Diplomatic Text
March 30th: 1805.
My dear Cousin,
Your kind letter of January 31st:, would not
have remained so long unanswer'd, but that
soon after I received it the point was decided
that I should not have an Irish excursion this
season at least -- it then became neceʃsary for
me to prepare to set out for this place in order
to get it furnished and myself a little comfortably
settled in it, against Mr: Holman's return. All
this prevented my availing myself of your kind
invitation to Leighton House -- however, I hope that
ce qui est différé n'est pas perdu[1] -- I have
been very busy since I came here -- I found that
keeping much land in our own hands, would be
ruinous considering Mr: Holman's frequent absence
not to mention his total ignorance on the subject
of farming -- so I had a tenant to seek, for about
18 acres. I have reserved enough to give us
every thing within ourselves, except Wheat; and,
by the aʃsistance of a very friendly neighbour, have
succeeded in letting the remainder -- and to great
advantage. Now we cannot be involved by imposition,
and I think the place, after the first expences
are got over will be a cheap, as well as pleasant,
residence, for a part of the year. The House
is sufficiently large for our family, and the situation
beautiful. -- As to Ireland -- you speak my sen-
timents so precisely, that I need only say that, to
give you my full opinion as to the eligibility of a
residence there. I don't, at present, see any
probability of a neceʃsity for a permanent stay in
that part of the world. Should Mr: Holman chance
to re-engage for another season, I would go with
him; because having head-quarters to leave some
of my family and luggage in, makes an excursion
more practicable; and I need not tell you who
are so good a reckoner of days, in your husband's
absence, that nine months is too long a period
for me to remain without him, when it is
poʃsible to avoid it. I don't expect him till
August -- I am much concerned at your
account of Miʃs A: M: Clarke -- I have not seen
her for an age; but remember her with great
esteem. A visit to you I should hope, would produce
the most favourable effects on her spirits. Pray
give my kind regards to her. -- So Mr: Dickenson
has seen the young Roscius[2] -- I was in hopes of
going to London this Spring, to gratify any curiosity
on his subject, and to see a few friends; but I
could not, conveniently, accomplish it. My
Father is gone to take a frisk there and
has seen the young Roscius; been to the Opera, --
and, in short, partaken of what amusements
are going. I fancy, he is, by this time, thinking
of returning to Cheltenham. How is Miʃs Dickenson?
and, how goes on her singing? As to myself, I am
totally out of practice; but intend having
my Forte-Piano from Ireland, soon -- and I
shall have leisure enough here. I have found
an old acquaintance, and a very musical one,
in a near neighbour -- Mrs: Peploe -- Sir George
Cornewall's[3] eldest Daughter -- I think we shall be
mutually useful, in keeping our music from neglect.
Remember me very kindly to Miʃs Dickenson; and
tell her I shall be glad when an opportunity
offers of renewing my Leʃsons to her. Present
my best regards, likewise, to Mr: Dickenson. I hope
you will write to me, when it suits your convenience.
Direct -- The Hill Top -- near Weobley -- Herefordshire.
I left Lady Herries well, at Cheltenham -- she is a
a most amiable and clever woman, and sincerely
attached to you and yours. Great news, you will
say, that last information is -- but I think the
friendship of estimable people, always a pleasing reflection
▼
to dwell upon -- in that light you must take my
mention of what you are so well acquainted with.
Give my Compliments to Lord Napier, whenever you have
an opportunity -- and beleive me, my dear Cousin,very truly yours.
Jane Holman.
Mrs: Dickenson[4]
Leighton House
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire.[5]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. 'What is put off is not lost'.
2. Quintus Roscius Gallus (died 62 BCE), Roman comic actor of such celebrity that his name became an honorary epithet for any particularly successful actor (Britannica).
3. Sir George Cornewall, 2nd Baronet (1748–1819), a British politician, soldier and baronet.
4. Postmarks 'G APR 3 1805' (indicating that the letter went through the post on 3 April 1805, 4 days after it was written), and 'HEREFORD' to left of address when unfolded.
5. Moved address panel here from centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically.
Normalised Text
March 30th: 1805.
