My dear Henry
The name of Mrs Seymer’s <1> late Gardener is Robert Hurst & as he was educated in a great measure by myself I feel much interested in his welfare – I know the Seymers liked him much & were very sorry not to be able to get him a place before they left Hanford – As I do not know where he is at this moment or whether he is disengaged ( tho I think I heard he had engaged himself temporarily to work in a Nursery Garden which wd be no obstacle to his taking your place) I have written to my Mother <2> on the subject & begged her to write to you which will save much time, & if you do not hear speedily I recommend you to write & jog their memory, as Louisa’s <3> illness may put it out of their head again. As far as my knowledge of Hurst extends I should think he would suit you exactly being so passionately fond of flowers that he thinks of nothing else (just what a gardener should do) & was commencing a Hortus Siccus <4> when I saw him last – I conclude he is equally good about Fruit, as I know he got lots of prizes in the Blandford Horticultural Society<5> for his productions. – He married a very respectable young woman who was my Mother’s Laundry Maid for some years & has 1 or 2 Ynstrs. – I own I shd like him uncommonly to get so good a place as yours, & where I shd occasionally see him, having a small tendresse for my protégé. –
Thanks for your enquiries – I can hear beautifully now & our household doth flourish. Next Thursday we go to pay a visit to Mr Bankes at Soughton in Flintshire<6> & another to the [Cubits?] in Shropsh but only for a fortnight altogether. Love to C.<7> & 50 Kisses to my dear Ela <8>
Yr aff Cousin
H G Mundy
Oct 10.
Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts
Notes:
1. Lady Harriet Ker Seymer, née Beckford (1779-1853), widow of Henry Ker Seymer (1782-1834), JP, MP & Sheriff of Dorset.
2. Lady Harriot Frampton, née Fox Strangways (1778 - 6 Aug 1844); dau of Henry Thomas Fox Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester and Mary Theresa O'Grady; she married James Frampton (1769-1855) in 1799.
3. Louisa Charlotte Frampton (b. 1808), author.
4. That is, ‘dried garden’, a reference collection of dried plant specimens.
5. Hanford, near Blandford, Dorset, home of the Seymers.
6. William John Bankes (1786-1855), who inherited Soughton Hall, Flintshire.
7. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (30 Jan 1811 - 9 Sep 1880), m. WHFT 20 Dec 1832.
8. Ela Theresa Talbot (25 Apr 1835 - 25 Apr 1893), WHFT's 1st daughter.