18 Russel S^{t <1>}
Monday

My dear Henry

Mamma ^<2> says I must write you an answer to your letter for she has been & still is very poorly indeed and she can not bear it should remain unanswered any longer, “tho’ she hopes you will not think her illness & stupid feet prevent her from participating in the general pleasure which Caroline’s ^<3> approaching marriage seems to give.” She has been more poorly for the last week than she was before & spent best part of every day in bed where she felt easier & more comfortable than any where else. last night she slept better and now (3 oclock) she is just got up. – Jane ^<4> is here & we all send our united congratulations & best wishes for dear Caroline’s happiness. I am sure Lord Valletort ^<5> is a very fortunate Man and I am very glad you speak so highly of him. we have never had the pleasure of meeting him, but every body speaks highly of him. I wrote to tell Isabella ^<6> & Emma ^<7> wrote to Charlotte ^<8> who are both in Glamorganshire & will be very glad to hear you are all so much pleased. M^r Nicholl ^<9> returned to Town last night by the Mail he only could spare time to come & spend Jane’s birthday with us so he came Sat^y morning & returned Sunday night! –

Sir Chris^{r <10>} begs I will send his good wishes “for she is a great favorite,” of his & he hopes she will be very happy.

I am your aff^ate coz
Mary T. T –

I conclude as you say nothing of poor Betty Vickery ^<11> that she was not at Bristol during the riots. ^<12> –

Love to all – I cannot bear to think of poor Horatia! ^<13> –
Aunt Louisa ^<14> says she behaves so well.

W. H. Fox Talbot Esqre
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham

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Notes:

1. Bath, near the Circus.

2. Lady Mary Lucy Cole, née Strangways, first m. Talbot (1776–1855), WHFT’s aunt.

3. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.

4. Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874).

5. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3^rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797–1861), WHFT’s brother-in-law.

6. Isabella Catherine Franklen, née Talbot (1804–1874).

7. Emma Thomasina Llewelyn, née Talbot (1806–1881), photographer; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.

8. Charlotte Louisa 'Charry' Traherne, née Talbot (1800–1880), WHFT’s cousin.

9. Dr John Nicholl (1797–1853), MP.

10. Sir Christopher Cole (1770–1836), Captain, MP & naval officer.

11. Elizabeth Vickery ‘Betty’, WHFT’s governess, who died in 1835. WHFT paid to have a gravestone placed at Cutcombe, Somerset, inscribed: 'Erected to the Memory of Elizb^th Vickery his kind & faithful nurse by Henry Fox Talbot of Lacock Abbey in the country of Wilts Esq^re'; the stone's inscription is still readable - See Doc. No: 03205.

12. Following the Lords’ rejection of the second Reform Bill in October 1831, there was rioting in Bristol: the Mansion House was sacked, the prisons broken into and the bishop’s palace burnt. The disorder was suppressed by a cavalry charge.

13. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.

14. Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), wife of Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3^rd Marquess of Lansdowne; Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838; WHFT's aunt.