Single Letter

HAM/1/10/1/25

Letter from Anna Maria Clarke to John Dickenson

Diplomatic Text



1819.[1]

                             A M Clarke at the Post Office
                                                         Deal Kent
                                                        

My dear Friend
      I was much gratified by the receipt of
yours & happy to learn that my dear Lady Anson &
your Family were well the distance I am from you is a
sad bar to the comforts of society & - a Bulletin of health
is extremely interesting were you to add no more I wish
you would reflect on this & give me a few lines on your
return from the delightful Tour you have in contemplation
the time of your intended departure you did not mention
however I will direct this to yourself or dear Louisa that
in case you should have taken your flight it may not
be any trouble to you What you said respecting our residing
at this distance interests me as I have the same sentiments
on the subject: our being fixed here which seems to be the
case does not happen in consequence of Isabella's health
only my own from debility of constitution though I thank
God I enjoy a good state of health & am exempted from
all pain & suffering at present, appears to require the bracing



air of the Sea-Coast I have scarcely any degree of strength
& this air with constantly taking the tincture of bark
appears to revive me in an extraordinary manner I was
affected by a severe Cough at Kensington though the winter
was mild I have been here a year without a Cold
or the least tendency to coughing added to this inducement
the air agrees with my Sister whose health is more imper-
fect
than mine & the consideration of expence as we can
have a very comfortable & neatly furnished Lodging at Deal
for nearly half the price which makes a considerable difference
in our Income. I had a very kind invitation from Mrs Steers in the
spring which I could not accept & have just received another
to go to Chelsea in the Autumn which perhaps I may
avail myself of for a month I fear you will will not be
returned from your Northern expedition -- with Mrs Steers I
am at liberty to visit my friends in Town she is glad to
have me gratified by the society of those I love as well as
as by hers & if I should not want resolution on the occa-
sion
I shall sometimes make her a visit I think I could
leave my Sister with all neceʃsary comforts as the person



with whom we now lodge would be very attentive to her we
engage a very worthy Girl to serve us -- & we have another
to go out with her (the Daughter of our Landlady) on account
of her deafneʃs which has of late years increased --
I thank you for the interesting account you give of the 3
dear Children
it pleases me to hear that the youngest resemble his
amiable Mother
because she is such a striking likeneʃs
of my beloved Friend which makes a strong impreʃsion on
my mind whenever I look at her I believe the resemblance is
in the Eyes & form of the face -- àpropos I have been some time
employed in reading & destroying Letters from Friends in time pas[t]
& I am now exceʃsively interested in reading over some of yours
& my dear Friend it is a sad but swetsweet gratification folios from
Bullstrode the account of your introduction there & how much
you were liked encomiums of our dear friend in yourself
such anxiety respecting the suspence & difficulties of some
circumstances not explained that she could not continue the Diary
you attribute to my memory my dear friend more than it merits
though it is I think a tenacious one in many respects I thought I
had seen you the first time you came to L though absent on your arrival
I thought you first lodged in Queen Street -- I think it probable you
were at Mr. Glover's at the time you mentioned for you were out
three times in London I believe I was at Horwood with my dear
Sister
. I think I can say that I was about when you were at
Mr. Glover's as I have no recollection of your being at any house, but



excepting a Lodging when I was with you & I should have
remembered had you come to & fro from Albemarle Street respecting
la belle paʃsion I know know two amiable minds minds are deeply
engaged by the powerful charm at the same time I have been very
attentive to find out by the Letters what you wish but have not suceeded
owing to the discontinuance of the Journal
extract
Mr D was expected at Bullstrode 27 or 29 Nov 181784
Mr D returned to Derb the Country in about 3 weeks from 3 Dec 1784

                                                 

I am sorry I cannot resolve this -- Now my dear Brother believing you
are sufficiently occupied before your departure I cannot expect
a Letter but I intreat you on your return & as soon as poʃsible
to inform me of your health & safe return I shall be truly
vexed if you should not --- comply as you know I have no
hopes of hearing from dear Lady A—— I have had the satisfaction of
hearing that my dear Niece is happily settld in Lincolnshire with
her four Children she has a pretty House a Garden full of fruit
a pair of Ponies & a Cow the plaice is pretty & she invites me

