Bowood <1>
Tuesday Octr 12th 1847 –
My dear Henry
I sent you yesterday per Post, a blossom of the Aloe, which I thought you would like to see. It had been gathered three days, & therefore had lost some of it’s fraicheur <2> – But I wd not get a fresh one, because they are to very fat when newly gathered, & difficult to pack; besides which they contain a large quantity of sweet syrup which is continually running out, & has a very disagreable smell – But in the fresh flower the Stamin are a bright yellow, & have a handsome appearance. I also sent the leaf of a tree I raised from seed Some years ago – I don’t know if it is rare – the gardener calls it a Stag’s Head. Let me know your opinion of it. There is a curious circumstance connected with the Aloe, which Pauley says ought to be made known to Lindley. <3> Sir Wm Hooker, <4> & all the great people – so I thought you might mention it in that quarter if you thought fit. You know the saying is that the Aloe only flowers once in a hundred years – which means, at any rate, that it only flowers when very old – Our Aloe is very old, & large; the leaves measuring 5 ft in length, & proportionably thick & strong – but by the side of it, besides several other young suckers, as one usually sees, is one 6 inches high, without leaves, & crowned by a perfect flower with 4 blossoms like the one sent, just ready to blow – Is not this curious? I wish you would publish this fact.
We left Mt E. <5> at 8 yesterday morning, having with infinite difficulty accomplished all the packing & business in 3 days – & came on to Exeter in the first instance, where that train stops for an hour & ¼ – & reached Chippenham at seven. It was past 8 when we got here – I found them just sat down to dinner, & joined them without dressing – My Aunt <6> is still very weak & poorly – I only saw her for a moment, as it was the first day she had been out of bed for a week – & she entreated me to stay all today, to which I consented, & must now start by the early Express so as to be in Town by eleven o’clock – I do not think now that I can be off Thursday – unless it is late in the day – to sleep at Dover – & that is scarcely possible – So I suppose I shall go Friday – I would not start on a Friday for the world – but I have already started – so it does not signify. My Aunt is better to day – Ld L. <7> went to Town for some days on Govt business – He is also much better. The Howards <8> & Shelburnes <9> are here. I forgot to say that if you wd like a young Nettle tree, I wd give you one I raised from seed – When the leaves are off – abt 4 ft high – but don’t have it unless you have a good place for it – because I have but 6 –
Yr affte
Caroline
Notes:
1. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
2. Freshness.
3. Prof John Lindley (1799–1865), botanist.
4. Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), Prof & botanist.
5. Mt Edgecumbe, near Plymouth: seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe.
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. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle.
8. Louisa Howard, née Fitzmaurice (d. 1906), daughter of Lady Louisa Emma Fitzmaurice.
9. Sir Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, Lord Shelburne, 4th Marquess of Lansdowne (1816–1866), MP and WHFT's cousin, and his second wife, Hon Emily Jane Mercer-Elphinstone-de Flahault, Baroness Nairne (1819-1895).
10. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife, Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family; Ela Theresa Talbot (25 Apr 1835 - 25 Apr 1893), WHFT's 1st daughter; Rosamond Constance Talbot (16 Mar 1837 - 7 May 1906), 'Rose'; 'Monie'; artist & WHFT's 2nd daughter; died & buried at San Remo, Italy, with a memorial at Lacock; Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, née Talbot (25 Feb 1839-1927), 'Tilly', WHFT's 3rd daughter; Charles Henry Talbot, (2 Feb 1842 - 26 Dec 1916), 'Charlie'; 'Tally'; antiquary & WHFT's only son.