London
12 Aug
My dear Henry
If you should have learnt it from no other source I shall be the first to give you the melancholy news of poor Stavordales <1> death at Cowes on Friday – I have only to add that the accounts we have of all the family there are as good as one can expect & they were I believe prepared for the event though it has occurred earlier than they had flattered themselves it would –
You may perhaps have heard through Bowood <2>
Your affte
W F Strangways
Notes:
1. Henry Thomas Leopold Fox Strangways, Lord Stavordale (1816– 11 August 1837), elder son of Henry Stephen Fox Strangways, 3rd Earl of Ilchester (1787–1858).
2. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.