Senhora Small Fry, from PastPresented

SENHORA SMALL FRY NOTES: PAGES 11-20
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Abbreviations- personal names: Robert Southey hereafter "RS"; Mary Barker "MB"; William Wordsworth "WW"; Dorothy Wordsworth "DW"; Sara Hutchinson "SH"
Abbreviations- book titles:
  • Curry: "New Letters of Robert Southey", edited by Kenneth Curry (1965. 2 volumes)
  • Coburn: "The Letters of Sara Hutchinson", edited by Kathleen Coburn (1954)
  • Life & Corr.: "The Life and Correspondence of Robert Southey", edited by the Rev. Charles Cuthbert Southey (1850. 6 volumes)
  • Warter: "Selections from the Letters of Robert Southey", edited by John Wood Warter (1856. 4 volumes)
  • W Letters: "The Letters of William and Dorothy Wordsworth" edited by E. de Selincourt & others (2nd edition, c1970, several volumes)
Page & topicNotes
10-11: Teddesley presents + Espriella requests + bright daughterRS to MB from Keswick, 27 Nov 1805, in Warter:
"I should have written sooner to you, but for the daily expectation of hearing further tidings, and the uncomfortable uncertainty which the disappointment occasions. However, it is a wise practical maxim, that no news is good news, and I shall write in that belief.
First and foremost, we have to thank you for a pine-apple and a side of venison, which was very good, and, indeed, is so still, for there is a good hash remaining. If these things come from Sir Edward himself, I beg you will make my acknowledgments in suitable phrase.
Secondly, I have to request help for D. Manuel Alvarez Espriella. Have you a Cookery Book? There is at the end of Mrs Glass, and all her succession, an admirable course of lessons in carving, from which I want the appropriate terms"... "In the next place, I am going to write a letter about English music and the fugues. This will reach you on Sunday; and it is well you are not going to church, or you would laugh at this during the sermon." ..."so do you supply what I really do not understand, and we will have a very good letter between us." ... "I repented that I had not accompanied you to Kendal, and seen you into the mail; and the uncertainty whether you found room in it or not was my punishment. You are missed still more in my study than below stairs. Your litter was become part of the furniture of the room, and I never like to lose what is become familiar. My daughter talks" ... [etc.]
11: Doctor Dove (and Nobs)RS to C.W. Wynn, 8 Jan 1805, in Curry + editor's introduction to 1-volume edition of "The Doctor" (1848) + see note to page 22: Bhow Begum, below.
11: Bath visit + Espriella materialRS to MB from Keswick, 31 Jan 1806, in Warter:
"Both your letters are arrived, and my sole motive for writing is, in the manner of business, to acknowledge their receipt. Edith will send you an account of the disbursement.
Of course you take your sketches to Bath. I shall, therefore, beg leave to send Danvers to look at them, when I know where I can find you. It will delight him to recollect the places, and to talk about the Lakes." ... "I shall certainly not pass through Penkridge, you being gone, but either go in the mail from Penrith, or travel slowly"... "It was my intention to have picked up 'Espriella' on my way; you can take it with you to Bath; and send it me to London when I get there; but neither show it nor speak of it to anybody except Sir E., for I consider its success and sale as almost depending upon secrecy. Remember the fugues, and write me a letter about the rooms, and the form of government under the master of the ceremonies- in fact as much about the place as you please, which I will knead up with my own knowledge." ... "Senhora, if these things are done at all, it must be within the next three weeks, and the sooner the better. Think of the vignettes, and do not procrastinate till it be too late.
If Barker recollects me, as probably he will do, Wynn having introduced me to him when I went to see his picture from Mary the Maid of the Inn, give my compliments to him." ... [this was another Thomas Barker, the painter usually just known as "Barker of Bath", probably not related to Mary, but I'm prepared to be surprised]
11: Bath visit & DanversRS to Charles Danvers Esq. at Bristol, from Keswick, 3 Feb 1806, in Warter.
11: London delayLetter written en route, 22 Mar 1806, in Curry
+ editor's note in Life & Corr. that RS was in Norwich by 12 April
11-12: Musical Letter + London tales + red shoes + Littleton invitationRS to MB from Keswick, 26 May 1806, in Warter:
"I ought to have written to you long since; but, in London, I was very unwell at first, as well as very busy and since my return I have been, and still am, so busy and so idle,- idle, from sheer enjoyment of fresh air and fine weather,- that I am behindhand with everything.
Thank you for the Musical Letter" ... [etc.] "As for 'Espriella', that, I think, is sure of a circulating library sale; the 'Cid', I think, is likely to be too good a book to succeed,- for goodness, Senhora minha, stands in the way of books as well as of men.
