A Studentship for Richard Seymour
Regular readers of Two Teens will know that a major source is the diary kept by the Rev. Richard Seymour of Kinwarton; the extant volumes span from 1832 until the 1870s. There are obvious volumes missing at the beginning of the series (or… dare I hope… in existence, but for some reason NOT microfilmed by the Warwickshire Record Office?). A great pity.
So, imagine my thoughts, last night when I spotted a letter that mentioned him written by his uncle Sir William Knighton to Lord Liverpool, dated 1824!
(see Twitter and blog of Knighton’s
biographer, Charlotte Frost)
Richard’s brother, the Rev. John Hobart Culme-Seymour, certainly seems to have risen dramatically through the church’s ranks and perhaps Sir William’s influence at court was a help (could never be a hinderance, right?). Yet Richard seems so meek, mild, and willing to serve that I didn’t really think about any patronage he might have benefited from. Now, a little evidence of an “uncle-ly” helping hand (though Sir William doesn’t out and out say that he and Sir Michael Seymour married sisters). The book is The Letters of King George IV (volume 1: 1813-1830).
Sir William Knighton to the Earl of Liverpool, February 1824
The King has commanded me to write your Lordship a private letter on the subject of H.M.’s commands relative to the two studentships of C.C. {Christ Church, Oxford}. I explained to H.M. in the most detailed and accurate manner all that your Lordship had said on the subject in conversation with me yesterday; and I, at the same time, mentioned to H.M. what I had humbly presumed to advise the Dean of C.C. to do through your Lordship, and hence the Dean’s letter to me.
His Majesty, I am commanded to say, agrees in the general principle laid down by the D. of C.C. as it was urged and supported by your Lordship at our interview on that occasion. But H.M. will not, on this present occasion, forego his commands altho’ H.M. may not repeat such commands in future.
Sir H. Calvert’s son was promised by the King, three years since, at the earnest and affectionate solicitation of the Duke of York.
The King’s word was passed and the young man is under the influence of this promise. Under these circumstances the King is obliged to consult the delicacy due to his own feelings as well as those of his brother the Duke of York.
The King has long had the intention of fulfilling, for a variety of amiable as well as just reasons (which H.M. says it becomes no one to question) to command a studentship for Richard Seymour. He is one of eleven or twelve children, is on the foundation of the Charter House, there placed by the Archbishop of Canterbury and is at the head of the school. Sir M. Seymour, the father of this young gentleman, stands thus in the annals of his country. On the first of June he lost his arm. On commanding the Amethyst, frigate, he took the Thetis, French frigate, of superior force, in single action and had the medual [sic]. He afterwards, in single action took the Niemen, French frigate, of much superior force, for which he was created a Baronet. He continued to serve during the whole of the War, with increased reputation, and at the close was made Commander of the Bath. Now Sir M. Seymour commands the King’s yatch [sic]. It would be invidious to say the King’s favor was improperly bestowed on this occasion.
I am further commanded to state to you that it is now seven years since the King has commanded a studentship, which then was for Dr. Hook’s son, — the grandson of the late Sir W. Farquhar — and, moreover, this studentship was required of the late Dean by the application of Dr. Cyril Jackson, at His M’s. gracious commands.
- Read the letter in Aspinall’s book, online
The Alumni Oxoniensis contains the following information about the Rev. Richard Seymour:
CHRIST CHURCH, matric. 8 May, 1824, aged 18; student 1824-34, B.A. 1828, M.A. 1830, rector of Kinwarton 1834-77, hon. Canon of Worcester 1846-73, canon 1873, until his death 6 July, 1880.
As we all had already guessed: Richard gained his studentship.
Let’s peek inside Stoke Park, 1798
Why does Erle Stoke Park intrigue me? Perhaps because it no longer exists.
Joshua Smith‘s children were already born when his family (in a letter, delightfully referred to as “Mama and her saucy girls“!) moved to this country estate. So to find a description about the interior, c1801, is such a great thrill!
