Unlocking the Mary Hamilton papers

Single Letter

HAM/1/8/2/14

Letter from Dorothy Blosset to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


▼
Blosset                                                             1792
▼
                                                         Billingbear Ocbr. 18th-
                                                                        1792


I was much Mortified my dear Sir & Madam -- at the long
Silence & apparent Coldneʃs of my Friends but was Still more
Concern'd when I found on the rect of Mr Dickensons kind letter
that the silence was so Accounted for, I am indeed truly
Griev'd to hear that Mrs Dickenson has been so Unlucky as
to lose a little Brother or Sister to the dear little Louisa
& most truly hope that she will take great care of herself
in case she sd be bleeding as I believe (at least I've been told)
that these Accidents are very hurtful to the general Constitu
tion[1] -- I flatter my self there will be no future Chasms
in our Correspondence. I can easily believe how many little
immemorable Events take place which prevent one from
writing a letter. & are too insignificant to be Inescere
imprimis[2] as to yr Enquiry respecting Dr Blagdens honours[3]
you were perfectly right in your Conjectures. Monsr. le
Medicin, will not do abroad.[4] except at Paris, where perhaps


that Title wd be now too aʃsuming. I find the Party paʃs'd
thr'o France without interruption their original design was
to remain at Geneva till this Month. if they have not yet
Croʃs'd the Alps. I think their Chance at present, but
a bad one -- take the Season -- the Uncommon Events which
have occur'd in the Space of as few Months the appearance
is awful[5] -- I find some of the Learned & more Serious part
of Mankind, are apprehensive that all these are preludes
to the great Event that we are taught to look forward to
this is much beyond the boundaries of my reason th'o
I may have ventur'd to think on these things, in a lonely
hour -- most horrible have been the Effects of this Wonder
ful revolution in France -- however I am only surpris'd that
as the World in general is certainly more Civilis'd, that these
People sd be so Ferocious now as they were 280 years ago.[6]
I have been reading the History of the reformation, &
the reform'd Churches in France -- & I have been frequently
surpris'd to see the same accounts in the Stir of last Week that I read
an hour before in that book -- it is a very pleasant Book
wrote with Vivacity & impartiality -- by the Revd Stephen Laval.[7]


I have paʃs'd Nine Weeks at Trunkwell[8] with my Aunt
St Leger it is a sweet place & I sd rather imagine
not Unlike Taxall. It has not been alter'd according
to the fashion of the times. there I live very much
Secluded. My Aunt has part of her Estate in her hands
& I have as much interest in the Events of the Farm
as any one can have in Affairs of State -- we have been
lucky in our Harvest. & all but the latter meadow Hay
has been Succeʃsful. we arriv'd here the day before Yesterday
& find Mr. Neville much as he was last year -- he says
leʃs for he certainly grows Weaker -- Miʃs Neville desires me
to present her best Compliments to Mrs. Dickenson
a report prevail'd a few days ago. that Mr. G: Cambridge
is to marry the Eldest Miʃs Thrale, but Yesterday there
came another account to say that it was not so
sure as it was Announc'd to be -- I hear her Mother
Mrs Piozzi is gone to Paris I suppose to learn how to
regulate a State -- so perhaps to see the trial of the
Ci devant R de F:[9] not that I expect they will come
to that Extremity.[10] I rather think they will keep them


prisoners for Life -- the Gracious R: has committed an indescre
tion which occasion'd his being very ill for Several hours
he Eat Apple Pye & Tea -- his R——l Consort has something
the matter with her R——l foot. now reste. I believe the
Court is now Much as it was in Mrs. D——s Time -- you did
not name Miʃs Dickenson I hope she has not had any return
of her Stomach Complaint. I beg to be kindly remember'd
to her. & to little dear Louisa. I hope she attends Grandpapa
upon Myra & I beg she will send me an account of her
Turkeys -- poor Mrs. de Salis has been very ill with a
Complaint in her Stomach. I hope she is now much
better for the Angostura Bark[11] -- Pray let me know if
Lady Herries goes abroad. I sd hardly think she wd
venture. & yet she seem'd to have so much inclination
that perhaps she may go to Naples by Sea. Lord & Lady
Camelford are going inmediately -- Sir Robt was to meet Lady
Herries: but I sd suppose it wd not be an easy matter to appoint
the places where to meet. Adieu my dear Mr & Mrs Dickenson
my Mother is I thank God very well & joiUnites with me in
in best Compts. & wishes -- & believe me yr very faithful &
                                                         oblig'd DBloʃset

NB: direct under Cover to Richard Aldworth Neville Esqr
                             Billingbear[12] Maidenhead[13]

I shall now see by the Time you take
if you are to be depended upon -- [14]