Well, what have I to say" ... [etc.] "I suppose that the person whom I saw with most pleasure was Mrs Gonne ... I believe she is as perfectly good as it is possible for a human being to be." ...
"I have just been obliged to tell" ... [etc.] "You know it was a vile trick you played us, in staying so short a time; and here are a thousand drawings still to be made." ... "You will be pleased to write me a letter, to tell me you are very well, and in good spirits, and that Sir E. is coming to see the Lakes without delay." ...
12: more on pomps and vanitiesRS to John May Esq., from Keswick, 18 Jun 1806, in Warter:
... " My daughter was so delighted with the new gown which Mrs May sent her, that I thought it expedient to inform her that new gowns were among the pomps and vanities of this wicked world; a warning which, as you may perhaps suppose, has not made her a whit the less proud of it." ...
12: Thomas Barker death + brothers partingRS to MB, from Keswick, 25 Sep 1806, in Warter.
12-13: Henry Kirke WhiteRS to MB, from Keswick, 1 Feb 1807, in Warter:
" 'I am writing all the letters to my Barker', says Edith this morning,- my Barker, she always calls you, and always adds, 'Will she come again?' It is time, for conscience sake, that I should follow my daughter's example." ... "Your last letter was of a better complexion than usual- things could not have taken a better turn." ... "How is it, Senhora, that so few people in this world look at things fairly? Is it not true that in most cases people examine both books and men, not for what they can find in them, but for what they wish to find, and to confirm their own opinions, not to rectify them!
I had nearly forgotten two things: the one to remember you, that I was to remember you, that you was to remember me that I loved toasted cheese; with which the Evangelicals may come. The other thing is of too different a nature to be mentioned in the same paragraph.
Did I ever tell you of Henry Kirke White" ... [etc.]
13: MB illness + RS settled at Keswick RS to MB, from Keswick, 10 Apr 1807, in Warter:
"The worst part" ... [etc.] "do the rest. It is better to have a sister, that is certain; but it is better to lose her, than, for instance, to have her years in dying of cancer, or, what is worse, of a broken heart, from the ill usage of a husband, like Mrs ___'s sister. I am very glad you thought of Carlisle; he is truly a kind-hearted man, and even his profession has not hardened him. B___ is, perhaps" ... [etc.] "must bear up." ... "As for your damned ____, or whatever they be, I could wring their necks off; and if ___'s were in my hands, his would be in some danger. . . . . ." ..."happily, few mental wounds are mortal. What other evils" ... [etc.] "full of physic.
I have now much to tell you concerning myself; and had, indeed, begun to tell it you in a more playful mood. Know, then, that I am settled at Keswick, for an indefinite time, with no prospect of removing from it. Some plans of Coleridge made it necessary for me either to determine upon quitting this house at a given time, or upon remaining with it." ... "Wynn procured for me 'out of the fire', as he says, the offer of a place in the West Indies, worth 600£ a year, which he refused for me, as there was no time for my answer. Instead, he has got me a pension of 200£. (By the Lord, Senhora" ... [etc.] "the Treasury!) You may congratulate me, but not upon an accession to fortune; for the truth is, that hitherto I have received 160£ a year from Wynn (which is all I have, except what I earn), and that now, of course, I shall receive this no longer, for Wynn is not a rich man. But as his Majesty is pleased to give me 200£, so he is graciously pleased to stop 56£ out of it for fees and taxes"...
..."My room to have white curtains" ... [etc.] "conscience refuse coming.
Mrs Coleridge has gone to her husband's relations in Devonshire, and he meets her somewhere on the road. Your god-daughter talks of you every day; she is very unmanageable and very amusing, and I like her well. My son is rather ailing just now, as we suppose, with his first teeth." ...
"Write without delay, to say how you are. Edith's love. God bless you."
13: MB cold cureRS letter, 25 May 1807, in Curry.
13: MB London visitRS to Richard Duppa, 23 May 1807, in Life & Corr.:
... "Want of room has obliged me to reserve most of your letters, which I meant for the latter end of Espriella's remarks; but when I came to the latter end, the printing had got beyond my calculation of pages so much, that I was fain to stop." ...
... "Miss Barker tells me she has seen you. I am in good hope of persuading her to come down this summer; and if she comes, she shall not go till I have a set of drawings for the parlour." ...
+ RS to Hartley Coleridge, from Keswick, 13 Jun 1807, in Life & Corr.:
..."when news came from Miss Barker that you were in London, by the time a letter could have reached you you were gone"... "Mr Jackson has bought a cow, but he has had no calf since you left him. Edith has taken your place in his house, and talks to Mrs Wilson by the hour about her Hartley." ...
