Single Letter

HAM/1/2/10

Letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton

Diplomatic Text


X      13

Manchester Friday 14th Oct. 1786


      I thank you a thousand times my
dearest dear Love
for your very
Affectionate and kind Letter. how
delightful to receive such charming
proofs of your Regard -- how cheering
to my Spirits -- Indeed my dear
Mary I never never can change --
my Motto shall be Toujours de même
We will be happy in each other, we
have the fountain of happineʃs
within us which cannot be materially
affected by any Worldly Concern --
      It is unfortunate that we must be
separated so long -- but it cannot be
avoided -- how happy shall I be to be
liberated ------------------------------
------------ to return to the best of Women.
      I believe I have hired a Servant



but I shall have her determination
in ½ an hour -- She is a pretty looking
Young Woman about 19 -- has been well
brought up -- is clever with her Needle
She has no Objection to live in the Country
which She has just left -- She is to have
some Instructions in hairdreʃsing which
I promised to pay repay if She lived
with you a Year -- the wages 16 guineas --
      I like my Cousin very much -- we have
not met for the last 12 years -- it is
a pity that his Father has behaved
so ill to mine -- which prevents his
treating him with that Cordiality I
could wish -- it is hard that a Son shd.
answer for the Sins of his Father --
      I return directly to Kersley -- Yrs.
of the 10 -- I received -- the Subject of it
had given me great uneasineʃs --
      My dearest Girl, Adieu -- God bleʃs You
      You know I am wholly your own
                                                         John Dickenson

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Normalised Text


     

Manchester Friday 14th October 1786


      I thank you a thousand times my
dearest dear Love for your very
Affectionate and kind Letter. how
delightful to receive such charming
proofs of your Regard -- how cheering
to my Spirits -- Indeed my dear
Mary I never never can change --
my Motto shall be Toujours de même
We will be happy in each other, we
have the fountain of happiness
within us which cannot be materially
affected by any Worldly Concern --
      It is unfortunate that we must be
separated so long -- but it cannot be
avoided -- how happy shall I be to be
liberated
to return to the best of Women.
      I believe I have hired a Servant



but I shall have her determination
in ½ an hour -- She is a pretty looking
Young Woman about 19 -- has been well
brought up -- is clever with her Needle
She has no Objection to live in the Country
which She has just left -- She is to have
some Instructions in hairdressing which
I promised to repay if She lived
with you a Year -- the wages 16 guineas --
      I like my Cousin very much -- we have
not met for the last 12 years -- it is
a pity that his Father has behaved
so ill to mine -- which prevents his
treating him with that Cordiality I
could wish -- it is hard that a Son should
answer for the Sins of his Father --
      I return directly to Kersley -- Yours
of the 10 -- I received -- the Subject of it
had given me great uneasiness --
      My dearest Girl, Adieu -- God bless You
      You know I am wholly your own
                                                         John Dickenson

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Metadata

Library References

Repository: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from John Dickenson to Mary Hamilton

Shelfmark: HAM/1/2/10

Correspondence Details

Sender: John Dickenson

Place sent: Manchester

Addressee: Mary Hamilton

Place received: Taxal, near Chapel-en-le-Frith (certainty: medium)

Date sent: 14 October 1786

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from John Dickenson to his wife Mary née Hamilton. He discusses general family news and the hiring of a new servant, whom Dickenson describes as a 'pretty looking young woman about 19'. The woman has had a good upbringing and has no complaint about living in the country. Dickenson has promised her a wage of 16 guineas if she stays with Hamilton a year. See also HAM/1/2/12.
   

Length: 1 sheet, 270 words

Transliteration Information

Editorial declaration: First edited in the project 'Image to Text' (David Denison & Nuria Yáñez-Bouza, 2013-2019), now incorporated 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: XML version: Research Assistant funding in 2016/17 provided by The John Rylands Research Institute.

Research assistant: Sarah Connor, undergraduate student, University of Manchester

Transliterator: Hannah Smith, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted May 2017)

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: 2 November 2021

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