May 24th 1845
Private
Dear Sir
I have no idea of course of influencing you in the course you may think it right to take or into which you may have felt yourself driven now by my neglect – I am only anxious that you should believe that I and those for whom I act have been and are desirous of dealing fairly <1> and liberally with you particularly as one to whom they feel under obligations. <2>
If you think and probably you naturally do that you have been neglected and that we are now more anxious than we were to arrange with you I must ask you to make more allowance for the extraordinary press of business which induces me to postpone the consideration of questions until the time arrives for settling them. Such I admit to have been my position for the last six months
Believe me dear Sir yours very truly
I K Brunel
Notes:
1. Brunel’s line for the Wiltshire, Somerset and Weymouth railway, a branch of the Great Western, ran across WHFT’s land, and Talbot was disputing the amount of compensation offered by the GWR Company.
2. Talbot had been an active supporter of the original Great Western Railway bills, the first of which which passed the Commons in 1834 while he was an MP, but was defeated in the Lords, and the second, which was successful, in 1835. See Doc. No: 03151.