Margam <1>
28 Oct
My dear Henry
Your very kind present arrived safe, tho’ it was delayed a little by following me here. I hope by this time the roots are all planted at Penrice <2> & I can assure you I assigned them the snuggest places I could think of in the garden. There is something in the pleasures of a garden that particularly suits the frailty of our tastes, nothing lasts long enough in beauty to satiate our senses, but enjoyment is perpetually renewed with the returns of flowers to perfection & the interest is kept alive by the fear of blasts & blights. I shall watch with unusual care for the flowering of these dutch roots & shall have renewed pleasure in thinking of the giver. Mary & Jane <3> have been dancing merrily at a ball – Charry & Isabella <4> as busy learning Welsh – Kit <5> is gone again to Oxford after spending the whole Summer on the water. I suppose I shall meet your Mother <6> this winter or spring as she is coming over the Sea & I shall be going towards it – we shall perhaps meet half way between Dover & Swansea. I hope you will sometimes write us a few lines tho’ no particular events mark your pages – there is always a rejoicing when a letter comes from you that shews it is considered by all the family as good news. – all your cousins send you their love not forgetting Sir Cr <7> &
your affe Aunt
Mary Lucy Cole
Cardiff <8> October twenty thirty 1820 Chr Cole.
W. H. F. Talbot C C
C. R. M. Talbot Esqr
Trinity Coll.
Oriel College
Oxford.
Notes:
1. Margam Park, Glamorgan: home of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.
2. Penrice Castle and Penrice House, Gower, Glamorgan, 10 mi SW of Swansea: home of Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot.
3. Mary Thereza Talbot (1795–1861), WHFT’s cousin, and Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874).
4. Charlotte Louisa 'Charry' Traherne, née Talbot (1800–1880), WHFT’s cousin, and Isabella Catherine Franklen, née Talbot (1804–1874).
5. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.
6. Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773–1846), WHFT’s mother.
7. Sir Christopher Cole (1770–1836), Captain, MP & naval officer.
8. Address panel written in another hand.