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


Notes


 1. There are a number of references to an expected sibling to Louisa in Hamilton's correspondence, suggesting a sad history of baby loss alongside happier aspects of the Dickensons' marriage. The earliest example is in HAM/1/5/2/11 (April 1787); in Henry Hamilton's letter of 14 June 1790, HAM/1/4/6/1, he notes that Mary Hamilton has told him ‘of a boy’. An ‘accident’, probably a miscarriage, is mentioned by Frances Harpur in D2375/F/G/2/1(85) (undated), likewise by Maria Napier in HAM/1/20/121 p.2 (June 1793). This letter from Dorothy Blosset is unusual amongst these for mentioning a miscarriage after the event, rather than the expectation of a child, and is notable for her discussion of the traumatic impact of miscarriage on the mother.
 2. The reading may be Latin inescere ‘to entice’ + imprimis ‘in the first place’.
 3. Blagden was knighted in 1792.
 4. Hannah Wills (2019) cites a letter from Blagden to his brother ‘in which he mused that a knighthood had given him “a title more convenient for travelling than that of Doctor”’. ‘Joseph Banks and Charles Blagden: cultures of advancement in the scientific worlds of late eighteenth-century London and Paris’, Royal Society Journal of the History of Science 73:4 (Accessed 10-11-2020).
 5. Probably a reference to the ‘September Massacres’ which had taken place in Paris on 2-6 September 1792.
 6. Miss Blosset refers here to the Anglo-French War of 1512-14.
 7. Stephen [Étienne] Abel Laval, A Compendious History of the Reformation in France, 4 vols. (H. Woodfall, London: 1737-43).
 8. Trunkwell House was the family home of Blosset's mother, Elizabeth Dorothy (née Le Coq St. Leger, daughter of Henry le Coq St Leger and Jane [Jeanne] Chardin).
 9. From September 1792, following his dethronement Louis XVI was known as 'Citizen Louis Capet'.
 10. Against Miss Blosset's expectations, Louis the 16th's trial took place in December 1792, at which he was convicted of high treason. He was executed on 21 January 1793.
 11. A traditional remedy for fever, diarrhoea and spasms, derived from South America.
 12. On Billingbear see also GEO/ADD/3/82/49 p.5.
 13. Moved this postscript from the top of p.1.
 14. Moved this second postscript from the top of p.1.

Normalised Text


▼

▼
                                                         Billingbear October 18th-
                                                                        1792


I was much Mortified my dear Sir & Madam -- at the long
Silence & apparent Coldness of my Friends but was Still more
Concerned when I found on the receipt of Mr Dickensons kind letter
that the silence was so Accounted for, I am indeed truly
Grieved to hear that Mrs Dickenson has been so Unlucky as
to lose a little Brother or Sister to the dear little Louisa
& most truly hope that she will take great care of herself
in case she should be bleeding as I believe (at least I've been told)
that these Accidents are very hurtful to the general Constitution
 -- I flatter my self there will be no future Chasms
in our Correspondence. I can easily believe how many little
immemorable Events take place which prevent one from
writing a letter. & are too insignificant to be Inescere
imprimis as to your Enquiry respecting Dr Blagdens honours
you were perfectly right in your Conjectures. Monsr. le
Medicin, will not do abroad. except at Paris, where perhaps


that Title would be now too assuming. I find the Party passed
through France without interruption their original design was
to remain at Geneva till this Month. if they have not yet
Crossed the Alps. I think their Chance at present, but
a bad one -- take the Season -- the Uncommon Events which
have occurred in the Space of as few Months the appearance
is awful -- I find some of the Learned & more Serious part
of Mankind, are apprehensive that all these are preludes
to the great Event that we are taught to look forward to
this is much beyond the boundaries of my reason though
I may have ventured to think on these things, in a lonely
hour -- most horrible have been the Effects of this Wonderful
 revolution in France -- however I am only surprised that
as the World in general is certainly more Civilised, that these
People shoud be so Ferocious now as they were 280 years ago.
I have been reading the History of the reformation, &
the reformed Churches in France -- & I have been frequently
surprised to see the same accounts in the Stir of last Week that I read
an hour before in that book -- it is a very pleasant Book
written with Vivacity & impartiality -- by the Reverend Stephen Laval.


