Diplomatic Text
My dear Sir,
I am much flatter'd by your very kind letter which
indicates the goodneʃs of your heart in the oblivion of
past misunderstandings which I equally regret their
ever having taken place; too ardent a disposition fre=
quently leads us beyond the bounds of discretion but
this is a subject to be no longer dwelt upon.
I am very sorry to hear so unfavorable an account
of Mrs. Dickenson's health. I cannot say much for my
self on that score; the consequences of the great loʃs I have
sustain'd still bear very heavy upon me, which
with the weight of years render me almost unfit
for society, to which the circumstance of encreasing
deafneʃs adds much to the uncomfortableneʃs of
my situation & makes me totally averse to trouble
my friends with my visits. I live in great solitude
having even given up card parties, so that I may
say
my chief amusement is in trivial reading, which goes on
but heavily at night on account of my eyes, which are fai=
ling as well as my other faculties. Mrs. Holman has left
me near six weeks ago, she was but just recoverd from a
very dangerous illneʃs by the great skill of Dr. Parry who
as well as myself had very serious apprehensions for her;
her disorder was brought on by the constant & severe agi=
tation of her mind owing to the cruel treatment of her
husband, whose plan seems to be no leʃs than a total de=
reliction of her, leaving her without any provision but in
entire dependence upon me; this is a very cruel situation
as I am certain her conduct towards him has always been
most affectionate & proper. I have not neglected this opportu=
nity of aʃsuring Mrs. Holman that as long as I live she may
depend upon my effectual aʃsistance, & I have already made
very ample provision for her after my decease by a conside=
rable Annuity in Trust out the reach of her husband, she
will therefore, if she survives me be in good circumstances
if she does not suffer herself to be cajoled out of this Annuity
or any part of it's produce; upon which subject I have given her
my exhortations in very solemn terms. This Annuity has cost
me a very large Sum by which I am totally deprived of ready
money, tho' with an advanced Income. My Trustees in this busi=
neʃs are Chas. & Robt. Greville the former having conducted it. The
idea of my unfortunate daughter being totally deserted after
my decease, & depending upon the benevolence of her relations
for her support, presented itself to me in all the horror
attending such cruel circumstances, & the goodneʃs of
God inspired me with the desire of rescuing my Child
really a deserving object, from such dreadful misery.
She was hardly recover'd when she expreʃs'd an improper im=
patience to return to London, not very flattering to me, & as she
seems to have a very great dislike to Bath. I have have advised
to endeavor to find out a residence suitable for her in London
& to consult me upon the subject, in short nothing shall warp
my affection from her. her addreʃs without comment is
no. 35 Aldgate High Street London. I beg you will present
my most affectionate regards to Mrs. Dickenson & to my
worthy God daughter, whose behavior to her Parents must
command universal approbation. I hope you will believe that
I am sensible of the kindneʃs of your invitation. In my present state
of depreʃs'd spirits I shou'd be a most unpleasant visitor I remain
My dear Sir
Your faithful humble Servt.
Frederick Hamilton
No. 1 Brock St. Bath
November 12th. 1807.[1]
▼
John Dickenson Esqr[2]
Leighton Buzzard
single Bedfordʃhire
[3]
a prebendary of Lincoln to whom this House we
occupy & the prebendal property in this parish lately
following the want of foresight in the ------ [4] of Mr
Leigh, in whose family it has been held by Lease on Lifes for
160 years -- & our residence here depends on an agreement
between the parties which till of late has not appeared
at all probable[5]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. This dateline appears to the left of the closing salutation and signature.
2. Postmarks 'BATH' to left of address and 'E 13 NOV 1807' split either side of address when unfolded, indicating that the day on which the letter went through the post was 13 November 1807.
3. Remains of a seal, in black wax.
4. Possibly legiste or legists 'person[s] knowledgeable in the law' (OED s.v. legist n. and adj.).
5. This section appears at the bottom of the page, written upside down. It may belong to a re-used sheet of an unrelated letter.
6. Moved annotation here from between dateline and signature.
7. Note that the annotator has clearly mistaken the year.
Normalised Text
My dear Sir,
I am much flattered by your very kind letter which
indicates the goodness of your heart in the oblivion of
past misunderstandings which I equally regret their
ever having taken place; too ardent a disposition frequently
leads us beyond the bounds of discretion but
this is a subject to be no longer dwelt upon.
