24 Charles St
Berkeley Square
W.
Wednesday May 24th 1865
My dear Henry
You have given no signe de vie <1> for a very long time, & I am longing to hear something of you. The last tidings of the family were received from Amandier <2> – just before Constance <3> was to leave Edinburgh, & after you had been already established at Laycock Abbey. Pray tell me all about everybody – & about the dear old Abbey. It must be in perfect beauty just now. We left Mt E. <4> on the 29th April – when the weather suddenly changed & the laburnams [sic] & lilacs which had begun to blossom in the London Squares, were suddenly nipped, & never came out properly – But today the weather is again glorious. Val & Katie <5> arrived last Friday from Paris, where they staid about a week. They travelled all day & night from Cannes to Paris, in 27 hours – by the advice of the doctors & everyone else – as the least fatiguing way. They had a saloon carriage, with a Cot slung in it – & took the English doctor with them. This plan answered perfectly – & Katie was very little tired by the Journey. We all think her looking much better. When are you coming to London? Give me due notice.
We have been to two Balls at Caroline Kerrison’s given for young Theresa Digby, <6> just come out. I saw Kit <7> & his daughters at the first one – but last night they went with their Aunt, Lady Emily Hankey, <8> as he was not well, & had consented to send for Dr Bence Jones. <9> On Saturday we intend going to Chatham as Ernestine <10> is engaged to christen the “Lord Warden”, the largest ship ever yet built for the Navy. She is a wooden Ship, cased with iron, 400 ft long – & is to have 5 masts!!! Captn Houston Stewart, <11> who is a friend of our’s, is Superintendant of the Dockyard at Chatham, & will make everything agreable to us, of course.
Val went to Mount E. yesterday, for a few days. There was to be a Review of the garrison, & field day today, in honour of the Queen’s <12> Birthday – & he was to join with his Volunteer Battalion. Charlie <13> is still at Eastbourne, with the real soldiers; instructing them how to shoot. He gets up ¼ to 5 – & is hard at work till 6 in the evening; with the exception of an hour or two for luncheon.
Yr affte Sister
Caroline
Notes:
1. Sign of life.
2. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal].
3. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife.
4. Mt Edgecumbe, near Plymouth: seat of the Earl of Mt Edgcumbe
5. William Henry Edgcumbe, ‘Val’, 4th Earl Mt Edgcumbe (1832–1917), JP & Ld Steward of the Royal Household; WHFT’s nephew ‘Bimbo’ and husband of Lady Katherine Elizabeth Edgcumbe, née Hamilton (1840–1874).
6. Lady Caroline Margaret Kerrison, née Fox Strangways (d. 1895), WHFT's cousin, wife of Sir Edward Clarence Kerrison (d. 1886). Theresa Anna Maria Digby, née Fox Strangways (1814–1874), WHFT’s cousin.
7. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin.
8. Lady Emily Arabel Georgiana.
9. Henry Bence Jones (1814–1873), physician and chemist
10. Ernestine Emma Horatia Edgcumbe (1843-1925), WHFT’s niece.
11. Sir Houston Stewart (1791–1875), admiral of the fleet.
12. Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom (1837–1901), Empress of India (1876–1901).
13. Charles Earnest Edgcumbe (1838–1915), JP, WHFT’s nephew.
14. Louisa Howard, née Fitzmaurice (d. 1906), daughter of Lady Louisa Emma Fitzmaurice and her husband James Kenneth Howard (1814–1882).
15. Amelia Strangways, née Marjoribanks (d. 1886), and her daughter Marion Strangways.