Diplomatic Text
35 Aldgate High St: London.
April 23d: 1807.
You will be surprized, my dear Cousin, to
hear that I am just returned to London.
Understanding that Mrs: Mann received a
letter of kind enquiries after me, from you,
yesterday, I lose no time in thanking you
for them. The reason I did not trouble
you by writing again from Bath, was,
that every day was so perfectly alike, that
I really had nothing to communicate.
My poor dear Father grew more and more
affectionately solicitous for my future comfort;
towards which, he is well convinced, the rejoining
my Husband, is the first step. Till we know
whether his engagement in Dublin, would be
continued for the ensuing season, it was im-
poʃsible to act. In this state of affairs, I re-
ceived a letter from my Sister, informing me
that Mr: Jones, the Proprietor of the Dublin
Theatre, was in London, upon busineʃs.
My Father then (tho' he much regretted parting
with me) agreed with me in opinion, that I
had best seize the opportunity of having an
interview with him, in order to get some
light into my future prospects. Accordingly,
here I am. I go to-morrow, for a few days,
to my Sister's, where I may see Mr: Jones. You
will, I know, my dear Cousin, be glad to
hear that all violence about the unlucky
transaction I formerly explained to you, has
subsided, both on the part of my Father and
on that of my Sister. She is really very kind
on the present occasion; for she says, that
if I learn that Mr: Holman retains his
present situation, she will take me over with
her, to Dublin, this Summer; by which means
I should travel with every comfort. Meanwhile,
I shall be in an anxious state of suspense;
for, even should Mr: Jones's intentions be favourable,
I must consult Mr: Holman before I proceed.
If you are kind enough to write again, direct
to me here, as I can only be backwards and
forwards at my Sister's, for a few days at a
time, as she is able to receive me; for Mr: Best's
affairs are in so lamentable a state of derange-
ment, that poor Lady Emily occasionally occupies
the only spare room the house affords. Plainly
to speak, Mr: Best has got into the King's Bench.[1]
I hope it may not be for long; but fear West
India property is in a very bad way.
Having given you a long chapter of self, I
now wish to enquire after you, my cousin
Louisa, and Mr: J: Dickenson. Mr: Dickenson senr:,
I conclude, is recovered -- he is very happy in
his son and daughter's tender attentions. The
extract you transmitted me from Mr: J: D:['s]
letter affords a strong proof (were any wanting)
of the goodneʃs of his heart. -- You were
kindly attentive in making the neceʃsary commu-
nication of Mrs. Hamiltons death to the Cathcarts; they, however, took
no notice. -- Poor Mrs: Mann has been,
twice, so extremely ill, that I was in great
danger of losing her. Thank God, she is now
better. She desires best respects to you.
Have the goodneʃs to present my Compliments to
Mrs: de Salis, Mrs: Bloʃset, and such of your other
neighbours as I have the pleasure of being
acquainted with. I left my poor dear Father
in amended health, but very depreʃsed spirits.
I sadly[2] want to persuade him to come to London
for a little change of scene; but am doubtful
of succeeding. Adieu, my dear Cousin. With
▼
kindest love to Mr: Dickenson and Louisa,
believe me
your truly obliged and affectionate
Jane Holman.[3]
Mrs: Dickenson[4]
Leighton House
Leighton Buzzard
Bedfordshire.[5]
red text is normalised and/or unformatted in other panel)
Notes
1. The King's Bench prison was largely a debtors' prison.
2. 'Seriously; in earnest' (OED s.v. sadly 3a).
3. This section appears at bottom of p.3 below the address when unfolded.
4. Postmark 'AP 23 [1]807' to left of address when unfolded.
5. Moved address panel here from centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically.
Normalised Text
35 Aldgate High Street London.
April 23d: 1807.
You will be surprised, my dear Cousin, to
hear that I am just returned to London.
Understanding that Mrs: Mann received a
letter of kind enquiries after me, from you,
yesterday, I lose no time in thanking you
for them. The reason I did not trouble
you by writing again from Bath, was,
that every day was so perfectly alike, that
I really had nothing to communicate.
