HAM/2/15/1
Incomplete journal-letters from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
[1]
oct 25 1805
usual, to stop ------------------------------
provoked when I was prevented --- first ye Porter
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------ -- After tea I
strummed famously for two hours & having no Ears -
however to offend but my own I have no doubt but I
disturbed the Rats from their quarters -- after supper wch
did not take up much time -- I wrote a long letter to ------
------ -- I told him amongst other things of a friendly
nature “that it was best to be candid and honest & to say at once
that the Ladies here were not pleased wh- his Juvenilities
when last here, that the young ones prated & the old Hens
became very broody & wrote him a Letter wch. I got poʃseʃs
sion of & threw into the fire -- that I laughed heartily on
finding that he was Semper idem & pleaded -- he cannot
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
------ Octbr. 1805 23 this morning I went to Woburn -- his Grace
cold as the weather the Duke of Bedford -- the She Grace was in the park almost
naked -- I paʃsed her when we were dismiʃsed at ten yards
& bowed to her she looked sour & just inclined her empty
head -- there was a Lady with her who was decently dreʃsed
the Dʃs. wore nankeen Gaiters that came high up the Legs
Her under Garment was White & very thin some part of
which occasionally descended below the knees when the Wind
permitted & a crimson shawl drawn round her shoulders
when I got out of the Park a person overtook me (Mr. G) & said
Sir did you take notice of the Ds dreʃs I ansd. yes -- he opened
his mouth & shewed his white teeth in astonishment, why
Sir Ill swear she had neither shift nor under petticoat
that reached to her knees & as the wind blew against her I saw
the shape of Every thing -- surely no modest or virtuous Wo-
man could dreʃs so indecently, I set her down as” —— don't
read this to Ly L—— After tea scraped away like Fury --
by the by -- poor Fury is disconsolate & fine Lady like, when
I call for Louisa she pricks up her Ears & looks about
her appetite is not very good, but she has given up the
guardianship of the House to Pincher & attends me --
24 -- a great & dirty Fair here -- Yrs. is just arrived and
delighted me wth- the account of yr- journey & your arri
val at C -- just in the old Style -- go as Miʃs Hamilton
& continue the Delight of my Heart -- I am to meet
the Lowndes again on Saturday -- tomorrow I propose to go
to Stockgrove to dinner[2] -- You depend on it if you stay
very long that I shall turn the House out of the Windows
& I wish Mrs. Leigh would turn the Windows out of the
House -- this reminds me of Winslow -- that house was
built by Government in Queen Annes Reign as Mr.
Lowndes was high in office -- it was very ill contrived &
the whole house lined with Oak wch. gave it a dismal
appearance & when the Sun penetrates the colour
of the oak is gone and the wood itself much injured -- it
would be an unpardonable Sin to hint even[3]
[at] the difference a little paint wd. make --
[s]trange to tell, two years ago he chose to
new saʃh the House, the frames before were as thick as my
arm -- ten years hence he may paint the rest -- there is
sumptuous hospitality there indeed like the good
old english times as they called, but in my opinion
improperly, as the Enjoyments then were mainly animal
eating & drinking & we contrive to fill our stomacks in
these grumbling days of taxation & are not plagued with
so innumerable a body of Toadys, besides Society is on a
different footing -- if the times dont grow worse I shall
not grumble -- [4]
from India on a comfortable seperate Maintenance/ pretty doing
Mrs. Isakey is going to leave Mr. Warren -- she saw her Aunt in
town & she seemed in good health & spirits & she despairs of ever
receiving Louisas promised Letter &c -- [5]
▼
▼
warn you ------ [6]
I like -- I called to ------------------------------
are quite brave -- Adieu -- Be happy & I shall feel
contented -- Love to L. & P. Yrs. most affy J.D——[7]
[8] [9]
[10]
Single
To
Mrs. Dickenson
84 High Street
Cheltenham
Glocesters-[11] [12]
[13]
Louisa feels greatly as I shd. suppose she would of
a public aʃsembly, where Miʃses who
are always seen have the advantage --
------------------ [Mr & Mrs Bail] --- ------------------------------[14]
s[ingle]
[15]
[Mr]s Dicken[son]
Chelten[ham]
Gloc[estershire]
[16]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. The first three pages consist of a letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton, with some crossing-out on p.1 assumed to be by Hamilton. The top of the letter has been cut away, allowing 5 lines to show through from p.2 col.2.
2. Stockgrove Park, Leighton Buzzard, home of Edwin Hanmer.
3. Remains of a gummed wafer.
4. The rest of the sheet has been cut away.
5. This section is written vertically on the right side of the sheet.
6. Part of the sheet has been cut away, allowing 7 lines to show through from the foot of p.2 col.1.
7. Moved section (sec6) here from left side of sheet, written vertically.
8. Postmark in sepia ink dated 25 October 1805.
9. Prick marks from a stamp used to seal the letter with a gummed wafer.
10. Mileage stamp in sepia ink: ‘LEIGHTON BUZZARD 53’.
11. Dickenson varies between spellings with and without u (cf. HAM/1/2/18 p.2 col. 1 and HAM/1/2/27 p.2).
12. Moved address here from centre of sheet.
13. This fragment has been cut from a letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton. To judge from the address on p.5, it is roughly contemporary with the letter on pp.1-3.