Slowly, this building arises from the ashes, especially as the Royal Society of British Architects (RIBA) has several “elevations,” drawn for Joshua Smith. My favorite is the “Perspective View of the Hall“. And with that “view” in mind, we’ll enter the house with the writer of The Beauties of Wiltshire. Let’s run to catch up with the couple walking the path to the front door.
“The old house at Stoke Park, which was built close on the edge of a small stream at the foot of the hill, was taken down, and a new one erected on an eminence. This is built of fine white free-stone, and was completed from the designs of George Stewart, Esq. …. [It] is a monument of praise to the talents of its architect. It was begun in 1786, and finished in five years. The house and offices extend from east to west three hundred and fifty-six feet in front; in the centre of which is a Doric colonnade, which opens into a very handsome hall, forty feet in length by thirty-two feet in breadth. It is ornamented with a screen of six fluted Corinthian columns, and communicates to the drawing-room, dining-room, library, &c.”
I have indeed come across several book (for sale) which — from their bookplates — once graced the library at Erlestoke Park, Wiltshire. Although I can’t find a picture of Joshua’s bookplate, there does exist this description:
“a book-late of Joshua Smith, Stokepark, quartered as follows:–
1. A saltire, &c. as given.
2. A ship at sea, closed-reefed.
3. Azure, a panther (?), sejant.
4. Or, a crescent. Motto: “Marte et ingenio.”
Compare that description to this hatchment:
“The first of these apartments is thirty feet by twenty-four, and is ornamented with several pictures, copied from the most celebrated masters. Two large mirrors in this apartment, being placed directly opposite to each other, present a kind of optical delusion to the spectator who stands in the centre.”
LOVE the idea of an “optical delusion“!
“The dining-room to the east, is thirty-six feet by twenty-four, which communicates with the library facing the north. This elegant and interesting apartment is forty feet in length by twenty-six feet in width, and contains an invaluable assemblage of choice books, the chief part of which are in the most handsome bindings.”
And yes, all the Erle Stoke girls – Maria, Eliza, Augusta, Emma – LOVED books.
“West of this is the breakfast-room, measuring twenty-six feet by twenty-four. This apartment is ornamented with a large landscape by Loutherbourg, whose bold, spirited, and grand compositions, cannot fail to arrest the attention of every admirer of the picturesque, and the sublime in painting.”
view Loutherbourg works at BBC “Your Paintings”
“These, and a dressing-room, twenty-four feet by sixteen, constitute the ground suite of apartments, all of which are sixteen feet in height.
The first floor contains several bed-chambers and dressing-rooms, to which the access is through a gallery, remarkable for the singularity and beauty of its architecture; over this are many good rooms in the attic, and the offices are proportionably numerous and well distributed.”
So, while we’re upstairs, among the “bed-chambers,” let’s grab a good book and snuggle for a nice night’s rest. It’s been a long day…
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blog posts on related subjects
Erle Stoke Park: The Well-to-do Party!
Erlestoke – home of the “energetic” Joshua Smith
1795 – ‘I fear much we shall be invaded’
Sarah Smith – wife of Joshua Smith, of Erle Stoke Park, Wilts
Erle Stoke Park, 1798
“I was very sorry not to go to Stoke the first Year of my Marriage.”
Mamma Smith, 1798 diary
The Wiltshire Council’s online copy of The Beauties of Wiltshire, Vol. 2, by John Britton. 1801 (also available at Books.google) includes a fabulous description of the house at Stoke Park, as well as this etching which dates from the period of 1798!
“The view accompanying this description, was taken in 1798 from the opposite side of the road, where this sandy broken bank makes a good and bold fore-ground.”
The book puts the estate “about seven miles south-west” of the town Devizes (Joshua Smith’s constituency). “The turnpike road from Devizes to Westbury, passes within a hundred yards of the front of the house; but being hollowed out of the sand to a considerable depth, it is not to be seen from the windows; nor is it in the least incommodious to the appearance or effect of the lawn.”
