Single Letter

HAM/1/4/2/16

Letter from Frederick Hamilton to John Dickenson

Diplomatic Text


Oct 1790

      Dear Sir,

      I have received the favor of yours of the 12th. Inst., I am sorry to
find that I have been guilty of a very great omiʃsion in not having
acquainted Mr. Hammersley before I left London that I had desired you
to draw upon him for your Interest Money as it became due; to say the
truth, it escaped my memory however that matter is now completely
rectified, & by the bye I think Mr. Hammersley's Compts. to me wou'd
have been more perfect, if he had mention'd my omiʃsion to myself only,
for I have also received a letter upon the subject. I have been here near five
months, & we all like Stanton extremely well, the Country is very fine, the
roads excellent about us, and we have received great civilities from very
agreeable & respectable neighbours. Mrs. Hamilton & my Daughter will be in
London on the 1st. of Novr. where they are to stay only a Week & then set out for
Bath to paʃs the winter, I mean to follow them about the middle of the
month. As my plan is to paʃs five months every summer at Stanton, as long
as it may please God to give me health & spirits to enjoy the Country, I judged
that I shou'd be paying a most enormous price for the pleasure of inhabit=
ing
my House in Oxford Street for seven months only, I therefore determined
to part with it, if I cou'd do it quietly & upon satisfactory terms; & this
I have already effected tolerably well, having sold it with all the furniture
to Mr. J. Campbell of Pembrokeshire, who married Ld. Carlisle's Daughter last
winter. I have received Nine Thousand Three Hundred Pounds, £3000 go



to pay off a mortgage that was upon the House, the Balance £6300 remains to
me for which I have got Mr. Campbell's Bond bearing Interest 5 pr.Ct. & also
a mortgage upon the Premises, for I have not received a shilling in hand.
When this money comes in, which it must when I call for it, I will give you
Six months notice to receive the Thousand Pounds you accommodated me with
so very handsomely. Mr. Campbell has also purchased the contiguous House which
was Mr. Greville's & they are now laying together, which when finished will
make as noble & complete a Residence as most in London. I am surprised
to hear you complain so much of constant rains & bad weather, as we have
had in Suffolk a most excellent Harvest & as fine a season afterwards as
has been remember'd for many years; the unsettled climate of Derbyshire
is a great drawback upon that County. I hope you have had no returns of
your bilious complaint, tho' I need not tell you that I shou'd be happy to see
you & Mrs. Dickinson at Bath, yet I can not wish that you shou'd come there
from neceʃsity. I believe we have secured a Convenient House in a place called
Saville Row contiguous to the New Rooms. I received a letter yesterday
from Robert, who informs me his Regt. is to quit their Quarters at Croydon
in a few days to go to Windsor, where they are to do Foot duty, a very
unusual thing. He says he expects the Regt. will go abroad, but I can
have no such idea, unleʃs we shou'd be engaged in a Continental War,
which God forbid. Such an event wou'd be very unfortunate for Robert
who has no Constitution or bodily strength to undergo great hard=
ships
, nor can I boast much of his discretion. He at first disliked
the Dragoon Profeʃsion very much, tho' it was his choice, he seems



now to take to it better, & upon reflection wishes to continue in it. Had
I not put him into the Army, contrary to my own judgement, I perceived
my Friends wou'd have imputed it to me as a plan of œconomy, & I was
I confeʃs at a loʃs to say what he was fit for, as he was very ignorant,
speaking French tolerably & German a little being his whole acquired
knowledge. I beg you will remember us all most affectionately to Mrs.
Dickinson
; we are very happy that you have both so much satisfaction
in your little Girl, my God Daughter. We are here not very conveniently situa-
ted
for getting Franks. I remain with great regard
                             Dear Sir,
                                  Your faithful & Affectionate Humble Servt.
                                                         Frederick Hamilton
Stanton -- Bury St. Edmund's
      October 18th. 1790[1]



[John] Dickenson Junr. Esqr.[2]
Taxal[3]
Chapel le Frith
                             Derbyshire

[4]

(hover over blue text or annotations for clarification;
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)


Notes


 1. This dateline appears to the left of the signature.
 2. Postmark 'BURY ST EDMUND'S' to right of address.
 3. A large '5' is written across the address, likely indicating postage due.
 4. Remains of a seal.

