LWL Mss Vol. 75(75)
Note and letter on behalf of Mary Delany to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton
Diplomatic Text
[1]
67
St Albans St Windsor Jany 10 -- 1786
Tho I addreʃs this Letter
to Mrs Dickenson I must begin it with
my best acknowledgements to Her amiable
Husband and return you dear Sir many
thanks for the good and welcome account
you give of our Dear Friends Health
of the Comfortable araingment of your
affairs which now do not oblige you
to separate long may you both enjoy
a union that Promises so much Happineʃs
My Mary Ann woud have had
me delayd this Letter to a day that she
coud have written Her self but as you
My Dear Mrs Dickenson are so anxious
about the R——y Family I will not
Postpone relieving it -- as I can aʃsure
you that Princeʃs Elizabeth is still in
a Mending way -- and if it Please god
to Preserve Her from a relaps Her Dr Sir
george Baker makes no doubt of Her recovery
tho it may be slow Her Dear and Excellent
Parents have sufferd greatly on Her account
but I was at the Lodge last night and
found them in good spirits. The young
Princeʃses are much better their Hooping
cough being in the decline and they have had
it upon the whole very favourable and Prince
Agustus is better this complaint has been in
is Bowels -- on the whole it has been a sad
Xmaʃs instead of a merry one but I hope the
new year will make amends -- my own Health
is very tolerable -- I think of removing at
the time my Royal Neighbours do -- my Poor
House in London -- now deprived of what used
to make me so Happy in it is a gloomy
Prospect to me -- my Dear Mrs Port I thank
god is much better Her great dejection
of Spirits has ended in a rash which I
hope will establish Her Health she is so
indulgent as to allow me to keep Mary and
she has many kind Freinds here who plead
for her returning with me in the Spring I
beg my best Compts to Lady Wake and shall
rejoyce to receive an account of Her being
restored to that Health and tranquillity she
so well deserves which I am sure you
will greatly contribute to -- I am in great
concern of this time for Poor Lady Brudenel whose
death I expect every Post.[2] -- I cannot help feeling
for the sufferings of Her Friends for so great
a Loss I Expect Lady Weymouth in Town
next week -- Lady Bute and Mrs Boscawen
have been settled some time there -- I hear
Mr Walpole has been confind some time with
the gout -- I have been very uneasy for
Mrs Fountain and her Family the last
account I had from Mr Montagu[3] informed
me of Mrs Wilsons being Past all hopes
of recovery[4] and while He can give any
consolation to His Friends in the Country
I must not Expect to see Him in Town --
Miʃs Burney staid with me 3 weeks
she left me last Thursday it is impoʃsible
not to miʃs the Loʃs of so sensible and
amiable a Companion. I have had two
days visit from Mr John Sandford the
Sailor He told me Miʃs Clarks were very
well and our Friends in Clarges street much
as usual those of Welsbourn[5] lament
your not having been able to fullfill your
Promise -- mr B Dews and mr and mrs
granvill and Their Children have their spent
their Xmaʃs there -- I am ashamed of this dul
Long epistle and with it better for your
sake but it will have some merit if it
Conveys to you as I wish it to do how much
I am my dear Friend your most
affectionate and obligd --
MDelany
Miʃs Ports best Compts
and Many thanks for the Favour
of your Letter it will be sad for
your Friends in London if they have no chance
of seeing you before you return to Taxel
▼
The oeconomy of my time here is as follows
when the weather is fair I air for two
Hours the rest of the Morning I admit
old Freind and aquaintance -- the new ones
of the Place are so good as to accept of
civil meʃsages -- my afternoons are entirely
devoted to my great benefactors --
[6]
[7]To
Mrs. Dickenson
at Ser Wm Wakes Bart
Courteenhall
Northampton[8]
[9]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. This note and letter appear in Kerherve (2015: ...).
2. Lady Brudenell died two days after this letter was written, on 12 January 1786.
3. Mrs Fountain's brother. Mary Delany was close to Frederick's mother Ann Montagu (née Colladon), and stayed in touch with Frederick after her death in 1780.
4. Elizabeth Wilson (née Fountayne), daughter of Mrs. Fountayne, died on the day that this letter was written. Her mother would die later that year in September (see LWL Mss Vol. 75(77)).
5. Unclear whether Delany here refers to the village of Wellesbourne, Warwickshire, in general, or to Wellesbourne Hall in that village, which was owned by Dewes family.