13: RS planned London visitRS to Charles Danvers at Bristol, 20 Apr 1807, in Curry:
"My first journey will be in the close of this year"...
+ RS to MB, from Keswick, 26 Oct 1807, in Warter:
..."My movements will be in a very zig-zag line. Wynn wants me to stop at Wynnstay; how can I cross from Shrewsbury over to your part of the world? This evening has brought me a letter from Lichfield, and I am bound to make a visit there ..... She (Miss Seward) is really a very staunch friend." ... "The books shall be sent to you forthwith. 'Palmerin' was advertised yesterday for the first time as published." ... "The Peacheys were gone a day before your letter arrived. She desired she might stand to the unborn"... "P.S. Thank you for the gold leaf, but not for the black enclosure."
[Colonel, later Major General William Peachey and his wife spent their summers on Pocklington's Island in Derwent Water, which, according to David Thomason & Robert Woof in "Derwentwater: The Vale of Elysium" (1986) he had bought in 1797]
13: MB summer visit to KeswickRS to MB, from Keswick, 28 Apr 1808, in Warter (see p15-16 note below)
13: RS & Anna Seward friendshipRS's preface to "Madoc" in "The Poetical Works of Robert Southey" (1838)
13-14: Sir Edward as godfather + itinerary + Hartley letter + Edinburgh Review offerRS to MB, from Keswick, 21 Dec 1807, in Warter:
"I am flattered and gratified by Sir Edward's offer of becoming godfather to the unborn, and you will express to him my thankful acceptance of his offer, in the best terms you can find. Yo have contrived to mingle something unpleasant with this, by requesting me to change the name intended. I have told Danvers that, should the child be a boy, Danvers is to be his name, and assuredly Danvers his name must be. I have as great a respect for Sir Edward as it is possible to have for any person with whom I am well acquainted only by report, and have seen so seldom." ... "It would be paying him a very mean compliment, thus to set aside one of my oldest and dearest friends"... "If I judge rightly" ... [etc.] "you best can." ... "You may, I say, possibly think that if I will not call the boy Edward Littleton, I may as well let Danvers be his sponsor. The fact is, that Danvers is one of those dissenters who reject the ceremony altogether, and look upon godfathership as a relic of Popish superstition. I have a different feeling upon the subject, and think the more ties there are of goodwill to bind man and man together, the better.
If this unborn does not appear some time in January, it will be very extraordinary; for as Nature is as punctual as I am in all her operations, he may certainly be expected about that time. You may therefore look for me in less than six weeks. Tom will accompany me as far as our roads lie together, which will probably be just to Penkridge; then he strikes for Bristol, and I for Litchfield and London." ...
... " 'Espriella' seems generally known." ... "It cannot be helped, and it is no matter. Pray rummage up your memory for the new volumes." ... "Hartley has been writing" ... [etc.] "blank cover. My first batch of reviewing goes off this evening. Did I tell you that overtures were made me from the 'Edinburgh', ofering about double pay to what the 'Annual' gives? You would have been pleased" ...[etc.]
14: ByronAccording to the notes to "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers" in "The Oxford Anthology of English Literature" (1973), "Hours of Idleness" was reviewed in the Edinburgh Review, Jan 1808- anonymously as was then the normal practice, but assumed to be by Francis Jeffrey. Wrong, as it turned out- the article was written by Henry Brougham.
14: RS's London tripRS to C.W. Williams Wynn, from London [editor reads date as July, but more probably Feb] 1808, in Warter:
... "We halted two days with Sir Ed. Littleton, in Staffordshire, and there Tom and I parted,- he going to Bristol to put himself under the surgeon's hand, I to Lichfield, where I made a short stay with Miss Seward"...
14: Edith's letter to Sir EdwardStafford Record Office, Letter book of Sir Edward Littleton [ref. D1413/2]
14: Hartley Coleridge letterHartley C. to MB, from Keswick, 10 Apr 1808, in "Letters of Hartley Coleridge" edited by Grace Evelyn Griggs & Earl Leslie Griggs (1936)
15: The Introductioncombined text from RS's preface to "Madoc" in "The Poetical Works of Robert Southey" (1838) and RS letter to Mrs Bray at Tavistock, from Keswick, 21 Mar 1833, in Warter.
15: St. Anthony footnoteAccording to my trusty Harmsworth Encyclopaedia, St. Antony of Padua, born at Lisbon, preached to the fishes, whereas St. Antony of Thebes lived in the wilderness as a hermit for 20 years, and was subject to numerous temptations.
