Lacock Abbey
March 4^th –

My dear Henry

I have changed the paper of your Epimedium & left it in the press ^<1> – as I found it was not dry – It is a pity you did not entrust it to my care at first – I think it will not do as a good specimen – for want of timely attention – I am very sorry you have got such a bad cold, but I do not wonder in such severe weather. I have had a most excellent report of Charles from M^r Williams. ^<2> It is quite plain now, that he likes school & the companionship of the boys, better than home, without playmates.

We shall be very glad to see Sir David, ^<3> if he accepts your invitation; but I should like to know in time – as it is a slow process to warm a room the state chamber at this season. I am sorry Caroline ^<4> has been so painfully engaged – it accounts for her not answering either of M^lle A’s ^<5> last letters.

I accept your offer of building a bath, as indeed you formerly & formally promised on more than one occasion; but in a detached building it would not do – I meant to talk to you about it this Spring– ^<6>

Ela & Rosamond ^<7> were able to get out of doors for a short time yesterday – & M^lle Amélina continues her walks most days – Today we have had a little snow – and yesterday morning the thermometer stood at 28. to Wilkins’s ^<8> great consternation. We are refreshed & cooled by a great chimney sweeping today. –

your affectionate
Constance.

Just as we had finished dinner it was announced to me that Miss Hayward had called & wished to speak with me. – I received her & found it was the eldest Miss Hayward (late of Wick Farm)^<9> She was in the deepest distress of mind, from the total failure of their last farming business – She & another Sister had joined their youngest brother (Tom)^<10> who she says is a very steady young man, & rented a Farm of M^r Longs at Wraxhall – About this time last year they failed; ruined as she says by a train of adverse circumstances, not through any misconduct of her brother. – I could not understand all her explanation about paying off a mortgage, the informality of some legal document, the baseness of a pretended friend, who completed their ruin while offering to assist – &c – but the upshot of it was that she & her brother & sister resolved to emigrate to Australia – The 2 latter hope to scrape together sufficient for their passage money & other expenses – from the wreck of the Farm stock – but Miss Hayward herself is attempting to raise it among her friends or former protectors and her first visit was to us – I saw how hard it was for her to solicit charity in plain words – and though it became evident to me in a short time that money was her chief object, she began by soliciting only a letter of recommendation to the Governor ^<11> – I said you were not a personal friend – but she maintained that that did not signify – all she wanted was a certificate as to character & capabilities – that she might the more quickly obtain a good situation – She says that they are classed on board ship according to what they undertake to do on their arrival – & that to get as cheap a passage as possible she is entered only as understanding the management of a Dairy – But she says she is fit for a Housekeeper or anything of that kind. – Would you like to mention her case to Caroline – perhaps as an old friend of M^rs Gwynne’s ^<12> she might like to do something for her. – She supposes she will have to sail in a month, but is not quite sure whether she & her Sister can be received by the same ship as her brother –

She [illegible] showed me an estimate of her expenses – as drawn out by a friend – <2 cols follow, the sums of money aligned:>

Deposit £2.. 0 0

for clothing &c 4.. 0 0

2 strong packing boxes 1 –

Journey to place of embarcation

& other expenses – 1 –

[rule]

£8 –

besides which she would wish to have something in her pocket on arriving in Australia – and she is without a sixpence! –

Is it true that letters of recommendation can be of any use to her? – She says she would have asked M^r Sotheron ^<13> for one, had he been at Bowden. My Postscript is longer than my letter – y^r aff^te –

Old M^r Hayward ^<14> (though 72) will follow his children next year if they are able to send the money for his passage &c –

---

Notes:

1. Epimedium, also known as Rowdy Lamb Herb, Barrenwort, Bishop's Hat, Fairy Wings or Horny Goat Weed; a herbaceous flowering plant, uncommon in Europe at this time.

2. Charles Henry Talbot, 'Tally" (2 Feb 1842 - 26 Dec 1916), antiquary & WHFT's only son; Rev James Augustus Williams, tutor to Charles.

3. Sir David Brewster (1781-1868), Scottish scientist & journalist.

4. Lady Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding (1808-1881); WHFT's half-sister.

5. Amélina Petit de Billier, 'Mamie', 'Amandier' (1798- 8 September 1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].

6. This was the first dedicated bath room (and an interior one at that!) at Lacock Abbey - see Doc. No: 06612 and Doc. No: 06760; both from 1852.

7. Ela Theresa Talbot (25 Apr 1835 - 25 Apr 1893), WHFT's 1^st daughter; Rosamond Constance Talbot (16 Mar 1837 - 7 May 1906), died & buried at San Remo, Italy, with a memorial at Lacock; 'Monie', artist & WHFT's 2^nd daughter.

8. George Wilkins (b. 1814), gardener at Lacock.

9. Wick Farm is right across from Lacock Abbey and was part of its estate (it is now the site of a caravan park for tourists). The women referred to might have been Elizabeth Hayward (b. 1813) and Caroline Hayward (b. 1833), both resident on High Street in Lacock in the 1841 census. They have not been traced in the 1851 census.

10. Thomas Hayward (b. 1829), the son of Thomas Hayward.

11. Sir Charles Augustus FitzRoy (1796-1858), Governor of New South Wales from 1846-1855. She must have assumed that WHFT knew him from Harrow days.

12. Possibly the late Mrs Gwynne (d. winter 1841/1842), lady’s maid, cook and housekeeper to Elisabeth Feilding.

13. Thomas Henry Sutton Sotheron Bucknall Estcourt (1801-1876), MP.

14. Although West Awdry felt Hayward was 'a man who has seen better days'...'I consider him a hard working, honest, man'. See Doc. No: 06568. In 1864, Awdry reported to WHFT that 'I have also paid (probably for the last time) your usual Christmas box – s10/– to poor old Hayward who is now bed-ridden' - see Doc. No: 08794.