6. Remains of a seal, in red wax, on both the left-hand and right-hand sides of the page.
7. The address has been moved here from the middle of the page, written vertically.
8. The number 73 has been written across the address, indicating postage due.
9. Remains of a stamp, indicating the day it came through the post, 11 JA(nuary 1786).
Normalised Text
St Albans Street Windsor January 10 -- 1786
Though I address this Letter
to Mrs Dickenson I must begin it with
my best acknowledgements to Her amiable
Husband and return you dear Sir many
thanks for the good and welcome account
you give of our Dear Friends Health
of the Comfortable arrangement of your
affairs which now do not oblige you
to separate long may you both enjoy
a union that Promises so much Happiness
My Mary Ann would have had
me delayed this Letter to a day that she
could have written Her self but as you
My Dear Mrs Dickenson are so anxious
about the Royal Family I will not
Postpone relieving it -- as I can assure
you that Princess Elizabeth is still in
a Mending way -- and if it Please god
to Preserve Her from a relapse Her Doctor Sir
george Baker makes no doubt of Her recovery
though it may be slow Her Dear and Excellent
Parents have suffered greatly on Her account
but I was at the Lodge last night and
found them in good spirits. The young
Princesses are much better their Whooping
cough being in the decline and they have had
it upon the whole very favourable and Prince
Agustus is better this complaint has been in
his Bowels -- on the whole it has been a sad
Christmas instead of a merry one but I hope the
new year will make amends -- my own Health
is very tolerable -- I think of removing at
the time my Royal Neighbours do -- my Poor
House in London -- now deprived of what used
to make me so Happy in it is a gloomy
Prospect to me -- my Dear Mrs Port I thank
god is much better Her great dejection
of Spirits has ended in a rash which I
hope will establish Her Health she is so
indulgent as to allow me to keep Mary and
she has many kind Friends here who plead
for her returning with me in the Spring I
beg my best Compliments to Lady Wake and shall
rejoice to receive an account of Her being
restored to that Health and tranquillity she
so well deserves which I am sure you
will greatly contribute to -- I am in great
concern of this time for Poor Lady Brudenel whose
death I expect every Post. -- I cannot help feeling
for the sufferings of Her Friends for so great
a Loss I Expect Lady Weymouth in Town
next week -- Lady Bute and Mrs Boscawen
have been settled some time there -- I hear
Mr Walpole has been confined some time with
the gout -- I have been very uneasy for
Mrs Fountain and her Family the last
account I had from Mr Montagu informed
me of Mrs Wilsons being Past all hopes
of recovery and while He can give any
consolation to His Friends in the Country
I must not Expect to see Him in Town --
Miss Burney stayed with me 3 weeks
she left me last Thursday it is impossible
not to miss the Loss of so sensible and
amiable a Companion. I have had two
days visit from Mr John Sandford the
Sailor He told me Miss Clarks were very
well and our Friends in Clarges street much
as usual those of Welsbourn lament
your not having been able to fulfil your
Promise -- mr Bernard Dews and mr and mrs
granvill and Their Children have spent
their Christmas there -- I am ashamed of this dull
Long epistle and with it better for your
sake but it will have some merit if it
Conveys to you as I wish it to do how much
I am my dear Friend your most
affectionate and obliged --
Mary Delany
Miss Ports best Compliments
and Many thanks for the Favour
of your Letter it will be sad for
your Friends in London if they have no chance
of seeing you before you return to Taxel
▼
The economy of my time here is as follows
when the weather is fair I air for two
Hours the rest of the Morning I admit
old Friend and acquaintance -- the new ones
of the Place are so good as to accept of
civil messages -- my afternoons are entirely
devoted to my great benefactors --
To
Mrs. Dickenson
at Ser William Wakes Baronet
Courteenhall
Northampton
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
Metadata
Library References
Repository: Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University
Archive: Mrs. Delany correspondence
Item title: Note and letter on behalf of Mary Delany to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: LWL Mss Vol. 75(75)
Correspondence Details
Sender: Anne Agnew (née Astley) and formerly Pendarves), Mary Delany (née Granville
Place sent: Windsor
Addressee: John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton
Place received: Northampton
Date sent: 11 January 1786
Letter Description
Summary: Note and letter on behalf of Mary Delany to John Dickenson and Mary Hamilton, informing them about Delany's various social engagements, as well as updating them on the Royal Family.
Length: 1 sheet, 716 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 8 April 2021)
Copyright: Transcriptions, notes and TEI/XML © the editors
Revision date: 2 November 2021