Calais.
20 May 1822
My Dear Mr Feilding
Your letter to Bordeaux followed us to Paris, and the two to Orleans we found here, so that I believe we have received all. Mr Moore <1> returned from England while we were at Paris, & I gave him your letter. They have started a new claim against him for more than £1000 – I found at Paris an inventory from Richard <2> of things left in the Rue de Clichy: <3> but as they are now all arranged differently, I thought it was of no use to send it on to you. I have written a long letter to Caroline <4> this evening; I daresay she will tell you all the news there is in it. The steam packet sails at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning; the present appearance of the weather is serene & calm. We just caught Lady Payne <5> at Paris, before she went to England, for her daughter’s <6> eyesight – We met here walking in the street Mr & Mrs Long Wellesley: <7> they have been here 4 or 5 weeks – In the book of names at the inn, we see several times lately “Lord Winchilsea & Mr Finch”. <8> We cannot think how they can have passed backwards & forwards so often, or where they have been. It appears also from the same book, that half our family have been collected at St Omer these last 2 or 3 weeks – There is “Mr & Lady C. Lemon”, <9> “Lord Ilchester et son courrier” <10> “Mr Nicholl & Lady Harriet Frampton” “Lady Ilchester <11> & Mr Nicholl” all going “Dover to St Omer” and “St Omer to Dover”. I cannot make it out exactly, but I don’t think Lady Ilchester has been there; perhaps it is some mistake, as it is all in the handwriting of the Inn people. We felt a saisissement <12> at sight of the steeple of Calais after so long a journey –
Dover May 21st
We crossed in 4 hours and 35 minutes, in the Sovereign. The wind was fair, and we sailed, but there was not much of it – I was delighted with the steam vessel. <13> The carriage was not taken to pieces, and we sat in it all the time. We were not in the least affected with the vessel’s motion; it was very smooth water. We sailed, or rather smoked, in company with the Rob Roy. She started a few minutes before us, and I was highly delighted at seeing her set off, never having seen one in motion before. Lord & Lady Paulet <14> were in the same vessel with us, The custom house have seized lots of things from them, and all the nurses are crying for the loss of their shawls – The newspapers of today have an advertisement of a column & a half, announcing the sale by auction of Wanstead House. <15>
Yours affectionately
W.H.F.Talbot.
à Monsieur
Monsieur le Capitaine Feilding
Poste Restante
Florence
Italie
Notes:
1. Thomas Moore (1780–1852), Irish poet.
2. Richard, a servant.
3. 17 Rue de Clichy.
4. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.
5. Lady Harriet Payne Gallwey (1784-1845), née Quin, wife of Lt Gen Sir William Payne Gallwey (1759-1831), 1st Bart.
6. Louisa Gallwey (1811-1872), dau of Lt Gen Sir William Payne Gallwey (1759-1831), 1st Bart, and Lady Harriet Payne Gallwey (d. 1845), née Quin - see Doc. No: 00967.
7. Possibly William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington (1788–1859), and his wife Catherine Tylney-Long (1789–1825).
8. George Finch (1794–1870), JP & MP.
9. Sir Charles Lemon (1784–1868), politician & scientist; WHFT’s uncle and Lady Charlotte Anne Lemon, née Strangways (d. 1826), WHFT’s aunt.
10. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858) and his courier.
11. Dr John Nicholl (1797–1853), MP, Lady Harriet Frampton, née Fox Strangways (d. 1844) and probably Juliana Maria Strangways, née Digby (d. 1842).
12. Thrill.
13. The first commercial steam navigation outside the United States began in 1812 when Henry Bell, the proprietor of the Helensburg Baths located on the Clyde below Glasgow, added a steamboat, the ‘Comet’, to carry his customers from the city.
14. Paulet St John-Mildmay (1791–1845), and his wife Anna Maria St John-Mildmay (d. 1864).
15. Wanstead House, West Ham district, Essex. Grand, Palladian style mansion under ownerships of the Wellesleys. Demolished in 1823.