My dear Cousin,
Your kind letter of January 31st:, would not
have remained so long unanswered, but that
soon after I received it the point was decided
that I should not have an Irish excursion this
season at least -- it then became necessary for
me to prepare to set out for this place in order
to get it furnished and myself a little comfortably
settled in it, against Mr: Holman's return. All
this prevented my availing myself of your kind
invitation to Leighton House -- however, I hope that
ce qui est différé n'est pas perdu -- I have
been very busy since I came here -- I found that
keeping much land in our own hands, would be
ruinous considering Mr: Holman's frequent absence
not to mention his total ignorance on the subject
of farming -- so I had a tenant to seek, for about
18 acres. I have reserved enough to give us
every thing within ourselves, except Wheat; and,
by the assistance of a very friendly neighbour, have
succeeded in letting the remainder -- and to great
advantage. Now we cannot be involved by imposition,
and I think the place, after the first expenses
are got over will be a cheap, as well as pleasant,
residence, for a part of the year. The House
is sufficiently large for our family, and the situation
beautiful. -- As to Ireland -- you speak my sentiments
so precisely, that I need only say that, to
give you my full opinion as to the eligibility of a
residence there. I don't, at present, see any
probability of a necessity for a permanent stay in
that part of the world. Should Mr: Holman chance
to re-engage for another season, I would go with
him; because having head-quarters to leave some
of my family and luggage in, makes an excursion
more practicable; and I need not tell you who
are so good a reckoner of days, in your husband's
absence, that nine months is too long a period
for me to remain without him, when it is
possible to avoid it. I don't expect him till
August -- I am much concerned at your
account of Miss Anna Maria Clarke -- I have not seen
her for an age; but remember her with great
esteem. A visit to you I should hope, would produce
the most favourable effects on her spirits. Pray
give my kind regards to her. -- So Mr: Dickenson
has seen the young Roscius -- I was in hopes of
going to London this Spring, to gratify any curiosity
on his subject, and to see a few friends; but I
could not, conveniently, accomplish it. My
Father is gone to take a frisk there and
has seen the young Roscius; been to the Opera, --
and, in short, partaken of what amusements
are going. I fancy, he is, by this time, thinking
of returning to Cheltenham. How is Miss Dickenson?
and, how goes on her singing? As to myself, I am
totally out of practice; but intend having
my Forte-Piano from Ireland, soon -- and I
shall have leisure enough here. I have found
an old acquaintance, and a very musical one,
in a near neighbour -- Mrs: Peploe -- Sir George
Cornewall's eldest Daughter -- I think we shall be
mutually useful, in keeping our music from neglect.
Remember me very kindly to Miss Dickenson; and
tell her I shall be glad when an opportunity
offers of renewing my Lessons to her. Present
my best regards, likewise, to Mr: Dickenson. I hope
you will write to me, when it suits your convenience.
Direct -- The Hill Top -- near Weobley -- Herefordshire.
I left Lady Herries well, at Cheltenham -- she is
a most amiable and clever woman, and sincerely
attached to you and yours. Great news, you will
say, that last information is -- but I think the
friendship of estimable people, always a pleasing reflection
▼
to dwell upon -- in that light you must take my
mention of what you are so well acquainted with.
Give my Compliments to Lord Napier, whenever you have
an opportunity -- and believe me, my dear Cousin,very truly yours.
Jane Holman.
Mrs: Dickenson
Leighton House
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire.
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 Jane Holman to Mary Hamilton
Shelfmark: HAM/1/4/3/16
Correspondence Details
Sender: Jane Holman (née Hamilton)
Place sent: Weobley, Herefordshire
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Leighton Buzzard
Date sent: 30 March 1805
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Jane Hamilton (now Mrs Holman) to Mary Hamilton. The letter relates to Jane's setting up residence, looking for a tenant for her land and more general family matters. She writes that it is best that a tenant be found for the farm of approximately 101 acres, as she believed that it would be ruinous to have so much land on her hands considering her husband's [actor and playwright, Joseph George Holman (1764-1817), who travelled to America in 1812 and managed a theatre in Philadelphia] frequent absences and his lack of farming knowledge.
Dated at The Hill Top, near Weobley [Herefordshire].
Length: 1 sheet, 690 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 2014/15 and 2015/16 provided by the Department of Linguistics and English Language, University of Manchester.
Research assistant: Isabella Formisano, former MA student, University of Manchester
Research assistant: Carla Seabra-Dacosta, MA student, University of Vigo
Transliterator: Razia Sultana, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted May 2016)
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