14. The rest of the sheet has been cut away.
15. The remains of a distance mark in sepia ink reading ‘BUZZARD’.
16. Seal in red wax.
Normalised Text
usual, to stop ------------------------------
provoked when I was prevented --- first the Porter
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------ -- After tea I
strummed famously for two hours & having no Ears -
however to offend but my own I have no doubt but I
disturbed the Rats from their quarters -- after supper which
did not take up much time -- I wrote a long letter to ------
------ -- I told him amongst other things of a friendly
nature “that it was best to be candid and honest & to say at once
that the Ladies here were not pleased with his Juvenilities
when last here, that the young ones prated & the old Hens
became very broody & wrote him a Letter which I got possession
of & threw into the fire -- that I laughed heartily on
finding that he was Semper idem & pleaded -- he cannot
------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
------ October 1805 23 this morning I went to Woburn -- his Grace
cold as the weather the Duke of Bedford -- the She Grace was in the park almost
naked -- I passed her when we were dismissed at ten yards
& bowed to her she looked sour & just inclined her empty
head -- there was a Lady with her who was decently dressed
the Duchess wore nankeen Gaiters that came high up the Legs
Her under Garment was White & very thin some part of
which occasionally descended below the knees when the Wind
permitted & a crimson shawl drawn round her shoulders
when I got out of the Park a person overtook me (Mr. G) & said
Sir did you take notice of the Duchess dress I answered yes -- he opened
his mouth & showed his white teeth in astonishment, why
Sir Ill swear she had neither shift nor under petticoat
that reached to her knees & as the wind blew against her I saw
the shape of Every thing -- surely no modest or virtuous Woman
could dress so indecently, I set her down as” —— don't
read this to Lady L—— After tea scraped away like Fury --
by the by -- poor Fury is disconsolate & fine Lady like, when
I call for Louisa she pricks up her Ears & looks about
her appetite is not very good, but she has given up the
guardianship of the House to Pincher & attends me --
24 -- a great & dirty Fair here -- Yours is just arrived and
delighted me with the account of your journey & your arrival
at Cheltenham -- just in the old Style -- go as Miss Hamilton
& continue the Delight of my Heart -- I am to meet
the Lowndes again on Saturday -- tomorrow I propose to go
to Stockgrove to dinner -- You depend on it if you stay
very long that I shall turn the House out of the Windows
& I wish Mrs. Leigh would turn the Windows out of the
House -- this reminds me of Winslow -- that house was
built by Government in Queen Annes Reign as Mr.
Lowndes was high in office -- it was very ill contrived &
the whole house lined with Oak which gave it a dismal
appearance & when the Sun penetrates the colour
of the oak is gone and the wood itself much injured -- it
would be an unpardonable Sin to hint even
at the difference a little paint would make --
strange to tell, two years ago he chose to
new sash the House, the frames before were as thick as my
arm -- ten years hence he may paint the rest -- there is
sumptuous hospitality there indeed like the good
old english times as they called, but in my opinion
improperly, as the Enjoyments then were mainly animal
eating & drinking & we contrive to fill our stomachs in
these grumbling days of taxation & are not plagued with
so innumerable a body of Toadies, besides Society is on a
different footing -- if the times don't grow worse I shall
not grumble --
from India on a comfortable separate Maintenance/ pretty doing
Mrs. Isakey is going to leave Mr. Warren -- she saw her Aunt in
town & she seemed in good health & spirits & she despairs of ever
receiving Louisas promised Letter &c --
▼
▼
warn you ------
I like -- I called to ------------------------------
are quite brave -- Adieu -- Be happy & I shall feel
contented -- Love to Louisa & P. Yours most affectionately John Dickenson
Single
To
Mrs. Dickenson
84 High Street
Cheltenham
Glocestershire
Louisa feels greatly as I should suppose she would of
a public assembly, where Misses who
are always seen have the advantage --
------------------ Mr & Mrs Bail --- ------------------------------
single
Mrs Dickenson
Cheltenham
Glocestershire
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: Incomplete journal-letters from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/2/15/1
Correspondence Details
Sender: John Dickenson
Place sent: Leighton Buzzard (certainty: medium)
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Cheltenham
Date sent:
Letter Description
Summary: These incomplete journal-letters from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton are bound together with HAM/2/15/2 and HAM/2/15/3 but have no original connection with either.
Length: 2 sheets, 753 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 2 August 2021)
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: 26 April 2023