I am very sorry to hear so unfavourable an account
of Mrs. Dickenson's health. I cannot say much for my
self on that score; the consequences of the great loss I have
sustained still bear very heavy upon me, which
with the weight of years render me almost unfit
for society, to which the circumstance of increasing
deafness adds much to the uncomfortableness of
my situation & makes me totally averse to trouble
my friends with my visits. I live in great solitude
having even given up card parties, so that I may
say
my chief amusement is in trivial reading, which goes on
but heavily at night on account of my eyes, which are failing
as well as my other faculties. Mrs. Holman has left
me near six weeks ago, she was but just recovered from a
very dangerous illness by the great skill of Dr. Parry who
as well as myself had very serious apprehensions for her;
her disorder was brought on by the constant & severe agitation
of her mind owing to the cruel treatment of her
husband, whose plan seems to be no less than a total dereliction
of her, leaving her without any provision but in
entire dependence upon me; this is a very cruel situation
as I am certain her conduct towards him has always been
most affectionate & proper. I have not neglected this opportunity
of assuring Mrs. Holman that as long as I live she may
depend upon my effectual assistance, & I have already made
very ample provision for her after my decease by a considerable
Annuity in Trust out the reach of her husband, she
will therefore, if she survives me be in good circumstances
if she does not suffer herself to be cajoled out of this Annuity
or any part of its produce; upon which subject I have given her
my exhortations in very solemn terms. This Annuity has cost
me a very large Sum by which I am totally deprived of ready
money, though with an advanced Income. My Trustees in this business
are Charles & Robert Greville the former having conducted it. The
idea of my unfortunate daughter being totally deserted after
my decease, & depending upon the benevolence of her relations
for her support, presented itself to me in all the horror
attending such cruel circumstances, & the goodness of
God inspired me with the desire of rescuing my Child
really a deserving object, from such dreadful misery.
She was hardly recovered when she expressed an improper impatience
to return to London, not very flattering to me, & as she
seems to have a very great dislike to Bath. I have advised
to endeavour to find out a residence suitable for her in London
& to consult me upon the subject, in short nothing shall warp
my affection from her. her address without comment is
no. 35 Aldgate High Street London. I beg you will present
my most affectionate regards to Mrs. Dickenson & to my
worthy God-daughter, whose behaviour to her Parents must
command universal approbation. I hope you will believe that
I am sensible of the kindness of your invitation. In my present state
of depressed spirits I should be a most unpleasant visitor I remain
My dear Sir
Your faithful humble Servant
Frederick Hamilton
No. 1 Brock Street Bath
November 12th. 1807.
▼
John Dickenson Esqr
Leighton Buzzard
single Bedfordshire
a prebendary of Lincoln to whom this House we
occupy & the prebendal property in this parish lately
following the want of foresight in the ------ of Mr
Leigh, in whose family it has been held by Lease on Lifes for
160 years -- & our residence here depends on an agreement
between the parties which till of late has not appeared
at all probable
quotations, spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)
Notes
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/1/4/2/20
Correspondence Details
Sender: Frederick Hamilton
Place sent: Bath
Addressee: John Dickenson
Place received: Leighton Buzzard
Date sent: 12 November 1807
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Rev. Frederick Hamilton to John Dickenson. The letter relates to family matters, including the poor health of Mary Hamilton, and Frederick Hamilton's own precarious health, and he refers to his 'great loss'. [Frederick Hamilton's wife, Rachel died early 22nd January 1807, see HAM/1/4/3/18.] He reports that he lives a quiet life, having even given up card parties. His main amusement is trivial reading. Mrs Holman is with him and is herself recovering from a dangerous illness. She had been suffering severe anxiety 'owing to the cruel treatment of her husband [the actor and playwright Joseph George Holman (1764-1817)], whose plan seems to be no less than a total dereliction of her, leaving her without any provision but in entire dependence upon me'. Her conduct towards her husband had been always as it should be. He has assured his daughter that she can depend upon him as long as he lives, and he has also made provision for her after his death by a 'considerable Annuity in Trust out of the reach of her husband'. He writes that she will be in good circumstances provided that she is not persuaded out of this annuity. This has been an expensive undertaking and has left him with little money. The idea of his daughter 'being totally deserted after my decease, & depending upon the benevolence of her relations for her support, presented itself to me in all the horror attending such cruel circumstances'.
Dated at Bath.
Length: 1 sheet, 686 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: James Kidd, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted December 2013)
Transliterator: Rui Zhang, 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