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Document number: 02140
Date: 04 Feb 1831
Dating: postmark indistinct but internal reference to 1832 in future
Postmark: Feb 1831
Recipient: TALBOT William Henry Fox
Author: FEILDING Elisabeth Theresa, née Fox Strangways
Collection: British Library, London, Manuscripts - Fox Talbot Collection
Last updated: 20th December 2010

London
4th February

My dear Henry

What Mr F. <1> mentioned in his letter yesterday as told him by Mr Hay, <2> is it seems a profound secret, Lord L. <3> told him this morning he begged it not to be mentioned, for if it is, it will be written down by Cobbett <4> &c &c before it is matured into an act of Parliament. I am most anxious it should succeed, & therefore lose no time in warning you. There are to be 4 parties four following Wednesdays at Lansdowne House, <5> & they want to persuade us to stay, but Mr F. declares he will change his plans no more. Louisa <6> tells me the building is beautiful, but she thinks Strong <7> the Slowest of Snails. She says it is astonishing how piano are his movements & that you should consider that his interest & yours (in point of time) are at direct variance. She has alarmed Me by saying the Gallery will not be habitable before the summer of 1832!!! Pray order the Tapestry dressing room to be got ready for Mr M. <8> he will go down on Monday too - He is at present staying with his eldest brother at Richmond.

We were last night at a party given by the Master of the Rolls, <9> The Prince of Orange <10> was <11> & played at petits jeux <12> - I cannot say they were jeux d'esprit. <13> He loses a crown most gaily.<14> The night before we left Brighton we were at a small party at the Pavilion I thought it very pleasant

Henry Fox Talbot Esqr
Laycock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts

Notes:

1. Rear Admiral Charles Feilding (1780-1837), Royal Navy; WHFT's step-father.

2. See Doc. No: 03121.

3. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780-1863), MP, WHFT's uncle.

4. William Cobbett (1762-1835), journalist and radical campaigner.

5. Lansdowne House, London: home of the Marquis of Lansdowne, WHFT's uncle and cousins.

v

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

7. Strong's identity has yet to be established. However, Awdry met Mr. Strong at Box [see Doc. No: 02006], the Wiltshire hamlet whose quarry originally provided Lacock Abbey with its stone. It is possible that Strong was there temporarily to select stone for the renovations at Lacock Abbey, but given the expansion of the area in the 19th c., perhaps Strong was resident there. The 1841 census for Box (the earliest one available) points to two possibilities. The first, James Strong (b. 1796), was a mason, but the Lacock mason, Charles Selman Banks (1805-1881) did most of the masonry at Lacock at this time. Thomas Strong (b. 1781) was a builder, and seems the more likely candidate.

8. Rev George Stephen Molyneux Montgomerie (1790-1850), close friend of Talbot family, artist, Rector of Garboldisham, near Thetford, Norfolk. [See Doc. No: 00177].

9. Sir John Leach (1760-1834), master of the rolls.

10. William I (1772-1843), King of The Netherlands and grand duke of Luxembourg (1815-1840).

11. Text obscured by seal.

12. Small games.

13. Plays of wit.

14. In 1830, a rebellion in Belgium led to its separation from the Dutch monarchy and eventually to independence.