15: Sara Coleridge reminiscence"Memoir and Letters of Sara Coleridge" edited by her daughter E. Coleridge (1873) volume 1 page 12. This also describes Greta Hall and its grounds in detail as she remembers it from her childhood, but makes no mention of Greta Lodge (and the later portion of the letter, detailing events after about 1810, was lost)
NB According to a letter dated 28 Dec 1807, in "Minnow Among Tritons: Mrs S.T. Coleridge's Letters to Thomas Poole, 1799-1834" edited by Stephen Potter (1934) the Coleridges, without Samuel, had returned to Keswick from Bristol in November with Thomas de Quincey, who had visited them in October and wished to see Wordsworth and Southey.
15-16: RS domestic chaos etc.RS to MB, from Keswick, 28 Apr 1808, in Warter:
"How many letters I have had to write since my return home you must well know"... "I am at this moment in the most utter confusion"... "Here are all my books arrived, and, in Tom's phrase, kicking to windward"... "the gold leaf is exhausted"... "I have two things to beg, intreat, and desire; first, that you would be pleased to send me in a frank as much gold leaf as a frank will carry; secondly, that you will be pleased to come after it yourself as soon as may be to juniperise within doors, to maroon without, and to be introduced to Sir Edward's god-daughter, who is pronounced to be the quietest and at the same time the forwardest child that ever was seen.
I was greatly in hopes that Sir Edward would have been persuaded to take time by the forelock, and not let another summer pass away without seeing the Land of the Lakes. (Be pleased to observe, that this is the appellation which old Llywarc Hen gives it, who was himself a Cumbrian prince). He feels time so little, that it is not to be wondered at that he does not think about it so much. All I can say is, that if you cannot prevail upon him to come this year, you must come yurself. You will find better company than you did last summer, for I fully expect to have Rickman for my guest, as soon as Parliament breaks up.
My stock of marbled papers is tolerably good, but I failed sadly in the gilt ones"... "when you are in the way of any, think, I beseech you, of the grandeur.
I am much indebted to Sir Edward about Plott's 'Staffordshire'. In any shape the book would have been acceptable to me; the more so as coming from him. The 'Sylvester' is also a treasure"...
"You will not be displeased to hear that Landor's offer to print all the poems I would write has stung me to the very core; and that I am yearning to go through the whole Thalaba series"...
16: Gifts of books etc.See last note. Also in letter from RS at Keswick to Sir Edward Littleton, 21 Aug 1808, in the Letter book of Sir Edward Littleton at Stafford Record Office (ref. D1413/2), which refers both to notes on "Dr. Plot" and to a further gift from Sir Edward of a book in a primitive American Indian language; in return, RS has asked his publisher to send Sir Edward a copy of his latest work on Spanish history, which is about to be printed (containing extracts from a very early chivalrous poem, translated by Mr Frere, the former British ambassador in Madrid).
16: Walhouse correspondence + mad dogsRS to MB, 22 Jun 1808, in Warter: ..."on my list." ... "It is plain that he is a very ingenious man, and, I have no doubt, a very interesting one. If his inclination should ever lead him to the Lakes, I shall be glad to show him all the attention in my power, and to talk with him upon matters on which I have no time to write. As he is an amateur of waters, you may tell him that there is some of the finest and purest in the world at poor old Peter Crosthwaite's pump, and that in Borrowdale there is a well which, I dare be sworn, will out-stink Leamington water"...
"P.S. I wish you would write me the particulars of your story about the mad dogs and the geese. I shall not write now to Sir E.L., because a second letter of thanks would be too formal, and somewhat obtrusive, when I have the opportunity of thanking him through you. My 'Cid', I suppose, will be published in six or seven weeks, and then I shall order a copy to be sent him"...
16: Uncle visit + "pines"RS to Tom Southey at Plymouth, from Keswick, 3 Aug 1808, in Curry [this letter also mentions that the floating island in Derwentwater had appeared three days earlier].
16: birth of BerthaRS to Charles Danvers at Bristol, 22 May 1809, in Warter:
"You would have heard from me a fortnight ago if I had not been disappointed. The young one had proved a girl, and I believe my main reason for being sorry is that I have lost the pleasure of calling a boy by your name"...
16: Anna Seward deathRS to MB, 13 May 1809, in Warter: finishes ..."I suppose Sir E. is in town, and therefore do not inclose the letter."
16: Death of EmmaRS to John May Esq., from Keswick, 23 May 1809, in Warter:
"My last letter told you of the birth of a daughter. I have now to tell you of the death of one. We have lost Emma; it pleased God to take her after a very short but severe bilious attack." ... "She was, as our nurse says, 'as sweet a child as ever woman bore',- just sixteen months"...
