4094. Robert Southey to Bertha Southey, 26 November 1823

 

Address: [in another hand] London Twenty Seventh Nov./ 1823./ Miss Bertha Southey/ Keswick/ Cumberland/ From/ JRickman
Postmark: FREE/ 27 NO 27/ 1823/ +
MS: Keswick Museum and Art Gallery, WC 238. ALS; 4p. 
Unpublished.

Wednesday morning 26 Nov. 1823
My dear Bertha

I take little Roberts

(1)

Robert Southey, Jnr (b. 1817), eldest son of Henry Herbert Southey.

desk (which he is proud of lending me) upon my knees, before the fire in the breakfast room, that I may get as far as I can thro a letter to your B-ship, before Mr Westall comes to breakfast with us. On Saturday morning I walked from Streatham, & had like poor Cupn, only two breakfasts that day, one with Bedford, the other with Wynn. We dined with Lady Malet,

(2)

Lady Susanna Malet, née Wales (1779–1868), widow of Sir Charles Malet, 1st Baronet (1752–1815; DNB), the maternal uncle of Emma Peachy (who was the first wife of Sir William Peachy). Malet’s London home was at 100 Gloucester Place, Portman Square, London.

good part of the morning being uncomfortably disposed of to the deaf & dumb painter,

(3)

Samuel Lane (1780–1859; DNB), whose portrait of Southey is now at Balliol College, Oxford.

who is thought to be making an excellent likeness of my Beautyship. The whole of Sunday, from half past eight in the morning till nine at night EMay & I past at Dr Hughes’s, & I shall leave her to describe the music at St Pauls, & the fine effect of the monuments there by gaslight, with the aweful darkness of the dome above. Dr Stoddart

(4)

John Stoddart (1773–1856; DNB), lawyer and journalist. He was editor of The Times (1814–1816), before starting his own daily paper, The New Times, which he edited 1817–1826.

came there in the evening. Monday EMay <& I> went I to call on the Lambs

(5)

Charles and Mary Anne Lamb.

at Colebrook Cottage, close by the New River at Islington.

(6)

The New River was an artificial waterway opened in 1813 to supply London with drinking water. It begins in Hertfordshire and originally terminated in the Clerkenwell area of Islington, although most of its water is now diverted into a reservoir at Stoke Newington.

A more abominable situation I never saw & cannot conceive, – & yet because it had been a pleasant one in his childhood – & he remembered it with pleasure,

(7)

Colebrook Cottage was on the west side of the New River, an area which remained relatively undeveloped into the 1790s.

he it seems had fixed his heart upon living there. The new river is filthy, green & apparently stagnant, the garden which is of tolerable size is surrounded by houses & there are yards als very near full of unhappy cows who live knee deep in their own litter, & a population of pigs whose stench is pestilential. I would rather be hanged than live there. We called on your Aunts

(8)

Eliza and Martha Fricker.

as we returned, & we dined at Mr Wynns where Bedford met us Edith will relate how pleasant a visit this was, how much she likes the two eldest Miss Wynns, what delightful children the others are,

(9)

Wynn had five daughters: Charlotte (1807–1869), Mary (1808–1869), Harriet (1812–1878), Emma (1814–1824) and Sidney (1818–1867); and two sons, Watkin (1816–1832) and Charles (1822–1896).

& she will tell Cuthbert of the two squirrels which run about the room, & about the people in it, – the prettiest creatures you can imagine.

Yesterday I went to Mr Westalls & got there just two hours after the birth of his third son.

(10)

Westall’s first two sons were: William Westall (1821–1901), later a clergyman and schoolmaster; and Richard Westall (b. 1822), who died in infancy. The third son, born in 1823, was also christened Richard, but seems to have been severely disabled. Westall had two further sons: Thomas Westall (b. 1825), later an engineer; and Robert Westall (1829–1908), who became an artist.

Then I went down to Westminster to settle <with Wynn> about Ediths going to the play with his family when the King goes, which will be either tomorrow or Monday.

(11)

George IV attended the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on Monday, 1 December 1823. It was his first visit for two years, because the interior of the theatre had been undergoing refurbishment. The play was Isaac Bickerstaffe (1733–1812?; DNB), The Hypocrite (1768).

We dined at Mr Jacobs,

(12)

William Jacob (1762–1851; DNB), a merchant, statistician and former MP. He had three daughters.

with whose eldest daughter you will please to tell your mother, I fell as much in love as it is proper <allowable> for me to do. She is the sort of woman that Miss Rickman

(13)

Ann Rickman (b. 1808).

was, but handsomer, & just in her full bloom. To day I have an appointment with an American Bishop at twelve where John Coleridge will meet me if he can.

