppose good nursing is of more use than the advice he might have at any time in London. He cannot be with a kinder or tenderer Nurse than Uncle Harry is I am sure – Charlotte <10> has been staying a few days with Aunt Louisa <11> at Bowood, <12> I think you will find her much improved the air of Malvern <13> did her so much good. Isabella and Emma <14> are very stout and well. – Christopher <15> has been at Margam <16> lately he is going to Melbury in a day or two, but as he is a shocking correspondent I cannot tell you any thing of his future plans, I daresay he will stay in Dorsetshire particularly if he has a chance of seeing you there. his new Yacht building at Southampton & he says he shall call her the Don Giovanni which I don’t like at all. She is to be a Schooner a great deal larger than the last Yacht & it is to sail “like the Wind”. – I hope you will be satisfied with my account of the family. I have not delayed sending you word of all I know your letter having arrived yesterday only. – Aunt Louisa is to be in Town in January. Aunt Susan <17> seems quite stout again by all accounts. Giles <18> is at Hounslow, I saw him in town one morning, both he & I have been fellow sufferers by tooth ache lately so most of our time was spent in recommending remedies to one another! – Jane sends her kind love
believe me to be your affate coz
Mary. –
Jane is very well. I hope my next letter will announce the arrival of a brother or sister for Master Johnny.
à
Monsieur
Monsieur Talbot
Hotel de la Terrasse
Rue de Rivoli
Paris
Notes:
1. 8 Montague Square was the London house of John Nicholl and Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874). Mary Talbot had come to support Jane during her confinement.
2. Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874).
3. Lady Mary Lucy Cole, née Strangways, first m. Talbot (1776–1855), WHFT’s aunt.
4. Moreton, Dorset: home of the Frampton family.
5. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there, and Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.
6. Penrice Castle and Penrice House, Gower, Glamorgan, 10 mi SW of Swansea: home of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.
7. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).
8. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
9. Dr John Nicholl (1797-1853), MP.
10. Charlotte Louisa 'Charry' Traherne, née Talbot (1800–1880), WHFT’s cousin.
11. Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), wife of Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne; Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838; WHFT's aunt.
12. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
13. Malvern, or Great Malvern, 9 mi SW of Worcestershire.
14. Isabella Catherine Franklen, née Talbot (1804–1874), and Emma Thomasina Llewelyn, née Talbot (1806–1881), photographer; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.
15. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.
16. Margam Park, Glamorgan: home of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.
17. Susannah Sarah Louisa O’Brien, née Strangways (1743–1827), WHFT’s great aunt.
18. Giles Digby Robert Fox Strangways (1798–1827).
19. John Cole Nicholl (b. 1823), son of Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874) and John Nicholl.