Mount Edgcumbe <1>
Monday August 21st 1854
My dear Henry
I was very sorry indeed that you could not be here at our fête, though I fully understood your reluctance to begin another journey just at the moment of returning home from such a fatiguing tour – But you never told me where to direct to you abroad, & I hoped that through Constance <2> I might have arrested you on your way north.
The Dinner went off very satisfactorily & I need not enlarge upon that, as I am sending you a Plymouth Paper, where you will see the names of all the guests – I shall only say that Val <3> is generally thought to have spoken very well for this his very first attempt in public – The Dinner was laid on 2 long tables connected by a semicircular one at the top, in the Orangerie – Behind the head of the table was an Orchestra, where appropriate Glees were sung – & the walls were ornamented with draperies of pink, wreaths of roses & Bays, & in the centre a large? V. & 2 coronets made of pink roses – At intervals were hung shields with the Edgcumbe [illegible deletion] and Hapsburg arms alternately – entirely made by Valletort & his friends – He is very ingenious at all those kind of things & he cut out the Eagles, Boar’s heads, lions &c in coloured paper, & finished them all in a wonderfully short time. We ladies went down at the end of dinner, & looked through a large flap which closed up the end window to keep out the cold. We could see & hear all perfectly – & you may suppose I was very nervous when I saw Val stand up to return thanks for his health being drunk. But he spoke so clearly, with such a good voice & with so little hesitation, & at the same time with such becoming modesty, that I felt re–assured. I must say en passant that there are various errors in the reports of the speeches – Valletort did not say that Ld Mt E. <4> made the suffering of those around him his first object! He said that his Father, amidst all his pain & suffering, made the happiness of those around him his first object. And in Ld Mt E’s letter, which was read by G. Edgcumbe, <5> they have left out the whole end of a phrase about Sir H. Smith. <6> It was very good of Ld Lansdowne & Uncle Harry <7> to come so far on purpose. The fireworks failed on account of the rain, wh was most unlucky – but the tenants’ Ball gave great satisfaction – Our friends danced a short time, & then left the Ballroom to the public, who enjoyed themselves till nearly 5 – I forgot to say Ld Carnarvon’s speech was a very good one; tho’ cut short by the reporter. On Friday the same local served as a Ballroom for the servants & labourers – & the fireworks that were left were let off with great success – The Blue & red lights all round Barn Pool, & the Ruin lit up, were particularly beautiful from the Yacht, where Ld Mt E. & all our friends were stationed. Christina [sic] & Theresa Nicholl, <8> & eke Johnny <9> seem to enjoy themselves here very much – Jane with 2 daughters & 2 Sons <10> set off for “Les Eaux Bonnes,” on the 15th – I had a long, interesting letter from Captn Key <11> the other day, dated the 1st – They were then expecting something serious, which I suppose has since taken place – as the Telegraph says Bomarsund <12> has surrendered.
Mr Gaisford & Ld Carnarvon <13> left us today – I like the latter very much – & Ld Sandon –
My love to Constance, Amandier & nieces <14>
Yr affte Sister
Caroline
[envelope:]
Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
Greta Bank
Keswick
Cumberland
Notes:
1. Mt Edgecumbe, near Plymouth: seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe.
2. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
3. William Henry Edgcumbe, ‘Val’, 4th Earl Mt Edgcumbe (1832–1917), JP & Ld Steward of the Royal Household; WHFT’s nephew ‘Bimbo’.
4. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797–1861), WHFT’s brother-in-law.
5. George Edgcumbe (1800–1882), son of the 2nd Earl of Mount Edgcumbe.
6. Sir Harry George Wakelyn Smith (1787–1860), was Lt Governor of Plymouth when this letter was written.
7. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle and Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).
8. Christiana Judy Nicholl, of Merthyr Mawr and Theresa Nicholl.
9. John Cole Nicholl (b. 1823), eldest son of Jane Harriet Nicholl, née Talbot and John Nicholl.
10. Jane Harriot Nicholl, née Talbot (1796–1874).
11. Sir Astley Cooper Key (1821–1888), admiral.
12. Aland island, Gulf of Bothnia. A full scale assault on Bomarsund fortress by French and British troops to divert Russian troops from the Crimean region during the Crimean War.
13. Lt Horace Charles Gaisford (1851–1879), WHFT’s nephew and Henry George Herbert, 2nd Earl of Carnarvon (1772–1833).
14. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family and Ela Theresa Talbot (1835–1893), WHFT’s 1st daughter, Rosamond Constance ‘Monie’ Talbot (1837–1906), artist & WHFT’s 2nd daughter and Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, ‘Tilly’, née Talbot (1839–1927), WHFT’s 3rd daughter.