HAM/1/20/102
Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
Greencroft 7th. Septr- 1787.
Lord Napier
Baby Gazette Extraordinary
We have the pleasure to inform our cor=
=respondents that Miʃs Napier, tho' not two
Years old, Walks as well as her Mother, says
every thing that any body else can say & holds
a conversation with regularity & spirit.
The Master of Napier is a prodigy -- Ten Months
old -- poʃseʃses Six Teeth, -- stands & has
walked alone & promises to unite in him=
=self all the amiable qualities of the
houses of Napier & Clavering.
The Right Honble The Lady Napier purposes
taking her departure from Axwell Park
the 27th. of this Month. She goes to Edinr.
to collect Feathers & pick Straws in
order to form her nest, to be in readineʃs
for the Hatching which is to take place
in her Ladyship's family next Decr- or
January.
Lord Napier talks of keeping his
Gander Month[1] in the Antient Capital
of the Antient Kingdom of Caledonia --
The production expected soon to appear as an
addition to the House of Merchiston, is confidently
aʃserted to be of the Feminine Gender. The
Sponsors in contemplation are, George
Clavering of Greencroft Esqr Mrs- Dickenson
of Taxal & Mrs- Pechell of Stratford Place.
Finis
My Dear Sister, Having in the Gazette
given you a full detail of the Infantry
it is time to tell you how pleased I am at
the good accounts you send me of your
little Louisa. I need not say how happy
it would make Us, could You & Mr. D.
straggle (to make use of a genteel word) as far
as Edinburgh. You may beleive, were we
to penetrate as far as London, we would
endeavour to visit at Taxal. I should very
much enjoy the countenances of the two
Mothers, viewing each others productions, seek=
=ing for the blemishes & paʃsing over the
beauties of the poor Infants, submitted to
their inspection. But alas, there is no proba=
=bility of our meeting for some time. My
cruel Lawsuit still exists & has caused me
much vexation & has cost me upwards of Seven Hundred Pounds. This, with
the expence of my Journey from Ireland, &
the purchase & furnishing of our House,
has left me entirely pennyleʃs. My Lawyers
flatter me, that next term may conclude
the busineʃs; but, I put no faith in their
expectations having been already so frequently
disappointed. I beleive, in the end I shall receive
about Three Thousand Pounds which will do
more than pay off my personal Debts con=
=tracted by Military Purchases before Marriage.
As for my entailed Debts, I beleive I shall
leave them to my Son William to get rid
of the best way he can.
I cannot exactly say whether
Dr. Hunter is the Author of the Book you
mention. His name is Andrew. The title
page will perhaps point out to You whether
it is his Reverence or not -- I shall give
your Meʃsage to Mrs- Hunter when we meet, &
if ever You & I should be together again, I
will give You a full account of the confusion
which arose in My Sisters brain on Mr. Wm-
Dickenson's being originally announced to her
She & ------ Dr. regretted his departure from
th --- r- The Doctor has lately dis=
=cov[ered] a Lime Rock on one of his
Estates for which the Tenants already
pays £250 pr. Ann. A comfortable addition to
their Income. Harriot left her Sister with
every proper decency. We go on very well together.
I never approved of her living with Mrs- H. as
it prevented her mixing with such company
as I wished her to keep, Mrs- H. visiting nobody.
Her health for many Years has been precarious
& she has got into a habit of indolence & in=
=dulgence which has not made her better.
She has three Children alive. One Boy & two Miʃses.
I beg my best wishes to Mr. D.
▼
▼
Tell him, I share in the satisfaction You must
all have received from his father's recovery.
We have for this Month past had the entire care
of Sir Thos. Clavering, his Rib having taken her=
=self to Harrowgate. She returns about the 25th- &
then I shall be in a hurry to get home. Maria
has been invited to confine herself at Axwell
Park, & has had hints thrown out of a desire to
adopt the Child. I set all these things down to[2]
the account of fine Speeches & have hitherto declined
the offer. Maria begs to join in sincere love
& good wishes to you & Yours. Ever my Dear
Sister your faithfull & affectionate Brother
N—[3]
Durham September eighth 1787[4]
Mrs- Dickenson
Taxal
Chapel le Frith
Derby[5]
FreeTho:
Clavering.[6]
[7]
[8]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. ‘The month after a wife's confinement’ (OED s.v. gander-month. Accessed 17-01-2022).
2. This section appears at the bottom of the page, below the address, and is continued at the top.
3. Moved section here from top of page.
4. The address is in the hand of Sir Thomas Clavering, MP for Durham County, provider of the frank.
5. Postmark ‘DURHAM’ in brown ink.
6. Moved address here from middle of page, written vertically.
7. Postmark ‘DURHAM’ in brown ink.
8. Remains of a seal, in red wax.
Normalised Text
Greencroft 7th. September 1787.
Baby Gazette Extraordinary
We have the pleasure to inform our correspondents
that Miss Napier, though not two
Years old, Walks as well as her Mother, says
every thing that any body else can say & holds
a conversation with regularity & spirit.