Normalised Text



      Dear Sir,

      I have received the favour of yours of the 12th. Instant, I am sorry to
find that I have been guilty of a very great omission in not having
acquainted Mr. Hammersley before I left London that I had desired you
to draw upon him for your Interest Money as it became due; to say the
truth, it escaped my memory however that matter is now completely
rectified, & by the bye I think Mr. Hammersley's Compliments to me would
have been more perfect, if he had mentioned my omission to myself only,
for I have also received a letter upon the subject. I have been here near five
months, & we all like Stanton extremely well, the Country is very fine, the
roads excellent about us, and we have received great civilities from very
agreeable & respectable neighbours. Mrs. Hamilton & my Daughter will be in
London on the 1st. of November where they are to stay only a Week & then set out for
Bath to pass the winter, I mean to follow them about the middle of the
month. As my plan is to pass five months every summer at Stanton, as long
as it may please God to give me health & spirits to enjoy the Country, I judged
that I should be paying a most enormous price for the pleasure of inhabiting
my House in Oxford Street for seven months only, I therefore determined
to part with it, if I could do it quietly & upon satisfactory terms; & this
I have already effected tolerably well, having sold it with all the furniture
to Mr. John Campbell of Pembrokeshire, who married Lord Carlisle's Daughter last
winter. I have received Nine Thousand Three Hundred Pounds, £3000 go



to pay off a mortgage that was upon the House, the Balance £6300 remains to
me for which I have got Mr. Campbell's Bond bearing Interest 5 percent & also
a mortgage upon the Premises, for I have not received a shilling in hand.
When this money comes in, which it must when I call for it, I will give you
Six months notice to receive the Thousand Pounds you accommodated me with
so very handsomely. Mr. Campbell has also purchased the contiguous House which
was Mr. Greville's & they are now laying together, which when finished will
make as noble & complete a Residence as most in London. I am surprised
to hear you complain so much of constant rains & bad weather, as we have
had in Suffolk a most excellent Harvest & as fine a season afterwards as
has been remembered for many years; the unsettled climate of Derbyshire
is a great drawback upon that County. I hope you have had no returns of
your bilious complaint, though I need not tell you that I should be happy to see
you & Mrs. Dickinson at Bath, yet I can not wish that you should come there
from necessity. I believe we have secured a Convenient House in a place called
Saville Row contiguous to the New Rooms. I received a letter yesterday
from Robert, who informs me his Regiment is to quit their Quarters at Croydon
in a few days to go to Windsor, where they are to do Foot duty, a very
unusual thing. He says he expects the Regiment will go abroad, but I can
have no such idea, unless we should be engaged in a Continental War,
which God forbid. Such an event would be very unfortunate for Robert
who has no Constitution or bodily strength to undergo great hardships
, nor can I boast much of his discretion. He at first disliked
the Dragoon Profession very much, though it was his choice, he seems



now to take to it better, & upon reflection wishes to continue in it. Had
I not put him into the Army, contrary to my own judgement, I perceived
my Friends would have imputed it to me as a plan of economy, & I was
I confess at a loss to say what he was fit for, as he was very ignorant,
speaking French tolerably & German a little being his whole acquired
knowledge. I beg you will remember us all most affectionately to Mrs.
Dickinson; we are very happy that you have both so much satisfaction
in your little Girl, my God-daughter. We are here not very conveniently situated
for getting Franks. I remain with great regard
                             Dear Sir,
                                  Your faithful & Affectionate Humble Servant
                                                         Frederick Hamilton
Stanton -- Bury St. Edmund's
      October 18th. 1790



John Dickenson Junior Esqr.
Taxal
Chapel le Frith
                             Derbyshire

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 1. This dateline appears to the left of the signature.
 2. Postmark 'BURY ST EDMUND'S' to right of address.
 3. A large '5' is written across the address, likely indicating postage due.
 4. Remains of a seal.

Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from Frederick Hamilton to John Dickenson

Shelfmark: HAM/1/4/2/16

Correspondence Details

Sender: Frederick Hamilton

Place sent: Stanton, near Bury St Edmunds

Addressee: John Dickenson

Place received: Taxal, near Chapel-en-le-Frith

Date sent: 18 October 1790

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Rev. Frederick Hamilton to John Dickenson. The letter relates to Stanton, which Frederick finds very agreeable, with good roads, fine countryside and respectable neighbours. It also relates to family matters. Robert Hamilton's regiment is to quit quarters at Croydon to go to Windsor, where they will do foot duty. Robert expects the regiment to go abroad, which Frederick Hamilton thinks unlikely 'unless we shou[l]d be engaged in a Continental War, which God forbid. Such an event wou[l]d be very unfortunate for Robert who has no Constitution or bodily strength to undergo great hardships, nor can I boast much of his discretion'. Robert joined the regiment 'contrary to [Frederick's] own judgement'. If it were not for him being in the regiment, Frederick notes that he does not know what his son would be fit for, 'as he was very ignorant, speaking French tolerably & German a little being his whole acquired knowledge'.
    The letter continues with general family news. The Hamiltons have secured a house in Bath for the Winter next to the New Rooms, and Frederick hopes to follow his wife and daughter there soon. He has sold his house in Oxford Street to a Mr Campbell, who has also bought the contiguous house and intends to merge the houses.
    Dated at Stanton [Suffolk].
   

Length: 1 sheet, 767 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 2013/14 provided by G.L. Brook bequest, University of Manchester.

Research assistant: George Bailey, undergraduate student, University of Manchester

Transliterator: Amy Galbraith, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted December 2013)

Transliterator: Gracie Smith, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted December 2013)

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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