Markeaton
Jany 16
My dear Henry
I was on the point of writing to thank you for, & to reciprocate your good wishes, when the dismal tidings arrived from Melbury <1> – so I have been unable to do so till now. – You have of course heard all the melancholy particulars of dear Uncle Harry’s last illness,<1> but possibly not the disposition of the property: which Henry<2> mentioned when he wrote after he returned from attending the Funeral last Saturday –. The Wiltshire property is left to John<3> of which I am very glad – the rest of the Landed Estates to William<4> to whom indeed he had made over Abbotsbury at Christmas. – Whatever money was in the Funds (not I believe a great deal) to Theresa & Caroline,<5> & the House in Burlington St to Theresa for her life – £5000 to each of her children & the same to Caroline should she have any – besides this there were some legacies to Charitable Institutions, Servants & to some of the Strangways family but I am not au fait of those. Theresa & Caroline are now at [Brume?], but John & Amy<6> remain at Melbury for the present as he is joint executor with his Brother –. I cannot imagine Melbury without Uncle Harry! He was so connected with all our early associations & the last link which united our Mothers to bygone times & Family histories – but they all seem to like William’s wife much<7> & indeed I am now glad that he has married, he wd be so solitary otherwise, for nobody excepting T. & C. will more regret what we have lost. – I hope you will let me hear what you are doing or proposing to do in the way of amusement. It would have been unlucky that my nieces shd have been absent (had not the Dance at Bowood been postponed owning to this event. Miss Coutts<8> invited us to visit her in London to see what was to be seen of the Princess Royal’s<9> marriage, but we did not feel inclined for any extra gaiety & moreover my mourning would be an obstacle on such an occasion. Pray give my love to Constance & tell her that her ci-divant neighbour Sir Harry Vane<10> has been writing us this winter & we like him very much. We had only known him in London before & are glad to have improved our acquaintance –. Noel<11> is returning to London to keep his Law Term but we shall not now go there till after Easter.
Yrs afftey
H G Mundy
P S. The Photographs being mounted wd not have in the least signified –.
Notes:
1. She is referring to the death of Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 'Harry', 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787- 3 Jan 1858); WHFT's uncle. Melbury, Dorset: one of the Fox Strangways family homes; WHFT was born there
2. Henry Frampton (1804-1879).
3. John George Charles Fox Strangways (1803-1859), MP.
4. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795-1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat; WHFT's favourite uncle.
5. Theresa Anna Maria Digby, née Fox Strangways (1814-1874), WHFT's cousin, wife of Edward Digby, 9th Baron Digby (1809-1889); Lady Caroline Margaret Kerrison, née Fox Strangways (d. 1895), WHFT's cousin, wife of Sir Edward Clarence Kerrison (d. 1886).
6. John George Charles Fox Strangways (1803-1859), MP, and his wife, Amelia, née Marjoribanks (d. 1886).
7. Lady Sophia Penelope Jolliffe, née Sheffield (1822-1882); m. WTHF Strangways 21 July 1857; second m. 1st Baron Hylton.
8. Probably Miss Angela Burdett Coutts, later 1st Baroness Coutts (1814-1906), heiress and philanthropist. The Mundys were connected by marriage to the Burdett family.
9. On 25 January 1858, Princess Victoria (Adelaide Mary Louisa), Princess Royal, 1840-1901, later Empress of Germany, married Prince Frederick William (Nicholas Charles) of Germany (1831-1888), later Emperor Frederick III of Germany.
10. Ci-divant (ci-devant), former. Possibly General Sir Henry Vane, 2nd Duke of Cleveland (1788-1864), MP. His father, also Henry, was christened as Harry.
11. Francis Noel Mundy (1833-1903).