16: trip up SkiddawRS to Dr H.H. [Harry] Southey, from Keswick, 17 Aug 1809, in Warter:
"Yesterday I took Miss Betham, Edith, and Mrs Coleridge up Skiddaw, being their first appearance upon that stage. They walked it, and did it well by help of meat and drink on the way. Coming home" ... [etc.]
16: Blacket +Jackson death + picturesRS to MB, 24 Oct 1809, in Warter:
"It is saying little that I would pay some deference to your opinion, when Mr Pratt's would not weigh more with me than the sound of the wind. You have exactly said of this poor Blacket what I should judge from these extracts,- there is force and rapidity in them, and he is in earnest. As for my knowing him, the time when that could have been of any service is passed; as he has, by your account, found friends, and richer ones, than I could have found for him." ... "Poor fellow! I have little hope of his recovery;"...
"When a young poet" ... [etc.] "there to be made.
You wrote to me about the Scudamore Pedigree, of which I know as much as the man in the moon, and care as little as I know. The Duchess of Norfolk is alive and well; the question therefore appertains more to Sir E.'s heir than to himself, and you will not be very anxious about it for him. You tell me of pictures" ... [etc.]
17: lack of picturesI have checked the standard reference books (Cumbrian, British and French) for information on Miss Barker's art, but without success; I have also contacted the galleries/museums in Whitehaven, Keswick, Carlisle and Kendal, the Wordsworth Trust, Wordsworth's birthplace at Cockermouth (a National Trust property), and Wolverhampton Art Gallery.
17: Sir Jeremiah HomfrayBurke's Landed Gentry (1894 edition) states that Francis Homfray (father of Jere) died in December 1798, and that the Homfray family came (16th cent.-c1700) from Wales, near Sheffield.

Burke's Landed Gentry (1853 edition) has details of Jeremiah's generation:
Francis Homfray Esq. of Wollaston Hall, Worcs. married
  (1) Hannah Popkin of Coitrehen, Glamorgan.
 Children:
Jeston (11 Jun 1752-2 Mar 1816);
Mary (who married Thomas Barker)
  (2) Catherine, dau. & co-heiress of Jeremiah Caswell Esq., of The Hyde, Staffs.
 Male children:
Francis (later occupant of The Hyde)
Jeremiah, born 16 Feb 1759 (of Llandaff House, Glamorgan. High sheriff of Glamorganshire 1809; knighted 22 Nov 1809) Married
  2 May 1787 Mary, dau. of John Richards esq. of Cardiff.
   Children:
Jeremiah (b 1 Sep 1790)
John (b 10 Sep 1793; owner of Llandaff House in 1853; high sheriff of Glamorganshire 1843) married
  1 Nov 1819 Ann-Maria, only child & heiress of John Richards Esq. of the Corner House, Cardiff.
    Children:
John-Richards, b 9 Oct 1824;
Mary-Jane-Richards;
Ann-Maria
   Francis (d unm 1813)
George (d unm 1815)
Jeston (b 22 Jul 1797, m 17 Aug 1843)
Anthonio, MD (b 4 Oct 1799, d 23 Mar 1843) married
  5 Jun 1831 Eustacia, dau. of Rear-Admiral Sir Ross Donnelly)
Robert-Shedden (b 22 Jan 1804, m 1832 Miss Catherine Denham)
Marianne (m 1806? to Thomas-M. Newte Esq., but dsp 1819)
Charlotte (m 1824 to James Lewis Esq.)
Catherine-Diana (m to Jacob-Aemilius Irving Esq.)
Harriet-Newte
 Thomas (later of The Hill, Worcs.)
Samuel
   whose daughter Amelia married
  William Thompson MP, of Underley Hall, Westmorland
    and their daughter, also Amelia, married
  Thomas, Earl of Bective in 1842

Family motto: vulneratur, non vincitur (crest, an otter, wounded in the shoulder with a spear)

Acording to the International Genealogical Index, Jere was baptised at Kinver, 7 Mar 1759

Information on the Homfrays' ironworking business and the bet which Richard Trevithick helped to settle with his steam locomotive can be found on various websites, including the rather fascinating local history page
http://home.clara.net/tirbach/HelpPagepearlsGLA4.html
I would, however, welcome news of a detailed biographical work on the family.
17: The Friend + Jackson's houseRS to MB, from Keswick, 29 Jan 1810, in Warter:
"My daughter and I have each to thank you for a letter,- both very good ones in their kind. I have, as you may" ... [etc.] "forget the particulars. Do you see the 'Quarterly Review'? I am likely to do more in it than I have yet done." ...
