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Result number 97 of 971:   < Back     Back to results list   Next >  

Document number: 3382
Date: 23 Oct 1836
Recipient: TALBOT William Henry Fox
Author: TALBOT Constance, née Mundy
Collection: British Library, London, Manuscripts - Fox Talbot Collection
Last updated: 16th November 2016

Markeaton <1>
October 23 –

My dear Henry

Your letter <2> has made me so happy, that as my Father <3> has occasion to send again to the Post office today, I cannot forbear writing to tell you how happy I am – for I have been pining sadly for your society of late. – What a deliciously mild bright day you have got to cheer you amid the deariness [sic] of London! – I know not the nature of your business there, but I am glad that it is not likely to detain you long; and whether it confines you to the house or tempts you abroad, I shall still hope that the Sun will continue to shine brightly on your undertakings. – The William Mundys <4> have postponed their return home until the end of this week, so I hope you will contrive to catch a glimpse of them previously. – Mrs Crowther <5> & Mrs Gell come to us tomorrow – the latter is to depart on Thursday, but the former will probably remain a little longer – She is a most excellent woman, & though not exactly the cleverest of her sex, I am sure you must like or at any rate esteem her. – At least she will not trouble you, for she possesses the quietest manner possible, combined with a degree of cheerfulness which is rather remarkable at her age – I hope you may also meet Sir Francis Burdett, <6> for he has proposed himself for a visit during the course of the week; and though accepted in the Spirit of cousinly affection, we do by no means reckon upon the certainty of his coming at all; his character being one of considerable versatility. – He has been staying alone at Foremark during the greater part of the Summer, being exceedingly attached to the place although Lady Burdett <7> is not – wherefore she & her Daughters alone only accompany him occasionally. – As it is a very pretty place & I have never seen it, my sisters <8> have proposed to drive over there on Tuesday if the day should prove fine – Mrs Crowther & Harriot are to be included in the party. – If we do go, I know who I shall wish for – I feel rather distressed for the honor of my native county, that its gardens should have assumed a completely wintry aspect while those of Wiltshire are still blooming. – May it be the effect of accident, or should you suppose the difference of latitude to be the sole cause of it? – I know this particular spot of land always falls a victim to the earliest frosts, while the higher country in the environs eesap escapes. – The provoking part is that since that one cold night, we have had remarkably mild weather. – Today is enchantingly lovely. –

Did I tell you that Ela <9> cut a tooth the other day? – She is looking much better again now than she did just at the moment –

Make my compliments to that dear good creature Fanny, <10> & enquire tenderly after her health. –

The day after I wrote last I forwarded to you a letter which I conjectured to be from Caroline <11> – I hope it reached you safely –

Your very affectionate
Constance. –

If you come Thursday afternoon (which somehow I guess you will) you may (if disposed) accompany Harriot & my Brother to a ball at Derby on the same evening. – I am sure you will consider this an unlooked for piece of good fortune! –

Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
31. Sackville Street
London


Notes:

1. Markeaton Hall, Derbyshire, NW of Derby: home of the Mundy family

2. Letter not located.

3. Francis Mundy (1771–1837), politician and father of Constance Talbot.

4. William Mundy (1801-1877), politician, WHFT’s brother-in-law' and his wife, Harriot Georgiana Mundy, née Frampton (1806-1886), WHFT’s cousin & sister-in-law.

5. A cousin of Francis Mundy.

6. Sir Francis Burdett (1770–1844), radical MP. He was a defender of freedom of speech. He was imprisoned for alleged breach of Parliamentary privilege, having published a defence of an imprisoned radical orator. [See Doc. No: 00510].

7. Lady Sophia Burdett, née Coutts.

8. Laura Mundy (1805– 1 September 1842); Emily Mundy (1807– 5 November 1839); Marian Gilder, née Mundy (1806 – 14 October 1860); m. 6 August 1844 William Troward Gilder (d. 1871), Army Surgeon (ret).; WHFT’s sisters-in-law.

9. Ela Theresa Talbot (1835–1893), WHFT’s 1st daughter.

10. Fanny Strangways, daughter of the Rev the Hon Charles Redlynch Fox Strangways (1761–1836).

11. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister.

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