Diplomatic Text
[1]
I was pleased by recg a little note I did not think you would
have been able to write again so soon -- I feel better &c -- I
feel these marks of attention, & feel more real gratitude for
them than for the most ostentatious present sent from a person
who was indifferent to me
Wedy. I was in waiting & was sent for to make a party at Cards
The K. Q: Ly Hartford Ly Weymouth at one Table -- at the other
Pʃs. Royal Pʃs. Augusta Lady C Finch & myself -- their Majesties
were particularly affectionate & attentive to me.
Thursday -- My Uncle Fk. I took him to Ly Charlotte Finch they
talk'd over old days &c -- I saw the Queen at 4 -- she was very
kind -- at 6 I got to Lord Stormonts more dead than alive
there Lord S—— not at home -- only my Uncle F: & Cousin
Charlotte (who is to be under Ly. S: care this winter.
Ly. S was as affte & friendly as poʃsible --
Friday -- My Uncle again Mr. Lyte came, they seemed mutually
glad to renew their former acquaintance -- they left me at ½ past
12 I was something better & went to the Queens House. In
the afternoon whilst my hair was dreʃsing (after ye Maids of
Honors dinner) Miʃs Tryon, Miʃs Sophia -- or as she is called by
her friends fatty Fielding, sat with me -- The former has a
number of good & amiable qualities, but is rather too great
a retailer of anecdotes of ye. day to be quite what I like.
The other is a warm generous character -- too blunt to be
always polite.
I stood ye. whole time I was in waiting this Eveg. -- went to
Bed when I got to St. J—— but not to sleep as my Cough was very
violent -- & ye. recollection that that night last year I
was up watching a dying Mother threw me into a degree of
fever -- I was rejoiced at ye. return of Morng & gladly
quitted my bed -- I recd. your welcome affte. tender note
I will be careful of myself
I know ever thing I write will be sacred -- only be careful
to destroy my letters
Parts typed
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. This undated letter has been placed after rather than before GEO/ADD/3/82/69, as Hamilton reports having gone to bed on Friday night after a hectic day and so is writing on Saturday 27 November, after the receipt of the Prince's letter that morning. Note too the line ‘I will be careful of myself’, which answers the Prince's request to ‘take care of yrself for me’.
Normalised Text
I was pleased by receiving a little note I did not think you would
have been able to write again so soon -- I feel better &c -- I
feel these marks of attention, & feel more real gratitude for
them than for the most ostentatious present sent from a person
who was indifferent to me
Wednesday. I was in waiting & was sent for to make a party at Cards
The King Queen Lady Hartford Lady Weymouth at one Table -- at the other
Princess Royal Princess Augusta Lady Charlotte Finch & myself -- their Majesties
were particularly affectionate & attentive to me.
Thursday -- My Uncle Frederick I took him to Lady Charlotte Finch they
talked over old days &c -- I saw the Queen at 4 -- she was very
kind -- at 6 I got to Lord Stormonts more dead than alive
there Lord Stormont not at home -- only my Uncle Frederick & Cousin
Charlotte (who is to be under Lady Stormont care this winter.
Lady Stormont was as affectionate & friendly as possible --
Friday -- My Uncle again Mr. Lyte came, they seemed mutually
glad to renew their former acquaintance -- they left me at ½ past
12 I was something better & went to the Queens House. In
the afternoon whilst my hair was dressing (after the Maids of
Honours dinner) Miss Tryon, Miss Sophia -- or as she is called by
her friends fatty Fielding, sat with me -- The former has a
number of good & amiable qualities, but is rather too great
a retailer of anecdotes of the day to be quite what I like.
The other is a warm generous character -- too blunt to be
always polite.
I stood the whole time I was in waiting this Evening -- went to
Bed when I got to St. James but not to sleep as my Cough was very
violent -- & the recollection that that night last year I
was up watching a dying Mother threw me into a degree of
fever -- I was rejoiced at the return of Morning & gladly
quitted my bed -- I received your welcome affectionate tender note
I will be careful of myself
I know every thing I write will be sacred -- only be careful
to destroy my letters
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
Metadata
Library References
Repository: Windsor Castle, The Royal Archives
Archive: GEO/ADD/3 Additional papers of George IV, as Prince, Regent, and King
Item title: Letter from Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales
Shelfmark: GEO/ADD/3/83/47
Correspondence Details
Sender: Mary Hamilton
Place sent: London (certainty: high)
Addressee: George, Prince of Wales (later George IV)
Place received: unknown
Date sent: 27 November 1779
when 27 November 1779 (precision: medium)
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mary Hamilton to George, Prince of Wales, on her happiness at receiving his letter; and on an account of her activities.
Hamilton provides an itinerary of her activities, including playing cards with the King, Queen, Lady Hartford, Lady Weymouth, The Princess Royal, Princess Augusta and Lady Charlotte Finch. She describes the King and Queen's kindness towards her; and the company of Miss Fryer and Miss Sophia, 'called by her friends fatty Fielding'. She refers to the anniversary of her mother's death the previous year.
[Draft.]
Length: 1 sheet, 369 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: Tino Oudesluijs, editorial team (completed February 2020)
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 10 December 2021