Unlocking the Mary Hamilton papers

Single Letter

HAM/1/16/39

Letter from Lady Frances Harpur (née Greville) to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


                                                         Caulk Decr. 2d. 1786
                                                         Ly- Frances Harpur



My dear Mrs. Dickenson

      I did not Receive your last kind Letter
till Yesterday, am too late for the Post to day, but Hope
this May find you Well at Warwick Castle;[1] -- I am very
Sorry to Hear Mr. Dickenson has been so Ill; Hope He
Will find every Benefit from, the Bath Waters; --
I Should be very Happy to Meet you there, but Sr.
Harry dislikes it so Much, nothing but Absolute
neceʃsity, can perswade Him, to go to Bath; & the
last Time We Were there He Would not drink
the Waters; -- I Shall be Much Obliged to you to con=
=vey the enclosed, to a friend of Mine, Her Hus=
=band, Is I believe the Most Eminent Surgeon
in Bath, a very Worthy good Man; & I wish to
Recommend Him to you -- His Wife a very Sensible
excellent Woman; -- We have been some Time
Acquainted, She has a large Family, & devotes
All Her Time & Care; to their Education, It Is
some Time Since I Have Heard from Her; so Much


I feel almost afraid to Enquire after Her Family,
least She May have suffered any Loʃs; -- If you
Wish for any addition to your Society in Bath;
& like a pleasant & Improving friend, I beg to
Recommend to you Mrs. Rundell; I think She Is a
Person you would like Much; & would be pleased
w. the Affection, & Unanimity that prevails in Her
Family; -- She Is Really a very Valuable Woman; --
I Hope also you will See Lawrences Pictures, &
Recommend Him, If in your Power; -- I think you
will be pleased w. your young Cousins at W. Castle,
they are charming Children; -- I am afraid I have
Alarmed Lady Warwick as to Winchester; My Br.
I find intends sending His Eldest Son there; in
the Spring; Which gives Me great Uneasineʃs,
as I am aʃsured bad Fevers frequently prevail
there -- the same kind, Which deprived Us, of poor
Ld. Brooke; has been this Autumn at Winchester, &
been fatal to a Physicians Wife & Son; -- I own I am
of Opinion It Is not a Healthy Place; tho' numbers
escape this Disorder; but the Melancholy Event
of our Loʃs; & being aʃsured, this very dangerous


kind of Fever, frequently Happens, Spring & Autumn,
gives Me a Prejudice, against the Place; I cannot
get over; & Makes Me very Anxious My Brother
Should fix on some other School; -- & as He does not
Mean to send His Son, till Spring, I could not forbear
Mentioning My Opinion & fears; that He May
Make every Satisfactory Enquiry; -- I feel Much
Interested for Henry, He Is a Most Interesting
charming Boy; -- I am very glad My Recipes have
been of Use to you; -- I now desire to offer My
Advice to Mr. Dickenson, Still desiring Him not
to trust entirely to Me; but first Enquire of
the faculty, If It can be of any diservice; --
in His Case; -- for a Bilious Disorder, I have
known, w. great Succeʃs, taking a Raw Egg,
twice a Day, before Breakfast, & before
Dinner; It Must be fresh, or new laid -- first
break the Shell; & turn out, the Whole Egg,
White, Yolk, & Liquid, It contains, with a Cup,
& Swallow It; -- this Must be persevered in for
Months; Miʃs Rundell has tried It, for near


two Years w. great Benefits; -- I am not certain If
Mr. Rundell Attends in Lying-In Cases; but I think so,
I am quite Sure, He Is Reckoned a very Eminent
Surgeon, & a very Respectable Character; His Wife
also, & I am Sure you will like Her; -- but dont
let Me fix you, as to Attendance, When you are
confined, but Make Enquiry,  ------  the Most Es=
=tablished Person in that Line; -- I Hope you will
not dislike My Introducing to your Acquaintance,
Mrs. Rundell, It Is I own, taking a Liberty, but I Really
think you will like her Much; & that you will
Suit as to Disposition & turn of Mind exactly;
I Shall be Anxious to know; -- if this finds you
at W. Castle, kind Love to My Br. & Lady Warwick
& the Children; Compts. to Mr. Dickenson, &
am ever very Sincerely & Affecly. Yours
                                                         Frances Harpur