17-18: RS 1811 confusionRS to Charles Danvers, [from Keswick, 31 Mar 1811], in Curry:
"I thought to have been in London the first week in May, and now I must work unremittingly to get there by the last. My absence must be six weeks at least." ... "It is among the possibilities that we may travel together, for if Miss Barker be at Bath I shall make that place on my way back"
18: Landor lettersRS to Walter Savage Landor Esq., from Keswick, 8 May 1811, in Warter:
..."many years. She is a very old friend of ours, and we must stay a few days with her on our progress through the south. I hope you will be at Bath at that time"... "Have you seen Jeffrey's criticism upon 'Kehama'? It is quite as original as the poem, and, above other, matchless for impertinence."
+ RS to Walter Savage Landor Esq., from Keswick, 5 Jun 1811
18: RS return itineraryRS to C.W. Williams Wynn, 19 Jul 1811, from London, in Warter.
18: feasting at TeddesleyRS to Capt. [Tom] Southey, from Keswick, 8 Sep 1811, in Warter:
... "into Wales, and halted with Wynn at Llangedwin"... [then 2&frac2; days in Liverpool, then mail coach to Kendal etc.]
18: journey to WalesRS to Walter Savage Landor, from Keswick, 10 Sep 1811, in Warter:
Irrelevant or not, here we go:
... "Crossing from Teddesley to Shrewsbury, we passed through the iron country, near Wellington. There is something very striking in that sort of hell above ground,- hills of scoria, an atmosphere of smoke, and huge black piles, consisting chiefly of chimneys and furnaces, grouped together in the finest style of the damnable picturesque. The things are too mean in themselves ever to acquire a sublimity, to whatever magnitude they may attain; but they have a hideousness which almost produces the same effect. They are more hideous than horrid: there should be an obscurity about horrid; whatever is hideous is definite.
We saw a prodigious work of art of very different character,- the aqueduct over the Dee, near Llangollen. It is not more than two thirds the height of the aqueduct at Lisbon, but the effect is far more dizzying." ... "The iron rails of the Welsh bridge, by giving sight of the depth immediately under your feet, make it an effort of reason to imagine yourself safe"... "My knees were loosened, though I did not stop to allow them to shake; and I felt an absolute longing for wings that I might have launched myself into the air. This sort of feeling explains how animals are fascinated by the eye of a snake or a beast of prey." ...
18: poet GrahameHarmsworth Encyclopaedia, + RS to Captain [Tom] Southey, from Keswick, 11 Oct 1811, in Warter:
... "Poor Graham! You give me the first news of his death." ...
18: Pantaloons etc.RS to MB, from Keswick, 4 Nov [1812 in Warter, should be 1811- revised Education essay also referred to in a letter of 27 Dec 1811; Bell's visit referred to in a letter of 23 Oct 1811]:
... "every Sabbath-day, like old Sir Edward Williams. O my cheese, my cheese! Senhora. It was a present from Mr. Browne, and no doubt it was an excellent cheese, Senhora, and such cheeses are not to be had here for love nor for money. Make inquiry for it, I pray you,- it was tied up and rad my name on the papern- and send it by waggon, to be forwarded by waggon from Manchester. A good cheese is too good a thing to be lost, especially by a man who lives in the very worst cheese country in England.
Nov. 6.- I have laughed, Senhora, or rather chuckled heartily, while I was reading your hypothesis concerning 'Clarissa'. It is many years (two or three and twenty, I believe), since I read that book, but my remembrance of it is distinct and strong;- good proof of the power with which it is written. My own opinion of Richardson is, that for a man of decorous life he had a most impure imagination"...
"What I would have said to Mr. Lister is this:- Miss Seward designed that her letters should be published at intervals, till the whole collection should be before the public." ... "By publishing only such as he thought proper, Mr. Constable makes Miss Seward deliver opinions to the public which she modified or retracted in her after letters.
Constable was afraid of Jeffrey about these letters" ..."special care has been taken to keep in all that could injure me, and omit as much as possible of what might serve me. This, however, is for you, not for Mr. Lister.
I wish you could" ... [etc.] "great bookcase.
Dr. Bell is here,- the best of all good men. I read him only one sentence of your letter, and he is half in love with you for it. You must know that I am about to reprint my article from the 'Quarterly' concerning the new system of education, and to enlarge it. It will put the question at rest for ever, and remain a clear history of the most important invention for the diffusion of knowledge that has ever been made since printing was discovered.
I get on with 'Pelayo' and long to read you a passage from it which not altogether satisfies me." ...