My poor dear Father grew more and more
affectionately solicitous for my future comfort;
towards which, he is well convinced, the rejoining
my Husband, is the first step. Till we know
whether his engagement in Dublin, would be
continued for the ensuing season, it was impossible
to act. In this state of affairs, I received
a letter from my Sister, informing me
that Mr: Jones, the Proprietor of the Dublin
Theatre, was in London, upon business.
My Father then (though he much regretted parting
with me) agreed with me in opinion, that I
had best seize the opportunity of having an
interview with him, in order to get some
light into my future prospects. Accordingly,
here I am. I go to-morrow, for a few days,
to my Sister's, where I may see Mr: Jones. You
will, I know, my dear Cousin, be glad to
hear that all violence about the unlucky
transaction I formerly explained to you, has
subsided, both on the part of my Father and
on that of my Sister. She is really very kind
on the present occasion; for she says, that
if I learn that Mr: Holman retains his
present situation, she will take me over with
her, to Dublin, this Summer; by which means
I should travel with every comfort. Meanwhile,
I shall be in an anxious state of suspense;
for, even should Mr: Jones's intentions be favourable,
I must consult Mr: Holman before I proceed.
If you are kind enough to write again, direct
to me here, as I can only be backwards and
forwards at my Sister's, for a few days at a
time, as she is able to receive me; for Mr: Best's
affairs are in so lamentable a state of derangement
, that poor Lady Emily occasionally occupies
the only spare room the house affords. Plainly
to speak, Mr: Best has got into the King's Bench.
I hope it may not be for long; but fear West
India property is in a very bad way.
Having given you a long chapter of self, I
now wish to enquire after you, my cousin
Louisa, and Mr: John Dickenson. Mr: Dickenson senior,
I conclude, is recovered -- he is very happy in
his son and daughter's tender attentions. The
extract you transmitted me from Mr: John Dickenson's
letter affords a strong proof (were any wanting)
of the goodness of his heart. -- You were
kindly attentive in making the necessary communication
to the Cathcarts; they, however, took
no notice. -- Poor Mrs: Mann has been,
twice, so extremely ill, that I was in great
danger of losing her. Thank God, she is now
better. She desires best respects to you.
Have the goodness to present my Compliments to
Mrs: de Salis, Mrs: Blosset, and such of your other
neighbours as I have the pleasure of being
acquainted with. I left my poor dear Father
in amended health, but very depressed spirits.
I sadly want to persuade him to come to London
for a little change of scene; but am doubtful
of succeeding. Adieu, my dear Cousin. With
▼
kindest love to Mr: Dickenson and Louisa,
believe me
your truly obliged and affectionate
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/1/4/3/21
Correspondence Details
Sender: Jane Holman (née Hamilton)
Place sent: London
Addressee: Mary Hamilton
Place received: Leighton Buzzard
Date sent: 23 April 1807
Letter Description
Summary: Letter from Mrs Jane Holman née Hamilton to Mary Hamilton. The letter predominantly relates to Jane's relationship with her husband. Jane has returned to London from Bath and reports that her father is growing more anxious for her future, and that he is convinced that her returning to her husband 'is the first step' [she was now estranged from her husband], although she is unable to act upon this until she knows whether her husband will be engaged in Dublin for the rest of the season. Her sister wrote to her that the owner of the Dublin Theatre, Mr Jones [Frederick Jones, manager of the Crow Street Theatre, Dublin (later named the Theatre Royal) – for a time Joseph Holman shared the management of the theatre with him] was then in London, and she wanted to 'seize the opportunity of having an interview with him, in order to get some light into my future prospects'. Jane reports that her sister is being kind at the moment and that she will be staying with her while in London. Mrs Stratford has offered to take her sister with her to Dublin in the summer if Mr Holman is to be engaged in Dublin. Jane notes that if this is the case, she will have to consult her husband before she travels there. She reports that Mr Best's finances are in a sorry state and he is in the King's Bench [a debtor's prison], and that 'West India property is in a bad way'.
Dated at 35 Aldgate High Street [London].
Length: 4 sheets, 608 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
Research assistant: Carla Seabra-Dacosta, MA student, University of Vigo
Transliterator: Joseph Gill, 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