I Hope I Shall Hear from you, as Soon as conve=
=nient after your Arrival at Bath --

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


Notes


 1. According to John Dickenson's diary (DDX 274/19 pp.17-19), the couple arrived at Warwick Castle on 1 December, left on 8 December, and reached Bath on 11 December. There is therefore a good chance that this letter did catch Hamilton at Warwick. Compare Charlotte Gunning's letter of 5 December 1786 (HAM/1/15/1/17), addressed to Courteenhall, Northampton from London, which evidently had to be redirected at least once to Bath.

Normalised Text


                                                         Caulk December 2d. 1786
                                                        



My dear Mrs. Dickenson

      I did not Receive your last kind Letter
till Yesterday, am too late for the Post to day, but Hope
this May find you Well at Warwick Castle; -- I am very
Sorry to Hear Mr. Dickenson has been so Ill; Hope He
Will find every Benefit from, the Bath Waters; --
I Should be very Happy to Meet you there, but Sir
Harry dislikes it so Much, nothing but Absolute
necessity, can persuade Him, to go to Bath; & the
last Time We Were there He Would not drink
the Waters; -- I Shall be Much Obliged to you to convey
 the enclosed, to a friend of Mine, Her Husband
, Is I believe the Most Eminent Surgeon
in Bath, a very Worthy good Man; & I wish to
Recommend Him to you -- His Wife a very Sensible
excellent Woman; -- We have been some Time
Acquainted, She has a large Family, & devotes
All Her Time & Care; to their Education, It Is
some Time Since I Have Heard from Her; so Much


I feel almost afraid to Enquire after Her Family,
lest She May have suffered any Loss; -- If you
Wish for any addition to your Society in Bath;
& like a pleasant & Improving friend, I beg to
Recommend to you Mrs. Rundell; I think She Is a
Person you would like Much; & would be pleased
with the Affection, & Unanimity that prevails in Her
Family; -- She Is Really a very Valuable Woman; --
I Hope also you will See Lawrences Pictures, &
Recommend Him, If in your Power; -- I think you
will be pleased with your young Cousins at Warwick Castle,
they are charming Children; -- I am afraid I have
Alarmed Lady Warwick as to Winchester; My Brother
I find intends sending His Eldest Son there; in
the Spring; Which gives Me great Uneasiness,
as I am assured bad Fevers frequently prevail
there -- the same kind, Which deprived Us, of poor
Lord Brooke; has been this Autumn at Winchester, &
been fatal to a Physicians Wife & Son; -- I own I am
of Opinion It Is not a Healthy Place; though numbers
escape this Disorder; but the Melancholy Event
of our Loss; & being assured, this very dangerous


kind of Fever, frequently Happens, Spring & Autumn,
gives Me a Prejudice, against the Place; I cannot
get over; & Makes Me very Anxious My Brother
Should fix on some other School; -- & as He does not
Mean to send His Son, till Spring, I could not forbear
Mentioning My Opinion & fears; that He May
Make every Satisfactory Enquiry; -- I feel Much
Interested for Henry, He Is a Most Interesting
charming Boy; -- I am very glad My Recipes have
been of Use to you; -- I now desire to offer My
Advice to Mr. Dickenson, Still desiring Him not
to trust entirely to Me; but first Enquire of
the faculty, If It can be of any disservice; --
in His Case; -- for a Bilious Disorder, I have
known, with great Success, taking a Raw Egg,
twice a Day, before Breakfast, & before
Dinner; It Must be fresh, or new laid -- first
break the Shell; & turn out, the Whole Egg,
White, Yolk, & Liquid, It contains, with a Cup,
& Swallow It; -- this Must be persevered in for
Months; Miss Rundell has tried It, for near