& Isabella I am grieved for Lord N
it must have been the Palsy Adieu
my dear friend all comforts attend
you I am happy you travel yours
                             A M C[2]

Remember me particularly
to Sir William & dear f naughty
Louisa & by all means write
on your return[3]
x[4]

John Dickenson Esqr[5]
or Lady William Anson
      Devonshire Place
           Cavendish Square
                             London[6]

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


Notes


 1. Moved date here from below the dateline on p.1.
 2. Moved section here from right side of address panel in centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically.
 3. Moved postscript here from the top left of p.1, written upside down.
 4. The x is probably a mark of insertion, as in HAM/1/10/1/24, but no linking x has been found.
 5. Postmark 'DEAL 25JU25 1819' to the left of the address panel when unfolded.
 6. Moved address panel here from centre of p.3 when unfolded.

Normalised Text




                             Anna Maria Clarke at the Post Office
                                                         Deal Kent
                                                        

My dear Friend
      I was much gratified by the receipt of
yours & happy to learn that my dear Lady Anson &
your Family were well the distance I am from you is a
sad bar to the comforts of society & a Bulletin of health
is extremely interesting were you to add no more I wish
you would reflect on this & give me a few lines on your
return from the delightful Tour you have in contemplation
the time of your intended departure you did not mention
however I will direct this to yourself or dear Louisa that
in case you should have taken your flight it may not
be any trouble to you What you said respecting our residing
at this distance interests me as I have the same sentiments
on the subject: our being fixed here which seems to be the
case does not happen in consequence of Isabella's health
only my own from debility of constitution though I thank
God I enjoy a good state of health & am exempted from
all pain & suffering at present, appears to require the bracing



air of the Sea-Coast I have scarcely any degree of strength
& this air with constantly taking the tincture of bark
appears to revive me in an extraordinary manner I was
affected by a severe Cough at Kensington though the winter
was mild I have been here a year without a Cold
or the least tendency to coughing added to this inducement
the air agrees with my Sister whose health is more imperfect
than mine & the consideration of expense as we can
have a very comfortable & neatly furnished Lodging at Deal
for nearly half the price which makes a considerable difference
in our Income. I had a very kind invitation from Mrs Steers in the
spring which I could not accept & have just received another
to go to Chelsea in the Autumn which perhaps I may
avail myself of for a month I fear you will not be
returned from your Northern expedition -- with Mrs Steers I
am at liberty to visit my friends in Town she is glad to
have me gratified by the society of those I love as well as
by hers & if I should not want resolution on the occasion
I shall sometimes make her a visit I think I could
leave my Sister with all necessary comforts as the person



with whom we now lodge would be very attentive to her we
engage a very worthy Girl to serve us -- & we have another
to go out with her (the Daughter of our Landlady) on account
of her deafness which has of late years increased --
I thank you for the interesting account you give of the 3
dear Children it pleases me to hear that the youngest resemble his
amiable Mother because she is such a striking likeness
of my beloved Friend which makes a strong impression on
my mind whenever I look at her I believe the resemblance is
in the Eyes & form of the face -- àpropos I have been some time
employed in reading & destroying Letters from Friends in time past
& I am now excessively interested in reading over some of yours
& my dear Friend it is a sad but sweet gratification folios from
Bullstrode the account of your introduction there & how much
you were liked encomiums of our dear friend in yourself
such anxiety respecting the suspense & difficulties of some
circumstances not explained that she could not continue the Diary
you attribute to my memory my dear friend more than it merits
though it is I think a tenacious one in many respects I thought I
had seen you the first time you came to London though absent on your arrival
I thought you first lodged in Queen Street -- I think it probable you
were at Mr. Glover's at the time you mentioned for you were out
three times in London I believe I was at Horwood with my dear
Sister. I think I can say that I was about when you were at
Mr. Glover's as I have no recollection of your being at any house,



excepting a Lodging when I was with you & I should have
remembered had you come to & fro from Albemarle Street respecting
la belle passion I know two amiable minds are deeply
engaged by the powerful charm at the same time I have been very
attentive to find out by the Letters what you wish but have not succeeded
owing to the discontinuance of the Journal
extract
Mr Dickenson was expected at Bullstrode 27 or 29 November 1784
Mr Dickenson returned to the Country in about 3 weeks from 3 December 1784