"Remember that the cheese comes by waggon- by waggon- by waggon; and if you have in your shop a brass contrivance to hold a lamp, send it with the other brasses. Make my respects to Sir Edward. Write a little more frequently yourself, Senhora, and then you may have better reason to complain of me.
God bless you.
R.S.
P.S. Next week you will have the Imperial Colonel at Teddesley." ...
[The Imperial Colonel was, I think, RS's name for Major General Peachey]
18-19: Landor's tenant CBRS to Walter Savage Landor, 9 Feb 1812, in Warter.
19: Littleton to quit as MPJohn Chetwode, to Sir Edward Littleton, from Oakley near Stafford, 22 Feb 1812: in Letter book of Sir Edward Littleton, Stafford Record Office (ref. D1413/2).
19: Frederick bankruptcyKathleen Wain "Sir Edward Littleton's Financial Affairs 1742-1812" PhD thesis 1975 (University of Liverpool) [also notes that bankruptcy is advertised in Aris' Birmingham Gazette 13 Apr 1812] + original letter from MB to Mr Hickman (of Aldermaston, solicitor to the Congreves), 28 Feb 1812, at Stafford Record Office (ref. D 1057/J/12/3; former ref. Bundle 15 now obsolete)
19: Sir Edward's health + "Forger's Fortress"RS to MB, from Keswick, 3 May 1812, in Warter:
"My dear Senhora,
Heaven knows how long it is since I have written to you" ...
"Your story" ... [etc.] "out of possession.
You know, I suppose, that the imperial Colonel is married again. What kind of woman she may be, I know not; but you may readily suppose that I do not look on with any great pleasure to her arrival at the Island. I like the Imperial well: 'Take him for all in all, We ne'er shall look upon his like again;' especially, Senhora, when you remember the cymbals! But I should not think him a likely sort of man for a woman to fall in love with"... "You need make no secret of my little book. I have no secrets of that kind. It went into the world without a name because an author, like a prima donna, has a sort of dignity from appearing sometimes incog., when, in reality, everybody knows him." ... "Make my respects to Sir Edward, and let me have a shepistle as soon as you please."
19: Sir Edward's death + successorDictionary of National Biography entry for Edward Littleton, Lord Hatherton.
19-20: Sir Edward's willProved at London 20 Aug 1812. Copies available at Stafford Record Office.
... "also to Mary Barker Spinster Daughter of Mr Thomas Barker late of Congreve in the said County of Stafford for her life an annuity or yearly Rent-charge of two hundred pounds" [against £50 annuity for housekeeper; £20 for house-maid] ... "also I give to the before named Mary Barker all such articles of ffurniture together with such trinkets and other things as I have from time to time purchased for her own use and enjoyment a list or schedule of which articles and things I intend to sign with my own name and deliver over to the said Mary Barker." ... "Specific legacy to the said Mary Barker and of the said sum or sums so remitted or forgiven to the said Philadelphia Wray shall be discharged out of my personal estate"... Dated 1 Dec 1810
Codicil, 19 Aug 1811: "In addition to what I have already by my said will given to Miss Mary Barker therein named I give and Bequeath to her the legacy or Sum of five hundred pounds for her own absolute use and benefit and I direct my Executors to pay the same to her as soon as conveniently may be after my decease without making any Deduction thereout on account of the legacy or any other Duty or Tax whatsoever"...
Codicil, 18 Oct 1811: "The schedule of things bequeathed by my will to Miss Mary Barker and referred to thereby. In the Bed Room over the library in which Miss Barker has slept many years everything therein Contained Except the Bed Chairs Looking Glasses and Ffire Irons.
In the Dressing room over the Common Parlour Two Green fflower stands & Kings [?] wood writing table a China Ink Pot and stand two China Cups all the Hyacinth - Glasses and Green Fflower Pots.
In the Attic over the Dressing Room and in the Closet adjoining lately called Miss Barkers Shop Every thing Excepting the Chairs and Ffire irons
Miscellaneous things
A Lap for grinding stones on
all the made Wine Barrels
the little Carriage drawn by Asses driven by Miss Barker together with their Harness
the Oak Tree lately sawed down for her and whatever it may be converted into
and all the Cedar Wood
and Carpenters Tools usually called Miss Barkers
and whatever may be made by the Carpenter for her special use and by my direction.
The Mahogany Chest of Drawers standing in the little Dresing Room adjoining my Bed Room
and the Black Japan Box and Stand now in one of those Drawers
the Black piece of ffurniture standing near Miss Barkers bed Room Door to the Content of which are all hers
Two Volumes of Handels overtures
the Chair, Bed and the ffurniture
and also my Mocoa Ring which I have this Day delivered to her"...