“The house, the pleasure-grounds, with extensive plantations, and an ornamental village, have all sprung into existence, and acquired beauty and utility, under the present proprietor {Joshua Smith}.” To stay in the gardens for a while, we are transported back in time (and place) in order to imagine that “The north front commands a view, not only of its own grounds and plantations, but also a beautiful expanse of country, in which the village of Seend forms a pleasing and conspicuous feature. …The sides and summit of this hill have been thickly planted with wood…”
“The park abounds with many fine large elm trees, and is enriched with a sheet of water. This rises under the ridge of Salisbury Plain… After forming seven different cascades in its progress, it is collected into a lake of considerable dimensions.”
Mrs Norman wrote about “Papa making water” (which, at first, I thought meant something totally different…) in a letter to Mamma Smith the following year (November 1799), as she passed on to Augusta news of everyone in the house:
Mama [Sarah Smith] is charming well & Walking
Emma [sister of Augusta; my Emma not born till 1801] painting sweetly
Papa: making Water
we all send love….
“In visiting the pleasure-ground, we are conducted over the above hollow-way by an arch that admits waggons, carts, &c. to pass under it This spot of beautifully decorated ground, abounds with a choice collection of botanical plants, and is pleasingly diversified with a variety of indigenous and exotic trees and shrubs. It is situated in a secluded dingle, through the centre of which runs the murmuring stream.”
The writer moves to the “village of Stoke” – so we will stop here, and let him walk around the “humble cottages”. When he returns, we’ll move inside the manor house, to see where Maria, Eliza, Augusta and Emma once roamed.
Lady Charlotte, the Gunnings, and Aynhoe
Oh my gosh…
Doing just a little digging through Lady Charlotte Bridgeman’s journals, I have come across even more family — and I’m quickly learning why she knew so many whom the Smiths & Goslings knew:
Lady Charlotte’s grandfather, Orlando 1st Earl of Bradford, had a sister named Elizabeth Diana Bridgeman (1764-1810). In 1794 she married Sir George Gunning, bart. Among their children is one in particular who shows up in the diaries of the Rev. Richard Seymour of Kinwarton: Orlando George Gunning, RN. In 1830 he married Richard’s sister, Mary.
Richard’s existing diaries begin in 1832 (designated as volume 4) — so too late to comment on his sister’s courtship and wedding. Reading about Orlando Gunning’s siblings, on the Bridgeman website, made sense of so much: the estate Aynhoe, in Northamptonshire, was staring me in the face! (I wrote about Aynhoe last year.)
Published in 1989, Lili at Aynhoe: Victorian Life in an English Country House features drawings of the house by Lili Cartwright (1830s & 1840s); some of her diary entries (how I wish there had been a companion volume with MORE!) are included so that family life is fleshed out. I’ve used this book when discussing naive women artists.
Looking it up tonight, I see Elizabeth Cartwright-Hignett included some GUNNING material — for one of Orlando’s brothers, the Rev. Sir Henry Gunning married (in 1827) Mary Catherine Cartwright, one of Lili’s sisters-in-law! So, by 1830, with Orlando Gunning’s marriage to Mary Seymour, the Cartwrights were “family”. In Richard’s earliest extant diary is notation of a visit from Orlando, Mary and baby (the future Di Gunning / Di Liddell).
A quick perusal and I see mention of Orlando’s youngest siblings, Octavius (born 1804) and Elizabeth (born 1803).
Richard mentions the death of “Miss Gunning” — which is one piece from Lili’s diary published in Lili at Aynhoe, from the 17th of March: “This morning’s post brought us sad news! Lizzy Gunning died in London yesterday during the aftermath of the operation which was performed on her eight days ago…”
Richard simply mentions hearing about the young woman’s death, so I have NO idea at all about “the operation”. There is much “trimming” of Richard’s diary, but what is left has this to say about Lizzy Gunning: “This morning {19th} we learnt from the Paper the death of Miss Gunning – an account which I fear will cause much deep affliction to poor Orlando and her other brothers–”
Lizzy Gunning had seven brothers!
