Single Letter

HAM/1/4/3/22

Letter from Jane Holman to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


     

I thank you very much, my dear Cousin, for
your kind letter; which I lose no time in acknow-
ledging
. If you knew the perplexity of my
mind about my future destination, you would,
I am sure, forgive my not having written a-
gain
from Bath. Besides, I was a good deal
taken up, during a part of my stay, by Robert's
making a visit there: I was obliged to relieve
my poor Father, as much as poʃsible, from
playing company; to which he really was not
equal. Till the question in your last, it es-
caped
me that I had not mentioned this to
you.      You and my good friend, Mr: J: Dickenson,
are extremely kind in thinking so much of
my affairs. I am still in all the torment of
suspense; for Mr: H. tells me that there are
points to be adjusted, before he will reengage,
which can only be done by a personal conver-
sation
with Mr: Jones, the Proprietor, who has not
yet left London. I have seen Mr: Jones, who



answered my question in a very frank and
handsome manner; saying, that if Mr: H. was
satisfied, he was, and desired nothing better than
to go on. What these points are, that Mr: H.
alludes to, neither Mr: Jones nor I, can tell; as
he has not written to him, and his letters to
me, are writtenscribbled in such a hurry of busineʃs,
that they are any thing but explanatory. I
sincerely wish your ideas and Mr: D.'s, of my
affairs being “in a good train,” may be verified:
of your kind anxiety about them, I am very
sensible. --
      It is with real affliction that I hear of the
melancholy state of the excellent and
accomplished Lady Herries. God grant that
she may be able to deriveexperience comfort from the offices of
friendship she will receive from you. At
all events, you will derive satisfaction from
bestowing them; and I hope Cheltenham (which
agreed so well with you, before) will counteract
the ill effects I should otherwise apprehend from
so trying a scene. If you find Lady Herries able
to recollect former transient acquaintance, aʃsure



her of my sincere wishes for her recovery.
Have the goodneʃs to present my Compliments
to Sir Robert. --      There is no chance, my
dear Cousin
, of persuading my Father to an
excursion to Cheltenham: he does not like
the place; at best; and his having resided in
it with my poor Mother, would be an insu-
perable
bar, even if he had a preference for
it. --      My Sister goes to Ireland in July: should
things turn out as I would have them, it will
be a delightful opportunity for me to go over.
She is, to do her justice, kindly anxious upon
the subject. She is much to be pitied on [the]
score of her own family; for Captain Hal[liday]['s]
affairs, owing to the state of West-India property,
are likewise deranged: however, he has got a
ship, and is gone out; but his amiable wife is
left at home, with six children, and a seventh
approaching. For Captain Rodney, (Lady Louisa's
husband) my Sister has succeeded in getting an
appointment in Ceylon, so much better than his
former one, as to add 1200£ per annum to his
income. With all her gaieties, she has ever been
an kindexcellent Mother.      -- Pray give my kind love to



Mr: J: D:, and my Cousin, Louisa; and accept, once
more, my best thanks for all your affectionate
interest. As my movements are very uncertain,
you had best continue to direct here: your
letters will be immediately forwarded, should I
be absent. Hoping for a better account of



Lady Herries, I remain,
                             my dear Cousin,
                                  your sincerely obliged and affectionate
                                                         J: Holman.[1]
No: 35 Aldgate High St:
      London
May 19th: 1807.[2]

                             How is Mr: D. senr:?[3]

      P.S. This is such an interlined scrawl, that I am
half ashamed to send it: it is from haste, that I might not
lose the Post.[4]

Mrs: Dickenson[5] [6]
      Leighton House
           Leighton Buzzard
                             Bedfordshire[7]
[8]

(hover over blue text or annotations for clarification;
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)


Notes


 1. This section appears at bottom of p.3 below the address when unfolded.
 2. This dateline appears to the left of the first postscript and of the closing salutation and signature, at bottom of p.3.
 3. This postscript appears between dateline and signature, at bottom of p.3.
 4. Moved postscript here from the top of p.1.
 5. The address is overwritten with a large ‘6’, indicating postage due.
 6. Postmark 'C MY 19 [1]8---' to right of address panel when unfolded.
 7. Moved address panel here from centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically.
 8. There are traces of a seal.

Normalised Text


     

I thank you very much, my dear Cousin, for
your kind letter; which I lose no time in acknowledging
. If you knew the perplexity of my
mind about my future destination, you would,
I am sure, forgive my not having written again
from Bath. Besides, I was a good deal
taken up, during a part of my stay, by Robert's
making a visit there: I was obliged to relieve
my poor Father, as much as possible, from
playing company; to which he really was not
equal. Till the question in your last, it escaped
me that I had not mentioned this to
you.      You and my good friend, Mr: JohnDickenson,
are extremely kind in thinking so much of
my affairs. I am still in all the torment of
suspense; for Mr: Holman tells me that there are
points to be adjusted, before he will re-engage,
which can only be done by a personal conversation
with Mr: Jones, the Proprietor, who has not
yet left London. I have seen Mr: Jones, who



