Mount Edgcumbe,<1>
Novr 11th 1861
My dear Henry
I ought to have written to you before – but I have really been very busy – besides having so many answers to write to friends who have very kindly written to me, & whose letters have hitherto remained unanswered. I should like very much to shew you some of them & hope to do so, some day – Several of them are exceedingly soothing to my feelings – shewing how much & how universally he was appreciated & regretted.<2> Charlotte Traherne’s <3> letter pleased me particularly – & the Queen’s <4> is a very remarkable one in every way.
Cotehele<5> has not been left to me – but, knowing my extreme fondness for the place, & having asked me more than once if I should like to live there, he most kindly provided means for altering, improving, & fitting up the wing of the house which looks into the little Terrace garden, & on into the wood, down towards the river.
This part of the house, has been uninhabited for years, centuries I might almost say – except a small portion of it which was tenanted by the farmer who held the barton-<6> & latterly only by the hind who represented the farmer.<7>
The deserted part state of this wing was visible in the decay of the ornamented roof, & the growth of the ivy which had penetrated thro’ the wall, & was hanging in festoons about the fireplace. Three or four years ago some of this ivy was removed, for fear of its’ [sic] pulling down the old granite chimney outside – & several pieces as thick as a man’s arm were taken out by removing some of the stones. It continues to flourish nevertheless, though without any apparent root. The few rooms that were inhabited by the farming man & his wife were kept in such a dirty & wretched state, that they their presence could no longer be tolerated – A small cottage was built for them in the orchard – & now the whole is at last in hand. Val <8> has been very busy making a plan, so as to make the most comfortable & convenient residence we can, without spoiling the character of the old place – which I could not endure to do – He is very clever at every thing of this sort, & can draw a plan as well as any professional builder – & he is so good & anxious to do whatever I wish. Of course this will be a matter of some time & difficulty – but also of great interest.
It would not do however to live entirely at Cotehele – & so I am going to try & take a house in London for which Mr Boger <9> considers my means will be quite sufficient. I must do this for Ernestine’s <10> sake; & it will be a very good thing for Charlie <11> to have a home when he is in London, instead of hiring expensive lodgings. At present I am staying on here – & as soon as Cotehele is begun, I must go & look after the workmen which I can do by living in the other part of the house which you are acquainted with, & which remains unaltered.
Charlie is gone abroad with Ld Hinchinbrooke <12> for a little tour.
Ernestine is quite well & sends you her best love – as well as to all at Millburn Tower. <13>
Please thank Amandier <14> for her last long letter – & tell her how very sorry I was to hear such a poor account of her health – I fear she will be condemned to the house all the winter like Uncle William. <15>
She did tell me about the christening, & I am glad to hear the Babe <16> is to be called after you.
Pray write to me again soon, & tell Amandier I know I have been a long time writing to her but I know she will forgive me – Love to all –
Yr affte Sister
Caroline
Notes:
1. Mt Edgecumbe, near Plymouth: seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe.
2. Her husband, Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe had died on 3 September.
3. Charlotte Louisa 'Charry' Traherne, née Talbot (1800–1880), WHFT’s cousin.
4. Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom (1837–1901), Empress of India (1876–1901).
5. Cotehele, Cornwall: ancient house, seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe, now a National Trust Property.
6. Farmyard, barns.
7. Farm worker.
8.Her son, William Henry Edgcumbe, ‘Val’, 4th Earl Mt Edgcumbe (1832–1917), JP & Ld Steward of the Royal Household; WHFT’s nephew ‘Bimbo’.
9. Deeble Boger, attorney.
10. Ernestine Emma Horatia Edgcumbe (1843-1925), WHFT’s niece.
11. Charles Earnest Edgcumbe (1838–1915), JP, WHFT’s nephew.
12. Edward George Henry Montagu (1839-1926), Lord Hinchinbrooke and later 8th Earl of Sandwich.
13. Millburn Tower, Gogar, just west of Edinburgh; the Talbot family made it their northern home from June 1861 to November 1863. It is particularly important because WHFT conducted many of his photoglyphic engraving experiments there. The house had a rich history. Built for Sir Robert Liston (1742-1836), an 1805 design by Benjamin Latrobe for a round building was contemplated but in 1806 a small house was built to the design of William Atkinson (1773-1839), best known for Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford. The distinctive Gothic exterior was raised in 1815 and an additional extension built in 1821. Liston had been ambassador to the United States and maintained a warm Anglo-American relationship in the years 1796-1800. His wife, the botanist Henrietta Liston, née Marchant (1751-1828) designed a lavish American garden, sadly largely gone by the time the Talbots rented the house .
14. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
15. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
16. John Henry Gilchrist-Clark, ‘Jack’ (1861–1902), WHFT’s grandson.
17. Piers Edgcumbe (1536–1607), politician.
18. Dom Antonio (1531–1595), illegitimate grandson of Emmanuel I and self-proclaimed King of Portugal, 1580; known as the Prior of Crato.
19. She clearly wrote 'Exicon' (twice) about whom nothing has been traced. One is tempted to think of the Piers Extcon of Shakespeare's Richard II.
20. Unlikely to be correct. Little is known of Dom Antonio’s life until 1578.’ He did flee to France but a later date (1580–1581). In 1589 a British expedition under Sir Francis Drake and Sir John Norris set out to assist in his attempt to claim Portugal back from Spain, but was abandoned.
21. The Durnfords were connected to the Edgcumbes when Jane Durnford (d. 1553), daughter of a Stephen Durnford, married an earlier Sir Piers Edgcumbe.