Mount Edgcumbe <1>
Sunday Octr 18th 1857
My dear Henry
I send you a specimen of a species of Plumbago which the gardener says grows in the chinks of the great Wall of China. He had a small plant given him a long time ago, & neglected it – Whereupon it grew into a flourishing bush – & he says the worse they are treated the better they thrive. Do you know it?
Valletort <2> returned from his visit to Manchester last night at one o’clock. He was delighted with the Exhibition, the pictures particularly, & spent 6 or 7 days in it – going from Heaton & Knowsley, where he has been on a visit. In his way back he went to Ashridge, where he was much amused. They acted an Extravaganza composed by Augustus Stafford called “The Queen of Hearts”, <3> Pss Mary was the Queen, & two of her ladies of honor danced a minuet, as they brought her the apron to wear during the process of “making the tarts.” They finished with a grand curtsey, & she tied the apron round her during the last flourish of the time.
Poor Charlie <4> was not so fortunate. He is now quartered in the Tower – but expected to be able to pay a visit of ten days to Lady Theresa Lewis <5> at Harpton in Radnorshire; a beautiful place – previous to an inspection on the 20th from which no officer could be absent. The Adjutant assured him the day before he started, that he certainly wd not be wanted before the inspection but on the 2nd day of his visit, he received a letter O. H. M. Service; marked very pressing. This was to say that he must go back so as to be ready at any hour yesterday, to parade for detachment duty at Deptford, of all dismal places! However he says he must not grumble as this is rendered necessary by the troops & Marines from thence having been sent to India.
Flora <6> returned yesterday form Balmoral – The K. of Prussia’s <7> illness causes much anxiety & vexation. Prince Albert <8> wears the kilt always in the evening. Little Horace <9> arrived here quite safe from Laycock. Is he not a darling? So very pretty & such a distingué <10> look. Mr Gaisford <11> comes on Tuesday.
I suppose we shall soon be moving into winter Quarters. Milord <12> is a little better – but he has been very suffering & low. To day it pours – the day is dark as Hades. –
The Austria put in a short time ago – disabled – with the 94th Regt, 700 men on board. They were caught in the gale of the 7th in the Bay of Biscay; lost 2 anchors, a mast & all their boats. The great fear was that the fires wd be put out – & the engines cease working – in wh case their loss was inevitable. After some time the engineers & stokers, most of whom were foreigners, gave in – saying it was no use working the Engines any longer, & that nothing cd save them. Upon this the chief Engineer, an Englishman luckily, went down into the engine room with a loaded pistol, locked the door, & announced that he wd shoot the first man who dared disobey him, or strike work. They accordingly worked on, & brought the ship in here the next morning at 4 o’clock. Ought not the Engineer to be rewarded?
Emma Lewellyn’s [sic] eldest daughter <13> is going to be married
Yrs affly
Caroline
Notes:
1. Mt Edgecumbe, near Plymouth: seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe.
2. William Henry Edgcumbe, ‘Val’, 4th Earl Mt Edgcumbe (1832–1917), JP & Ld Steward of the Royal Household; WHFT’s nephew ‘Bimbo’.
3. Augustus Stafford–O’Brien–Stafford (1811–1857).
4. Charles Earnest Edgcumbe (1838–1915), JP, WHFT’s nephew.
5. Lady Theresa Lewis, probably related to George Cornewall Lewis (1806–1863), statesman, of Harpton Court, Radnorshire.
6. Caroline's husband's niece through his sister, Lady Caroline Sophia Edgcumbe (d. 10 April 1824), who was the first wife of Reginald George Macdonald (d. 1873): The Honorable Flora Isabella Clementina (1822-1899) was Maid of Honor and later Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria.
7. Frederick William IV (1795–1861), King of Prussia.
8. Prince Albert of Saxe–Coburg–Gotha (1819–1861).
9. Lt Horace Charles Gaisford (1851–1879), WHFT’s nephew.
10. Distinguished, eminent.
11. Capt Thomas Gaisford (1816–1898), JP, WHFT’s brother-in-law.
12. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797–1861), WHFT’s brother-in-law.
13. Emma Thomasina Llewelyn, née Talbot (1806–1881), photographer; WHFT’s Welsh cousin, and Theresa Mary Llewelyn (1834–1926).