Codicil, 20 Feb 1812: "Miss Barker shall have whatever has been made by the Carpenter since the Date of this Schedule and may be made hereafter by him for her own use and by her own directions"...
Summary, concerning the annuities: "all the said annuities to be paid half-yearly at Lady Day and Michaelmas clear of Property Tax Legacy Duty and all other Taxes and outgoings". Also indicates that codicil of 19 Aug 1811, in addition to £500, gives Mary Barker 1 fat buck yearly, plus the keep of 3 asses and 1 cow.
20: Sir Edward's inventoryDated August 1812, at Stafford Record Office (in bundle ref. D260/M/T/5/110).
on page53, after the Hall, Miss Barker's Shop:
Six green and black painted armed chairs- cane seats
Green wire fender and set fire irons"

on pages 73-4, after the "India Room" on the first floor, Miss Barkers Room:
Pair 4 post bedsteads caned and reeded- mahogany pillars, blue and white cotton hangings with cornice to suit and window curtains to match
Three blancketts and dimity Bed Cover
Bed bolster and two pillows
Wool mattrass
Straw Do. in Crankey [?] Case
Bed Compass Carpett Blue Ground
Mahogany Bureau
Swing glass in a painted frame
Mahogany bason stand. green and white bason. Ewer. two tumblers. two chamber pots. soap. cup. comb tray and tea saucepan
Mahogany dressing table- comb tray. rising glass. 4 small perfume bottles
Green wire fender and set fire irons
Rogester [Rochester?] grate polished front
Large oval pier glass in a painted and carved frame
Two roling blinds
large deal dressing table
Six mahogany chairs hair stuff'd backs and seats, and stool with blue and white covers to match bed furniture

next room listed is "Sir Edwards Small Dresg. Room"
20: MB move to KeswickRS to MB, from Keswick, 9 Jun 1812, in Warter:
"The first frank is carefully deposited in my desk till you come for it. I am sincerely glad of the young knight's election, and had I been a Staffordshire freeholder would have given him a vote, in spite of his youth,- an objection, weighty as it is, of less amount than the political principles of his opponent.
Sir Edward's will seems to have been, in all its provisions, perfectly conformable to his life,- that is, all that it ought to have been.
My wicked summer cold has taken up its quarters with me, and will, no doubt, torment me for many weeks." ... "I have my eye" ... [etc.] "drop himself." ... "It would suit you well; it has land belonging to it, which may probably be had, and the communication by land would be easy, and better still by lake.
Do not send off anything but what is wanted for your own use, for this house, though rather of larger dimensions than a nutshell, is almost as full as one. Martha is coming next week, and Danvers; and, what is worse, the boys' holidays begin." ...
"I have long had many day-dreams of what was to be done when you came to reside among us. One has been of a poem or series of poems about this country, for which you were to make drawings, so as to make a splendid book.
If you get off as early as you expect, we may look for you early next week. I had nearly forgotten what you say about the Island; it does not seem to me the kind of thing that could be asked. God bless you. Come speedily and" ... [etc.]
20: ugly house oppositeThe suggestion by George Bott in "Keswick: The Story of a Lake District Town" (1994) that this was what later became known as North Bridge House appears to be wrong. Later documents (including one from this same season- see page 22 notes below) make it clear that Lord Sunderlin's Cumbrian residence was Derwent Bank, which faces Greta Hall across the northern end of Derwent Water.
Information on building of Derwent Bank from David Thomason & Robert Woof "Derwentwater: The Vale of Elysium" (1986); it is pictured on later editions of Peter Crosthwaite's map of Derwent Water (compare it with the picture of Crosthwaite's own "Observatory", which was later transformed, by removing the tower, into Greta Hall). William Green's "The Tourist's New Guide..." [to the Lake District] volume II (1819) describes the situation:
"The top of the hill called Swinside is above the highest part of the carriage road. From this road backward, there is a peep at the head of Derwent Water. Swinside will be noticed hereafter.
Descending, having on the right Foe Park, there is on the left, an excellent view of the flat country towards Bassenthwaite.
A little beyond the bottom of the hill, on the right, is Derwent Bank, built by the late Joseph Pocklington Esq., and by him called Finkle Street. It is now the property of Lord William Gordon. The late Lord Sunderlin resided a considerable time at Derwent Bank.
From the front of the house there is a fine view of Skiddaw over the foot of the lake, and of Keswick, partly hid by a rising ground, called the Heads, and over the town, Greta Hall, the residence of Robert Southey, Esq. Poet Laureate, with Latrigg beyond it, and, in distance, Saddleback may be seen."
20: Sunderlin / MaloneDictionary of National Biography
To page 21-30 notes