Bowood <1>
Wednesday
24th July.
My dear Henry
I was surprized to hear you were going to Mont d’or as the last thing you told me was you were thinking of the Baths of Louesch – However I hope you will be pleased & perhaps extend your tour a little to the other parts of Auvergne, which we liked so much, ignorant as we were of geology – & you wd appreciate still better. I fear this letter will hardly catch you there but know not where else to direct We left London the 16th & parked at Chippenham <2> – Tom <3> going on to Iford where he has been ever since – but is coming here tomorrow, & Friday is to take me to Iford for 2 days as the Dean is so bent on having me that they will contrive to squeeze us in somehow – Aunt Louisa <4> is wonderfully well considering, & walks a good deal & enjoys the garden & country air as much as ever – She is still a little nervous at times & soon tired – but the improvement since she came here is so great that in time we may hope she will be quite strong again. Louisa <5> is here with her 3 children – Tom gone to fish for a few days at Lapford Castle. We are to go Monday to the Dean of Wells <6> & Wednesday to the Berkeley Napiers <7> near Glastonbury – & on the 5th mean to set out on our Great Northern expedition – hoping to visit you on our return – as Mr Hanley prefers having us later & you will then I hope be at Barrow House that is about the end of Aug. or begg of Septr I hope we shall fall in with Uncle Harry & Val <8> who are cruzing somewhere on the W. coast of Scotland. We have had beautiful weather hitherto – yesterday & today rainy but we hope it won’t last. I drove over to Laycock Saturday – the garden not looking so pretty – full of flowers & as tidy as possible. My new roses have all done well. Tom met me there with his who were delighted with the Abbey in its summer attire – & we lunched on the terrace. Please to write to me & direct here as Louisa will be sure to forward my letters. I will tell you all about the isle of Skye if we ever get there. Mind you go & see a most curious church at Clermont the N.D. du Porte I recommend to yr attention the Cantal most picturesque & flowery departement
Addio Yr affnate
Horatia
Notes:
1. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
2. Chippenham, Wiltshire: largest town near Lacock, 3 miles N.
3. Tom Valletort. [See Doc. No: 06342].
4. 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.
5. Probably Louisa Howard, née Fitzmaurice (d. 1906), daughter of Lady Louisa Emma Fitzmaurice.
6. Dr Richard Jenkyns (1825–1845), Master of Balliol Collage in Oxford and Dean of Wells.
7. Vice-Admiral Gerard John Napier (1818-1901), and his wife, Ella Louisa, née Wilson (d. 1908).
8. Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858) and William Henry Edgcumbe, ‘Val’, 4th Earl Mt Edgcumbe (1832–1917), JP & Ld Steward of the Royal Household; WHFT’s nephew ‘Bimbo’.