Rothay Bank <1>
August the 28th
My dear Papa
Do’nt think that the account you gave me of the weather in your last letter in any way surpasses what we enjoy – it cannot be lovelier or hotter. But what is more surprising is that Mrs Cockburn, writing from Burnhouse, not far from Edinburgh complains bitterly of the intolerable heat and drought: the springs all dried up: grass parched, and the leaves actually dropping off the trees: – and the air so heavy they can hardly breathe. Here we are refreshed with heavy dews and have still plenty of water. Mrs Cockburn says that her son was in great danger of shipwreck on his way to India in the Bengal but fortunately they were rescued by another vessel and no lives were lost. Poor Mrs Shakespear <2> has finally determined to sail in October with her sister Lady Grant, <3> leaving all her five children in England, as the dreadful anxiety she went through on their account, has made her fear to trust even the youngest away from the safety of home. Major Wake <4>came over one day to see us, and Mama <5>, Ela <6> and Charles <7>have been to Keswick: <8> – but I believe Ela has already told you that. Do not you pity the poor Speddings <9> in their annoyance about the railway? – It cannot fail spoiling a place for which they have done so much and of which they are so fond: – passing close to Mirehouse; and after all to add to the vexation, every one says it cannot pay! – They have all been most Kind in asking us to spend a few days with them, and invited us to a ball at Greta Bank, <10> which we have however declined. – Tilly <11> writes very often and most f cheerfully. She has been successful in a raffle for the first time in her life, got up by Mrs Laurie of Maxwelton, and has gained a worked tablecover, of which she is very proud! – Mary Talbot <12> wrote a long letter the other day of family news. Perhaps you may have heard that the Franklins [sic] <13> are at last returned home from Clifton, but not without poor Susan’s suffering very much from the jolting of the railway. Theodore is in Devonshire, so how vain were Charles’s hopes! he wanted very much to make his acquaintance. C. starts tomorrow to sleep at Penrith: he had thought of visiting Ulleswater on his way, but the crowd of tourists is till so great, he feared not finding any room at Patterdale. Mama has had lately very bad accounts of poor Aunt Marion [sic],<14>who seems to have been more suffering than usual ever since last winter, and now has been for some time quite confined to the house. – Please excuse this scrappy letter, written in a hurry before church time, and believe me
your affectionate daughter
Rosamond.
Do you Know Aunt Caroline’s <15> address at Weymouth? both Mama and Mamie <16> wrote to her at Cowes but have not heard from her since.
Charles hopes you will be so Kind as to remember his books which are all ready packed up waiting to be forwarded to Whorlton <17>.
The box of fruit arrived quite safe and in pretty good condition yesterday, in time for Charles to help enjoying them.
[envelope, stamped "Missent to Lancaster":]
H.F. Talbot Esqre
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts.
Notes:
1. Grasmere, Westmoreland: popular summer venue; Wordsworth is buried there.
2. A relative of Mary Ann Thackeray, née Shakespear (1793-1850); WHFT's cousin. Several of her brothers were employed by the East India Company - see Sir William Wilson Hunter, The Thackerays in India, and Some Calcutta Graves (London: Henry Frowde, 1897).
3. Lady Helen Grant (née Tayler), wife of Sir James Hope Grant (1808-1875), Commander-in-Chief, Madras, India in 1862.
4. Charles Hamilton Wake (1808–1872).
5. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
6. Ela Theresa Talbot (1835–1893), WHFT’s 1st daughter.
7. Charles Henry Talbot (1842–1916), antiquary & WHFT’s only son.
8. Keswick, Cumberland.
9. John James Spedding (1834-1909), JP.
10. Greta Bank, Cumberland, near Keswick.
11. Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, ‘Tilly’, née Talbot (1839–1927), WHFT’s 3rd daughter.
12. Mary Thereza Talbot (1795–1861), WHFT’s cousin.
13. Richard Franklen (1801-1883), and his wife, Isabella Catherine Franklen, née Talbot (1804–1874).
14. Her maternal aunt, Marian Gilder, née Mundy (1806 – 14 Oct 1860); m. 6 Aug 1844 William Troward Gilder (d. 1871), Army Surgeon (ret).
15. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.
16. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
17. See Doc. No: 07925.