Dear Talbot,
I have before me a letter <1> that I received from you about two years ago when I was residing in Virginia and though late I will now acknowlege [sic] it. I assure you it gave me great pleasure to open a letter from old England for our situation in Virginia was not very agreeable, particularly at the time I received it. When I see you which I hope will soon be the case, I will give you a full account of that place. The want of good society was my chief reason for leaving. In a pecuniary point of view it was all one could wish; our salary was 1500 Spanish dollars with a good house and walled garden and in addition a certain fee from each student attending one's class. One year I had 98 in my class, who [illegible] <2> my income altogether about 4500 dollars. A [Spanish?] dollar may be considered as 4/6. My class and [illegible] were always far the largest, some of our colleagues could not collect a dozen. We were however at an unmeasurable distance from any large town so that during my stay there I saw nobody who was not accidentally thrown in our neighbourhood and after Jefferson's death <3> even this society was diminished.
Now that I am once more in London, I must of course be looking out for something to do; and very luckily I find that the Council of the London University have not yet filled up the appointment to the Professorship of Pure Mathematics.<4> I have therefore presumed to offer myself as a candidate, and as I understand have every prospect of success. I have brought some letters from Virginia and Whewell Peacock <5> &c have also given me very flattering certificates, all of which have gone before the Council. I enclose copies of them having had a few printed
My three years absence from England has prevented me from forming any Mathematical acquaintance but what I had at College and it is highly probable that (see second frank)
London October twenty nine 1827 T Hyde Villiers <6>
William H. F. Talbot Esqr
Laycock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts
[continuation sent as separate letter:]
Babbage and Herschel, <7> being in London and of such first rate rank as Mathematicians, may be consulted by the Members of the Council. With one of these, I was informed at Cambridge, you have been this Summer travelling. I should therefore feel greatly obliged to you, if you would write to him and inform him of the opinion you were enabled to form of my qualifications, during our Undergraduateship, whether good bad or indifferent. The decision of the Council will be made on Thursday week, so that the Earlier you may be able to write the better. I mention this as one way of [assis]ting me, I should be equally obliged were you [to] think of any other method either instead of this [or] in addition to it. I will add the list of the Council
| Lord Auckland <8> | L. Macaulay | Thos Wilson |
| Abercrombie | James Mill | John Wishaw |
| Alexr Baring | Duke of Norfolk | T. Campbell |
| G. Birkbeck | Lord J. Russell | Olinthus Gregory |
| H Brougham | Benj. Shaw | Geo Grote Junr |
| Ld Dudley & Ward | John Smith | Joseph Hume |
| Isaac Goldsmid | Willm Tooke | |
| Ld Lansdowne | H Warburton | |
| Mackintosh | H Waymouth |
I was at Cambridge last week and heard that both Ollivant and Arnold <9> are about to be married. Trinity was flourishing more than ever. Poor St Johns in a deplorable state. I have called twice in Sackville St. <10>
Yours Truly
T. H. Key
My direction is39 Lombard St
London October thirty twenty nine THV 1827 T Hyde Villiers
William H. F. Talbot Esqr
Laycock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts
Notes:
1. Letter not located.
2. Letter torn away under seal.
3. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), draughtsman of the Declaration of Independence and third American President; he founded the University of Virginia. Jefferson died on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, 4 July 1826.
4. Things turned out differently, but Key’s history is an interesting one. After graduating 19th Wrangler at Cambridge in 1821, he was the founding Professor of Pure Mathematics in the University of Virginia from 1821-1825. Although this position was financially sound, he found it devoid of intellectual challenge, and returning to England was appointed in 1829 Professor of Latin in the newly founded University of London. In 1842, he became headmaster of their affiliated institution, the University College School, a position he held for the rest of his life. Key was also one of the founders of the London Library, a member of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and President of the Philological Society of London.
5. His old friends from Cambridge, Rev William Whewell (1794-1866), Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, Professor and natural philosopher, and Prof George Peacock (1791-1858), mathematician.
6. A Cambridge associate, Thomas Hyde Villiers (1801-1832), politician.
7. Prof Charles Babbage (1792-1871), mathematician & inventor and Sir John Frederick William Herschel (1792-1871), astronomer & scientist. In Doc. No: 01657 Herschel told WHFT why he did not recommend him. Key was not elected to the professorship in mathematics, but took up teaching in Latin instead; it is this scholarship, not the mathematical, for which he is known.
8. These men advocated and aided the foundation of the University of London, and were: George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland (1784-1849), Governor General of India; Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton (1774-1848), financier & statesman; George Birkbeck (1776-1841), Founder of London Mechanics Institute; Henry Peter Brougham, Baron of Brougham & Voux (1778-1868), Lord Chancellor; John William Ward, 1st Earl Dudley (d. 1833); Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid (1778-1859), financier; Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780-1863), MP, WHFT's uncle; Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), MP & historian; James Mill (1773-1836), utilitarian philosopher; Henry Charles Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk (1791-1856); Probably Lord John Russell, 1st Earl Russell (1792-1878), statesman; Benjamin Shaw and John Smith both aided Goldsmid in acquiring the original Gower Street property for the University; William Tooke (1777-1863), president of the Society of Arts at the time; Henry Warburton (1784-1858), politician; Thomas Wilson (1764-1843), manufacturer; Thomas Campbell (1774-1844), poet; Olinthus Gregory (1774-1841), mathematician; George Grote Jr. (1794-1871), historian; and Joseph Hume (1777-1855), politician.
9. Two more Cambridge friends, Alfred Ollivant (1798-1882), author & Bishop of Llandaff and Rev Thomas Kerchever Arnold (1800-1853), editor & author.
10. 31 Sackville Street, London residence of the Feildings, often used as a London base by WHFT.