The Master of Napier is a prodigy -- Ten Months
old -- possesses Six Teeth, -- stands & has
walked alone & promises to unite in himself
all the amiable qualities of the
houses of Napier & Clavering.
The Right Honourable The Lady Napier purposes
taking her departure from Axwell Park
the 27th. of this Month. She goes to Edinburgh
to collect Feathers & pick Straws in
order to form her nest, to be in readiness
for the Hatching which is to take place
in her Ladyship's family next December or
January.
Lord Napier talks of keeping his
Gander Month in the Ancient Capital
of the Ancient Kingdom of Caledonia --
The production expected soon to appear as an
addition to the House of Merchiston, is confidently
asserted to be of the Feminine Gender. The
Sponsors in contemplation are, George
Clavering of Greencroft Esqr Mrs- Dickenson
of Taxal & Mrs- Pechell of Stratford Place.
Finis
My Dear Sister, Having in the Gazette
given you a full detail of the Infantry
it is time to tell you how pleased I am at
the good accounts you send me of your
little Louisa. I need not say how happy
it would make Us, could You & Mr. Dickenson
straggle (to make use of a genteel word) as far
as Edinburgh. You may believe, were we
to penetrate as far as London, we would
endeavour to visit at Taxal. I should very
much enjoy the countenances of the two
Mothers, viewing each others productions, seeking
for the blemishes & passing over the
beauties of the poor Infants, submitted to
their inspection. But alas, there is no probability
of our meeting for some time. My
cruel Lawsuit still exists & has caused me
much vexation & has cost me upwards of Seven Hundred Pounds. This, with
the expense of my Journey from Ireland, &
the purchase & furnishing of our House,
has left me entirely penniless. My Lawyers
flatter me, that next term may conclude
the business; but, I put no faith in their
expectations having been already so frequently
disappointed. I believe, in the end I shall receive
about Three Thousand Pounds which will do
more than pay off my personal Debts contracted
by Military Purchases before Marriage.
As for my entailed Debts, I believe I shall
leave them to my Son William to get rid
of the best way he can.
I cannot exactly say whether
Dr. Hunter is the Author of the Book you
mention. His name is Andrew. The title
page will perhaps point out to You whether
it is his Reverence or not -- I shall give
your Message to Mrs- Hunter when we meet, &
if ever You & I should be together again, I
will give You a full account of the confusion
which arose in My Sisters brain on Mr. William
Dickenson's being originally announced to her
She & ------ Dr. regretted his departure from
--- r- The Doctor has lately discovered
a Lime Rock on one of his
Estates for which the Tenant already
pays £250 per Annum A comfortable addition to
their Income. Harriot left her Sister with
every proper decency. We go on very well together.
I never approved of her living with Mrs- Hunter as
it prevented her mixing with such company
as I wished her to keep, Mrs- Hunter visiting nobody.
Her health for many Years has been precarious
& she has got into a habit of indolence & indulgence
which has not made her better.
She has three Children alive. One Boy & two Misses.
I beg my best wishes to Mr. Dickenson
▼
▼
Tell him, I share in the satisfaction You must
all have received from his father's recovery.
We have for this Month past had the entire care
of Sir Thos. Clavering, his Rib having taken herself
to Harrowgate. She returns about the 25th- &
then I shall be in a hurry to get home. Maria
has been invited to confine herself at Axwell
Park, & has had hints thrown out of a desire to
adopt the Child. I set all these things down to
the account of fine Speeches & have hitherto declined
the offer. Maria begs to join in sincere love
& good wishes to you & Yours. Ever my Dear
Sister your faithful & affectionate Brother
Napier
Durham September eighth 1787
Mrs- Dickenson
Taxal
Chapel le Frith
Derby
FreeThomas
Clavering.
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
Metadata
Library References
Repository: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester
Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers
Item title: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/20/102
Correspondence Details
Sender: Francis Scott Napier, 8th Lord
Place sent: Greencroft
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Taxal, near Chapel-en-le-Frith
Date sent: 8 September 1787
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Francis Napier, 8th Lord Napier, to Mary Hamilton, discussing
his family. Napier titles the letter
Baby Gazette Extraordinary
. He informs Hamilton
that his two-year-old girl can now walk as well as her mother and repeats
anything that anyone says and is able to hold a conversation. The young
'master' of the house is described as a 'prodigy'. He is only ten months old
and already has six teeth and has walked alone. Lady Napier is leaving
Axwell Park for Edinburgh to prepare for her confinement.
Napier writes that it would please him if Hamilton and her family could
visit Edinburgh and notes that he would enjoy seeing the 'two mothers,
viewing each others productions'. The letter is also concerned with
financial business that Napier has and with a book that John Dickenson has
enquired about. Dickenson wondered if Napier's brother-in-Law was the author
of a book [title not included in the letter]. Napier is happy that his
sister Harriet no longer lives with the Hunters as by doing so it prevented
her meeting people as Mrs [Mainie-Schaw] Hunter rarely went out as her
health is very precarious.
Dated at Greencroft.
Length: 1 sheet, 773 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: Christine Wallis, editorial team (completed 17 January 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: 10 March 2022