She would have been close in age to Richard’s own wife, Fanny (who was born in October 1803).
The Gunnings had lost a young son at the Battle of Waterloo; now Miss Gunning. And in 1852, Lady Charlotte’s diary, as well as Richard’s, discusses the accident of Orlando Gunning, who was riding in company with his daughter Di.
Read Lady Charlotte’s journal, May 1852
Richard’s comments, which last for days, has much of the same information – but I have found out WHY Mrs Vyse (Richard’s sister, another “Lizzy”) is able to open the door to Lady Charlotte: it was the Vyse home (in Chesham Street) that Orlando Gunning was brought to: The Vyses were in Windsor at the time.
Lizzy returned first, then George — both to the news of the death of their brother-in-law.
Di Gunning’s marriage – on December 8, 1852, which took place at Coolhurst (the Dickins’ estate in Sussex) – is the event which opens Richard’s twelfth volume of journals.
I’m off to search for more “familiar” names in the Lady Charlotte Bridgeman journals.
Charlotte Bridgeman’s Journals
The link “OUR TEAM” tells how the journals — three of them, from the years 1848 to the beginning of 1857 — came into the hands of the transcribers. Philip and Marianne van Dael even located an earlier journal at the Birmingham University!
To give a slice of Lady Charlotte’s life, this is from the entry for 3 June 1848:
“The Fremantle’s also played & sang. Enjoyed it much & stayed till about 12. When we came home we were much alarmed to hear that Grandmama had set herself on fire & was much burnt. We drove immediately to her lodgings & learnt then the particulars from Lucy & Miss Baker who had gone there immediately on hearing it. She did it about 9 ock. while arranging some flowers in a glass, she set fire to her cap & collar, & the curtains of the room. Her neck & hands are dreadfully burnt & the side of her face….”
Poor Grandmama lived until the 17th; one of her doctors was Benjamin Brodie! Small world.
Indeed, it’s the smallness that brought me to this website.
I’m DYING to see if there are more mentions of Lady Elizabeth, or her family — but the “search” must still be “under construction”, of even this entry wasn’t called up:
Weston 1850, November 9
George came again to luncheon on his way back to Willey for Sunday. He had walked all the way from Newport, as the letter had never come in to which he asked for some pony to meet him at the station. Miss Brook called. Lord John Manners came & Mr. & Lady Elizabeth Dickens & a son, Mr. W. Dickens. Music.
1850 is a bit late for me, but this CHARMING scene of Lady Elizabeth makes the *find* precious to me:
Weston 1850, November 14
A cold fine frosty day. In the morning Mary & I went to call on Mrs. Wakefield & were accompanied in our walk by Edmund & Mr. W. Dickens. In the afternoon Lucy & Mary rode with Edmund & Mr. W. Dickens & Mr. & Lady E. Dickens, Lady B., Letty & I drove to Lilleshall Abbey again, for Lady Elizabeth to take the sketch of it….
The “Mr W. Dickens” is their son, William-Drummond, born in 1832
Find more on Lady Elizabeth on this site by clicking the link(s) above [or, the WordCloud at right); read Lady Charlotte’s Journal by clicking on the photo below.
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See a photo of Lady LUCY Bridgeman
Kindle Coming…
After something like SIX MONTHS of dallying, and a good week of shallying — I’ve been PROOFING my upcoming Kindle book, TWO TEENS IN THE TIME OF AUSTEN: RANDOM JOTTINGS, 2008-2013. Rather surprising that what you think is “clean” text, has a typo or two, and some formatting issues. So it will be another day or two before I upload (again… you cannot make changes in the online edition).
