Harrow <1>
Oct: 20th 1814.
My dear Mamma,
I was agreeably surprized this morning to see Mr Feilding. <2> Kit <3> was in school when he came, so I went after him, but did not tell him what he was wanted for; & so he could not think where I was leading him. I suppose the triangular leaf that you sent me, dropped out by the way, for I did not find it in your letter. You ought to spell it Salisburia adiantifolia; the Ginkgo tree of the Chinese.<4> How very odd a hedge seventy feet high must look. I have begun my declamation, but have not done much. The weather is changeable: rain & sunshine by turns: you see I inform you on this point in every letter. I do not think you will see many more flowers this year, except those of the Mosses, which are very curious if examined carefully. They have a little fringed blossom; the fingers, or teeth as they are called, of which, are always in number 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64: as exact as possible.
I remain Yr Affte Son
W H F Talbot
Lady Elisabeth Feilding
31 Sackville St
London
Notes:
1. Harrow School: WHFT attended from 1811-1815 and his son Charles from 1855-1859.
2. Rear Admiral Charles Feilding (1780-1837), Royal Navy; WHFT's step-father.
3. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803-1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT's Welsh cousin.
4. The more modern spelling is Ginkgo, often mis-spelt Gingko, associated with both Japan and China.