                                            

I am sorry I cannot resolve this -- Now my dear Brother believing you
are sufficiently occupied before your departure I cannot expect
a Letter but I entreat you on your return & as soon as possible
to inform me of your health & safe return I shall be truly
vexed if you should not comply as you know I have no
hopes of hearing from dear Lady Anson I have had the satisfaction of
hearing that my dear Niece is happily settled in Lincolnshire with
her four Children she has a pretty House a Garden full of fruit
a pair of Ponies & a Cow the place is pretty & she invites me

& Isabella I am grieved for Lord Napier
it must have been the Palsy Adieu
my dear friend all comforts attend
you I am happy you travel yours
                             Anna Maria Clarke

Remember me particularly
to Sir William & dear naughty
Louisa & by all means write
on your return
x

John Dickenson Esqr
or Lady William Anson
      Devonshire Place
           Cavendish Square
                             London

(consult diplomatic text or XML for annotations, deletions, clarifications, persons,
quotations,
spellings, uncorrected forms, split words, abbreviations, formatting)



 1. Moved date here from below the dateline on p.1.
 2. Moved section here from right side of address panel in centre of p.3 when unfolded, written vertically.
 3. Moved postscript here from the top left of p.1, written upside down.
 4. The x is probably a mark of insertion, as in HAM/1/10/1/24, but no linking x has been found.
 5. Postmark 'DEAL 25JU25 1819' to the left of the address panel when unfolded.
 6. Moved address panel here from centre of p.3 when unfolded.

Metadata

Library References

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

Archive: Mary Hamilton Papers

Item title: Letter from Anna Maria Clarke to John Dickenson

Shelfmark: HAM/1/10/1/25

Correspondence Details

Sender: Anna Maria Clarke

Place sent: Deal

Addressee: John Dickenson

Place received: London

Date sent: 25 July 1819

Letter Description

Summary: Letter from Anna Maria Clarke to John Dickenson. She writes that she was afflicted with a severe cough at Kensington, though the winter was mild, but the sea air and 'tincture of bark' have since revived her. She and her sister have a very comfortable and neatly furnished lodging at Deal, for nearly half the price of accommodation in London, 'which makes a considerable difference in our Income'. They have hired a girl to accompany her sister when she goes out, on account of her increasing deafness. She has received an invitation to stay with Mrs Steers in Chelsea in the autumn, 'which perhaps I may avail myself of for a month'.
    Clarke reports that 'I have been some time employed in reading & destroying Letters from Friends in time pas[t]', and she has been reading some of Hamilton's letters and her Bulstode journal: 'the account of your introduction there & how much you were liked'. Clarke describes the experience as 'a sad but sweet gratification'. This leads to reminiscences of the early days of their friendship: 'I thought you first lodged in Queen Street[.] I think I can say that I was about when you were at Mr. Glover's (see HAM/1/13) as I have no recollection of your being at any house, excepting a Lodging when I was with you & I should have remembered had you come to & fro from Albemarle Street respecting la belle passion'.
    She asks to be remembered to Sir William [Anson] and 'dear naughty Louisa'.
    Dated at Deal [Kent].
   

Length: 1 sheet, 979 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: Donald Alasdair Morrison, undergraduate student, University of Manchester

Research assistant: Carla Seabra-Dacosta, MA student, University of Vigo

Transliterator: Jannes Dahlhaus, undergraduate student, University of Manchester (submitted November 2014)

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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