(14)

John Henry Hobart (1775–1830), Bishop of New York 1816–1830. He undertook a prolonged visit to Europe in 1823–1825 in an attempt to improve his health. Hobart later visited Southey in Keswick in August 1824.

EMay goes with her Uncle & Aunt to dine at Mrs Cooksons

(15)

Possibly a relative of William Wordsworth’s uncle, William Cookson (d. 1820), Canon of Windsor 1792–1820; see Southey to Edith Southey, 12 [May 1820], The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3481.

– & I dine with Bedford, where I shall meet Wynn, & probably my old schoolfellow George Strachey, who has purchased Bownham in Gloucestershire, – the house in which Mr T. Smith lived, when I & poor Danvers visited him.

(16)

George Strachey bought Bownham House in 1821 for £5,825. He demolished the old house and built a new mansion in 1839–1849. Danvers and Southey had visited Thomas Smith at Bownham in March 1803.

– I shall look for Dr Bell this morning. He called here on Sunday, – & Dr & Mrs Hughes called on Monday, when we were out.

Elizas friend Mrs Hawkins

(17)

A Dr Hawkins lived at 37 Upper Brook St in 1824, and the caller may have been his wife.

who lives in Brooke Street now, has called on EMay, & invited her to dinner. By a blunder of the servants she was not let in tho Edith was at home.

Tomorrow my Uncle & Aunt, John May & John Coleridge dine here, the next day we remove to Rickmans. On the Tuesday following we dine & sleep at Sir Robert Inglis, – on the Friday leave Rickmans, & dine with Mr Longman at Hampstead, where we expect to meet Joanna Baillie. I am about to write to Mr Locker proposing to [MS missing] him next, & after a day or two with him, I shall return to Stre[MS missing] to finish my work, leaving Edith with Mrs Gonne or Lady Malet.

God bless you my dear daughter
yr affectionate father
RS.

Notes

1. Robert Southey, Jnr (b. 1817), eldest son of Henry Herbert Southey.[back]
2. Lady Susanna Malet, née Wales (1779–1868), widow of Sir Charles Malet, 1st Baronet (1752–1815; DNB), the maternal uncle of Emma Peachy (who was the first wife of Sir William Peachy). Malet’s London home was at 100 Gloucester Place, Portman Square, London.[back]
3. Samuel Lane (1780–1859; DNB), whose portrait of Southey is now at Balliol College, Oxford.[back]
4. John Stoddart (1773–1856; DNB), lawyer and journalist. He was editor of The Times (1814–1816), before starting his own daily paper, The New Times, which he edited 1817–1826.[back]
6. The New River was an artificial waterway opened in 1813 to supply London with drinking water. It begins in Hertfordshire and originally terminated in the Clerkenwell area of Islington, although most of its water is now diverted into a reservoir at Stoke Newington.[back]
7. Colebrook Cottage was on the west side of the New River, an area which had remained relatively undeveloped into the 1790s.[back]
8. Eliza and Martha Fricker.[back]
9. Wynn had five daughters: Charlotte (1807–1869), Mary (1808–1869), Harriet (1812–1878), Emma (1814–1824) and Sidney (1818–1867); and two sons, Watkin (1816–1832) and Charles (1822–1896).[back]
10. Westall’s first two sons were: William Westall (1821–1901), later a clergyman and schoolmaster; and Richard Westall (b. 1822), who died in infancy. The third son, born in 1823, was also christened Richard, but seems to have been severely disabled. Westall had two further sons: Thomas Westall (b. 1825), later an engineer; and Robert Westall (1829–1908), who became an artist.[back]
11. George IV attended the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on Monday, 1 December 1823. It was his first visit for two years, because the interior of the theatre had been undergoing refurbishment. The play was Isaac Bickerstaffe (1733–1812?; DNB), The Hypocrite (1768).[back]
12. William Jacob (1762–1851; DNB), a merchant, statistician and former MP. He had three daughters.[back]
13. Ann Rickman (b. 1808).[back]
14. John Henry Hobart (1775–1830), Bishop of New York 1816–1830. He undertook a prolonged visit to Europe in 1823–1825 in an attempt to improve his health. Hobart later visited Southey in Keswick in August 1824.[back]
15. Possibly a relative of William Wordsworth’s uncle, William Cookson (d. 1820), Canon of Windsor 1792–1820; see Southey to Edith Southey, 12 [May 1820], The Collected Letters of Robert Southey. Part Six, Letter 3481.[back]
16. George Strachey bought Bownham House in 1821 for £5,825. He demolished the old house and built a new mansion in 1839–1849. Danvers and Southey had visited Thomas Smith at Bownham in March 1803.[back]
17. A Dr Hawkins lived at 37 Upper Brook St in 1824, and the caller may have been his wife.[back]
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