answered my question in a very frank and
handsome manner; saying, that if Mr: Holman was
satisfied, he was, and desired nothing better than
to go on. What these points are, that Mr: Holman
alludes to, neither Mr: Jones nor I, can tell; as
he has not written to him, and his letters to
me, are scribbled in such a hurry of business,
that they are any thing but explanatory. I
sincerely wish your ideas and Mr: Dickenson's, of my
affairs being “in a good train,” may be verified:
of your kind anxiety about them, I am very
sensible. --
      It is with real affliction that I hear of the
melancholy state of the excellent and
accomplished Lady Herries. God grant that
she may be able to experience comfort from the offices of
friendship she will receive from you. At
all events, you will derive satisfaction from
bestowing them; and I hope Cheltenham (which
agreed so well with you, before) will counteract
the ill effects I should otherwise apprehend from
so trying a scene. If you find Lady Herries able
to recollect former transient acquaintance, assure



her of my sincere wishes for her recovery.
Have the goodness to present my Compliments
to Sir Robert. --      There is no chance, my
dear Cousin, of persuading my Father to an
excursion to Cheltenham: he does not like
the place; at best; and his having resided in
it with my poor Mother, would be an insuperable
bar, even if he had a preference for
it. --      My Sister goes to Ireland in July: should
things turn out as I would have them, it will
be a delightful opportunity for me to go over.
She is, to do her justice, kindly anxious upon
the subject. She is much to be pitied on the
score of her own family; for Captain Halliday's
affairs, owing to the state of West-India property,
are likewise deranged: however, he has got a
ship, and is gone out; but his amiable wife is
left at home, with six children, and a seventh
approaching. For Captain Rodney, (Lady Louisa's
husband) my Sister has succeeded in getting an
appointment in Ceylon, so much better than his
former one, as to add 1200£ per annum to his
income. With all her gaieties, she has ever been
an excellent Mother.      -- Pray give my kind love to



Mr: John Dickenson, and my Cousin, Louisa; and accept, once
more, my best thanks for all your affectionate
interest. As my movements are very uncertain,
you had best continue to direct here: your
letters will be immediately forwarded, should I
be absent. Hoping for a better account of



Lady Herries, I remain,
                             my dear Cousin,
                                  your sincerely obliged and affectionate
                                                         Jane Holman.
No: 35 Aldgate High Street
      London
May 19th: 1807.

                             How is Mr: Dickenson senior?

      P.S. This is such an interlined scrawl, that I am
half ashamed to send it: it is from haste, that I might not
lose the Post.

Mrs: Dickenson
      Leighton House
           Leighton Buzzard
                             Bedfordshire

(consult diplomatic text or XML for annotations, deletions, clarifications, persons,
quotations,
spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)



 1. This section appears at bottom of p.3 below the address when unfolded.
 2. This dateline appears to the left of the first postscript and of the closing salutation and signature, at bottom of p.3.
 3. This postscript appears between dateline and signature, at bottom of p.3.
 4. Moved postscript here from the top of p.1.
 5. The address is overwritten with a large ‘6’, indicating postage due.
 6. Postmark 'C MY 19 [1]8---' to right of address panel when unfolded.
 7. Moved address panel here from centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically.
 8. There are traces of a seal.

Metadata

Library References

Repository: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from Jane Holman to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/4/3/22

Correspondence Details

Sender: Jane Holman (née Hamilton)

Place sent: London

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: Leighton Buzzard

Date sent: 19 May 1807

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Mrs Jane Holman née Hamilton to Mary Hamilton, relating to family matters. She is still unsure whether she will travel to Dublin to be with her husband. He has told her that he needs to clarify some matters before he extends his engagement at the theatre there, and that he needs to speak to Frederick Jones regarding this. Jane Holman notes that Jones is still in London and that she has spoken to him about her husband, and that neither she nor he has any idea what clarification Mr Holman is alluding to, as Jones is happy for him to continue his engagement. Mrs Stratford is to return to Ireland in July and Jane Holman pities her, as her family is suffering economically in their West India property.
    Dated at 35 Aldgate High Street [London].
   

Length: 4 sheets, 669 words

Transliteration Information

Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Image to Text' (David Denison & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2013-2019), now incorporated in the project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers' (Hannah Barker, Sophie Coulombeau, David Denison, Tino Oudesluijs, Cassandra Ulph, Christine Wallis & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2019-2023).

All quotation marks are retained in the text and are represented by appropriate Unicode characters. Words split across two lines may have a hyphen on the first, the second or both fragments (reco-|ver, imperfect|-ly, satisfacti-|-on); or a double hyphen (pur=|port, dan|=ger, qua=|=litys); or none (respect|ing). Any point in abbreviations with superscripted letter(s) is placed last, regardless of relative left-right orientation in the original. Thus, Mrs. or Mrs may occur, but M.rs or Mr.s do not.

Acknowledgements: XML version: Research Assistant funding in 2016/17 provided by The John Rylands Research Institute.

Research assistant: Sarah Connor, undergraduate student, University of Manchester

Research assistant: Carla Seabra-Dacosta, MA student, University of Vigo

Transliterator: Laura Gritti, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted May 2017)

Cataloguer: Lisa Crawley, Archivist, The John Rylands Library

Cataloguer: John Hodgson, Head of Special Collections, John Rylands Research Institute and Library

Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors

Revision date: 2 November 2021

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