Llandaff.
Monday evening Jany 23rd
My dear Father,
I did receive the letter your wrote me mentioning poor Uncle William’s <1> death, but I first saw the intelligence in the newspaper on the morning before I received your letter. I meant that I had not heard from Merthyr Mawr, Margam or any body in these parts. I should probably not have seen the notice at all as I frequently do not look at the papers, if somebody had not seen it and mentioned it.
I didn’t suppose you had got back to Edinburgh yet till I received your letter today. Please to thank Mamma <2> for hers. We have a shocking cold frost here, that has lasted now some days. Tonight it is snowing hard which will spoil the skating, but personally it that doesn’t signify to me as I have not got my skates with me. [illegible deletion] Mr Prichard <3> & Champneys were to have gone to a sort of luncheon party at Hensol tomorrow but I doubt whether the snow will not stop them. Hensol used to belong to the Talbots. (The Ingestre branch I think.) but was sold some time back & now belongs to a Mr Fothergill. A shocking time of year for a luncheon party he has chosen I think.
As you have been to Drumlanrig, did you go to see the ruins of Tibbers Castle? They found some curiosities there shortly before I was last at Dabton and I went to see it with John <4> on which occasion I was colder than on any other or second with the exception of the day when I went to see Morton Castle. <5>
I will send you the Photographic paper as soon as I can. There are some interesting things in it; Amongst others a description of Mr Englands photographic establishment on a large scale:
If any body would invent a photographic process whereby you should could take positive photographs on paper in the camera (only one copy being required) rapidly & very cheaply, in such a manner that it might be used for enlarging or reducing a drawing to scale, they would confer a great boon upon architects. I would undertake to utilize it in an architects office. At Drawings made to one scale have frequently to be copied to another and the camera would do this much more accurately and rapidly than it can possible be done by hand. With love to all
Your affect son
Charles.
[envelope:]
H. Fox Talbot Esq
13 Gt Stuart St
Edinburgh
Notes:
1. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat. [See Doc. No: 08933].
2. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
3. John Prichard, Welsh architect; Charles Henry Talbot apprenticed to.
4. John Gilchrist-Clark (1830–1881), Scottish JP; WHFT’s son-in-law.
5. See Doc. No: 09051.