two Years with great Benefits; -- I am not certain If
Mr. Rundell Attends in Lying-In Cases; but I think so,
I am quite Sure, He Is Reckoned a very Eminent
Surgeon, & a very Respectable Character; His Wife
also, & I am Sure you will like Her; -- but don't
let Me fix you, as to Attendance, When you are
confined, but Make Enquiry,  ------  the Most Established
 Person in that Line; -- I Hope you will
not dislike My Introducing to your Acquaintance,
Mrs. Rundell, It Is I own, taking a Liberty, but I Really
think you will like her Much; & that you will
Suit as to Disposition & turn of Mind exactly;
I Shall be Anxious to know; -- if this finds you
at Warwick Castle, kind Love to My Brother & Lady Warwick
& the Children; Compliments to Mr. Dickenson, &
am ever very Sincerely & Affectionately Yours
                                                         Frances Harpur


I Hope I Shall Hear from you, as Soon as convenient
 after your Arrival at Bath --

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



 1. According to John Dickenson's diary (DDX 274/19 pp.17-19), the couple arrived at Warwick Castle on 1 December, left on 8 December, and reached Bath on 11 December. There is therefore a good chance that this letter did catch Hamilton at Warwick. Compare Charlotte Gunning's letter of 5 December 1786 (HAM/1/15/1/17), addressed to Courteenhall, Northampton from London, which evidently had to be redirected at least once to Bath.

Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from Lady Frances Harpur (née Greville) to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/16/39

Correspondence Details

Sender: Frances Elizabeth Harpur (née Greville)

Place sent: Calke, Derbyshire

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: Warwick (certainty: medium)

Date sent: 2 December 1786

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Lady Frances Harpur to Mary Hamilton. The letter is concerned with Hamilton's visit to Bath, Mrs Rundell (see HAM/1/8/6) and with general news of family and friends. Harpur writes to Hamilton at Warwick Castle. She is sorry to hear that Mr Dickenson is ill and hopes that the Bath waters will benefit him. Harpur would have liked to visit Hamilton at Bath but notes that Sir Henry Harpur dislikes Bath so much that she is only able to go there when it is absolutely necessary and on the last occasion they were there Sir Henry refused to drink the water. Harpur wishes to acquaint Hamilton with Elizabeth Rundell, a friend of hers whilst she is in Bath. She describes Rundell as being the wife of the 'most Eminent surgeon' in that city and she recommends him to Hamilton. Harpur notes that Mrs Rundell is an excellent and sensible woman whom she has known for some time. She has a large family who take up much of her time including the supervision of their education. Harpur writes that if Hamilton wishes 'for any addition to your society at Bath & like a pleasant & Improving friend, I beg to Recommend to you Mrs Rundell'. There is much affection in the family and Rundell is 'a very valuable woman'. Harpur continues her letter by recommending to Hamilton other acquaintances.
    The letter also relates to Lady Warwick who Harpur believes that she has alarmed. Warwick intended to send her son to Winchester and Harpur assured her that she had heard that 'bad fevers frequently prevail there' and hopes that her brother will choose some other school. Harpur also offers advice to Hamilton's husband on the benefits to the health of 'taking a Raw egg, twice a Day'. Harpur ends her letter offering advice on Hamilton's forthcoming confinement.
    Dated at Caulk [Abbey, Derbyshire].
   

Length: 1 sheet, 727 words

Transliteration Information

Editorial declaration: First edited 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: Transcription and XML version created as part of project 'Unlocking the Mary Hamilton Papers', funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council under grant AH/S007121/1.

Transliterator: Isabella Gerd Margareta Lindström, MA student, Uppsala University (submitted 12 July 2022)

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: 9 June 2023

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