But I must confess: It’s really a THRILL to see, on the computer, this concise text – and to be able to size the font for comfort. Gosh! I wish I could upload things like the diaries and letters transcriptions! (NB: not for publication.) It would be a REAL pleasure to read them then.
Why?
The formatting, where the smallest, page-size, image allows the eye to QUICKLY scan from side to size. So much less tiring than reading a computer screen from side to side.
And the Table of Contents (pictured below) allows for such ease of access!
The upload was quite smooth; the online proofing — I had anticipated a program incompatibility (as with the cover art program) — mimics iPads and Kindles so well that I will download Amazon’s free App, so I can purchase Kindles for my computer.
After six years of blogging — hearing from such wonderful and helpful people — it is a real MILESTONE to reach towards the completion of such an event as the launch of a Kindle book. I just hope these ‘random jottings’ serve as an useful (and enjoyable) introduction to the Smiths & Goslings. They deserve having their lives unearthed. These are fascinating people.
A special note to those who have recently shared items with me: Mark, Emma, Kildare: thank you!
“I am Governess to Mr Gosling’s daughters…”
Been a VERY busy, rewarding week. Have been living in many decades – the 1820s and back again to the 1760s. I never feel that I “get much done”, but little puzzle pieces fitting together to create a larger whole IS one goal of this research, isn’t it?
I’ve mentioned before the need to flesh out the Smith & Gosling households. If you think locating information (official accounts; the letters and diaries are a miracle of survival, and yet who but women carried on such connective interaction?) on women is an uphill battle, try locating those faithful (and also the troublesome…) men, women, children who worked so the town houses and estates ran smoothly.
I’ve long visited the wonder website The Proceedings of the Old Bailey; seen a few cases – but only now think about two things: culling them to fill-in those little moments when one brother or father or uncle appeared in court, the subject, perhaps, of a robbery! And, reading this particular account (see below), it dawned that I could do a little in adding NAMES to the people in the household!
And yet, reading the account with fresh eyes this morning, this poor woman had so much stolen: Perhaps all her personal effects! And with the thought of shedding a little light on a moment of life for MARY ANN HARDCASTLE, I post today.
Mary Ann Hardcastle describes herself in this court document: “I am governess to Mr Gosling’s daughters; the family live in Lincoln-Inns-Fields, and their country house is at Langley.*” These, then, also the addresses associated with this hardworking governess. And when the family packed up to move from town to country, or country to town as in this case, so did she.
[* Robert Gosling was my Mary’s paternal grandfather; the daughters here being Mary’s aunts: Harriet (later, Mrs Alexander Davison of Swarland) and Mary [Maria?] (later, Mrs Henry Gregg, of Lincoln’s Inn).]
At the heart of the case, her DEAL BOX (see a c1800 Welsh “deal box” settle). “I packed up my box on the 27th of November [1783], I never saw the box afterwards, till I saw it in Hall’s lodging…”
Two men were indicted: William Hall (“otherwise Halley”) and John Field; the first for stealing; the second for receiving stolen goods.
Mary Cartwright, the Goslings’ housekeeper, swore to seeing the box set upon the waggon of the Langley Carrier, Thomas Webb. Webb then told a tale of robbery: after delivering “an empty Hamper at Knights Bridge, and a woman at Hyde Park Corner,” he “came to the Running Horse, just below Park Lane….I missed two boxes, the tilt was tore, and the skewers taken out; I had a great many other persons goods; there were two trunks taken out; This is one of the boxes that was lost, the other was much larger and heavier.”
Some items were recovered from Field’s room and accommodations. Among the still-missing: “an apron and some sort of a locket or thing that ladies wear about their neck; he said he had sold them”.
Field claimed to have found the trunk.
