Lacock
Sunday March 27. 1836
My Dear Mother
I have left Constance <1> at Southampton with her sisters for three weeks – I am come here for a week or 10 days to see how things prosper, & then return to Town for a little while by myself – I suppose you have heard of Col. Strangways’s <2> death, he must have been very old.
I am glad you have fixed a day for setting off, & hope you prosperously crossed the Col de Tende & had a fine day for the picturesque glens of Saorgio. I suppose hardly a flower bud adorned the alpine prairies which in the month of June are so enamelled with divers colours – I am very glad you brought the Algeriine seeds, they will be very acceptable both to my garden & many others for they are just what is most difficult to procure in England. I think some of them might live out of doors at Mt Edgcumbe and Carclew: <3> perhaps at Abbotsbury. <4> This was the hardest winter known for a long time yet some myrtles have survived here out of doors – April 1st Winter has returned with fresh rigour, the ground is covered with snow – for some days past we have had violent storms, but now it is calm. I hope you found Mt Cenis passable, I think that vûe la saison <5> you had better have come thro’ Provence. Constance says that Ela <6> is well & very merry, she has some little trouble however with her teeth. The Arborvitæ & Juniper which were thrown down by the snow some months ago do not appear the worse for it but I am afraid today’s Snow may upset them again. No tender plant can survive such transitions of climate as we now experience – Pray tell Amandier <7> I received her letter which was very amusing – I hope somebody will write me an account of your adventures on this journey. How long do you intend to stop at Paris? And do you mean to come immediately to Lacock, or to stay in Town till the end of the season? There is going to be a great scientific meeting <8> of the British Association in August at Bristol. As that is but a poor place for the meeting to be held at, Lord Lansdowne <9> intends to invite a number of the savants to Bowood, <10> & I think of doing the like here – Don’t you approve of the scheme? I want to know your plans in order to be able to settle my own – We think of making a tour in Glamorganshire at the end of April – Kit <11> seems to be arrived in Town at last, for I see his name in the division. What do you think of Sir R. Vyvyan & Lord J. Russell? <12>
Wm <13> is gone down to Abby to botanize, and invites me to join him – Adieu
Your affte
Henry
Miladi
Miladi Feilding
Poste Restante
à Lyon
France
Missent to Mons Hertford <14>
April 7th
Trouvée à la Boite à Mâcon <15>
Notes:
1. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
2. Lt. Col. Hon. Stephen Strangways Digby Fox-Strangways(1751– 12 March 1836), brother of the 2nd Earl and therefore uncle to Lady Elisabeth.
3. Carclew, Cornwall, 3 mi N of Penryn: seat of Sir Charles Lemon.
4. Abbotsbury, Dorset: home of William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways.
5. Considering the season.
6. Ela Theresa Talbot (1835–1893), WHFT’s 1st daughter.
7. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
8. Sixth Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.
9. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle.
10. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
11. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.
12. Sir Richard Hussey Vivian (1775–1842), politician, and Lord John Russell (1792–1878).
13. William Thomas Horner Fox Strangways, 4th Earl of Ilchester (1795–1865), botanist, art collector & diplomat.
14. Probably Francis Charles Seymour-Conway, 3rd Marquess of Hertford (1777–1842).
15. Found in the Bag at Mâcon.