I have passed Nine Weeks at Trunkwell with my Aunt
St Leger it is a sweet place & I should rather imagine
not Unlike Taxall. It has not been altered according
to the fashion of the times. there I live very much
Secluded. My Aunt has part of her Estate in her hands
& I have as much interest in the Events of the Farm
as any one can have in Affairs of State -- we have been
lucky in our Harvest. & all but the latter meadow Hay
has been Successful. we arrived here the day before Yesterday
& find Mr. Neville much as he was last year -- he says
less for he certainly grows Weaker -- Miss Neville desires me
to present her best Compliments to Mrs. Dickenson
a report prevailed a few days ago. that Mr. George Cambridge
is to marry the Eldest Miss Thrale, but Yesterday there
came another account to say that it was not so
sure as it was Announced to be -- I hear her Mother
Mrs Piozzi is gone to Paris I suppose to learn how to
regulate a State -- so perhaps to see the trial of the
Ci devant Roi de France not that I expect they will come
to that Extremity. I rather think they will keep them


prisoners for Life -- the Gracious Roi has committed an indescretion
 which occasioned his being very ill for Several hours
he Ate Apple Pie & Tea -- his Royal Consort has something
the matter with her Royal foot. now reste. I believe the
Court is now Much as it was in Mrs. Dickensons Time -- you did
not name Miss Dickenson I hope she has not had any return
of her Stomach Complaint. I beg to be kindly remembered
to her. & to little dear Louisa. I hope she attends Grandpapa
upon Myra & I beg she will send me an account of her
Turkeys -- poor Mrs. de Salis has been very ill with a
Complaint in her Stomach. I hope she is now much
better for the Angostura Bark -- Pray let me know if
Lady Herries goes abroad. I should hardly think she would
venture. & yet she seemed to have so much inclination
that perhaps she may go to Naples by Sea. Lord & Lady
Camelford are going immediately -- Sir Robert was to meet Lady
Herries: but I should suppose it would not be an easy matter to appoint
the places where to meet. Adieu my dear Mr & Mrs Dickenson
my Mother is I thank God very well & Unites with me in
best Compliments & wishes -- & believe me your very faithful &
                                                         obliged Dorothy Blosset

NB: direct under Cover to Richard Aldworth Neville Esqr
                             Billingbear Maidenhead

I shall now see by the Time you take
if you are to be depended upon --

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



 1. There are a number of references to an expected sibling to Louisa in Hamilton's correspondence, suggesting a sad history of baby loss alongside happier aspects of the Dickensons' marriage. The earliest example is in HAM/1/5/2/11 (April 1787); in Henry Hamilton's letter of 14 June 1790, HAM/1/4/6/1, he notes that Mary Hamilton has told him ‘of a boy’. An ‘accident’, probably a miscarriage, is mentioned by Frances Harpur in D2375/F/G/2/1(85) (undated), likewise by Maria Napier in HAM/1/20/121 p.2 (June 1793). This letter from Dorothy Blosset is unusual amongst these for mentioning a miscarriage after the event, rather than the expectation of a child, and is notable for her discussion of the traumatic impact of miscarriage on the mother.
 2. The reading may be Latin inescere ‘to entice’ + imprimis ‘in the first place’.
 3. Blagden was knighted in 1792.
 4. Hannah Wills (2019) cites a letter from Blagden to his brother ‘in which he mused that a knighthood had given him “a title more convenient for travelling than that of Doctor”’. ‘Joseph Banks and Charles Blagden: cultures of advancement in the scientific worlds of late eighteenth-century London and Paris’, Royal Society Journal of the History of Science 73:4 (Accessed 10-11-2020).
 5. Probably a reference to the ‘September Massacres’ which had taken place in Paris on 2-6 September 1792.
 6. Miss Blosset refers here to the Anglo-French War of 1512-14.
 7. Stephen [Étienne] Abel Laval, A Compendious History of the Reformation in France, 4 vols. (H. Woodfall, London: 1737-43).
 8. Trunkwell House was the family home of Blosset's mother, Elizabeth Dorothy (née Le Coq St. Leger, daughter of Henry le Coq St Leger and Jane [Jeanne] Chardin).
 9. From September 1792, following his dethronement Louis XVI was known as 'Citizen Louis Capet'.
 10. Against Miss Blosset's expectations, Louis the 16th's trial took place in December 1792, at which he was convicted of high treason. He was executed on 21 January 1793.
 11. A traditional remedy for fever, diarrhoea and spasms, derived from South America.
 12. On Billingbear see also GEO/ADD/3/82/49 p.5.
 13. Moved this postscript from the top of p.1.
 14. Moved this second postscript from the top of p.1.

Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from Dorothy Blosset to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/8/2/14

Correspondence Details

Sender: Dorothy Blosset

Place sent: Waltham St Lawrence

Addressee: John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton

Place received: unknown

Date sent: 18 October 1792

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Dorothy Blosset to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton. She writes on general news of friends and on what she is reading. She notes that she has been reading on the history of the reformation and the reformed churches in France.
   

Length: 1 sheet, 861 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: Cassandra Ulph, editorial team (completed 10 November 2020)

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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