While it’s heartbreaking to see the list of simple items stolen from her, to read Mrs Hardcastle’s next statement is a revelation! The statement says much about Field’s actions, but look at what Mrs Hardcastle valued:
“Field immediately took the poker and attempted to open the drawers; he seemed very concerned and very much surprized when my things were found in his possession: I had several letters in my box, some directed at me at Mr. Gosling’s, Lincoln’s-Inn Fields, and some in the country. I had a large parcel of manuscripts, poetry, and bills and receipts, and many things that I valued very much, and Hall had burnt them the night before: the gentleman went down into the kitchen and found several scraps of my papers half burnt; I had likewise a common leather memorandum book which Hall sold for two-pence with the papers that were in it which I valued exceedingly: I had likewise a very large parcel of poetry; Hall afterwards, when I asked him why he burnt them, said, for fear of leading to a discovery, because he meant to sell my clothes”.
I stop here to list the items which appear at the head of the report*:
one deal box, value 6 d.
three linen shirts, value 15 s.
six pair of white stockings, value 6 s.
one dimity gown, trimmed with muslin, value 10 s.
two womens linen riding shirts, value 10 s.
two womens riding waistcoats, value 10 s.
two linen handkerchiefs, value 2 s.
one deal box, value 12 d.
two worked muslin aprons, value 10 s.
one plain lawn apron, value 4 s.
one plain muslin short apron, value 3 s.
two tambour muslin gowns, value 20 s.
one printed muslin gown, value 10 s.
one sattin gown, value 10 s.
one white sarcenet cloak, value 10 s.
two yards of white striped gauze, value 10 s.
a pink silk petticoat, value 10 s.
two muslin neck handkerchiefs, value 4 s.
two muslin night caps, value 2 s.
one silver tissue pocketbook, value 12 d.
one leather pocket-book, value 2 d.
one base metal handkerchief slider, value 6 d.
the property of Mary Hardcastle, spinster.
[*NEARLY FORGOT to include this valuable website: check out the English Costume link, as well as the textiles, to get an impression of the items at the center of this case.]
Other than the boxes and the leather pocket book, there really is NO valuation given to the papers – the letters, poetry (did she write them? did the Gosling girls?) OH TO HAVE THESE ITEMS!!
From a 21st-century perspective, the report ends SO UBRUPTLY! Witnesses for the two prisoners were called; characters given; NOT GUILTY is the verdict passed!
And poor Mary Hardcastle? Some items recovered; others lost. And – seemingly, (given the “caught-red-handed” scenario) – no justice served.
Was the court unimpressed by the simple belongings of a mere governess to follow-through with prosecution? Was Mary Ann Hardcastle literally “robbed” a second time?
A fabulous document, attached to this case, appears online at LONDON LIVES.
Beyond her name, I know nothing of Mary Ann Hardcastle; not how old she was in 1783, nor how long she was with the Goslings at this point, nor how long she stayed. The candle that illuminates her life at this moment of such stress, flickers out…
What Jane Austen Saw: the 1813 Reynolds Exhibition
Being CHEST-DEEP in portraits this week, I was so excited to find two Janine Barchas-related websites. One, a 2012 “work-in-progress” page on the Aphra Behn.Org “interactive journal” (see also ABO’s new website); the other, her up-and-running “WHAT JANE SAW” website.
Readers of Two Teens in the Time of Austen will realize (quickly!) that my interest in Austen is only outstripped by my fascination with my SMITH & GOSLING families. What JANE AUSTEN SAW is surely also WHAT THE SMITHS & GOSLINGS SAW!
Emma’s youthful diaries are filled with references to exhibitions; alas, no 1813 diary written by Emma exists (that I know of….). BUT: An 1813 diary exists for Eliza Chute.
Unfortunately, Eliza was less likely to be in London than her sister Augusta Smith, and nothing exists at HRO (Hampshire Record Office) for Mamma for any of the years comprising the decade of the 1810s. Mary Lloyd Austen also has a diary for 1813, but, like Eliza Chute, was even less likely to be in London during “the season”.
If I had been given the nod by JASNA to visit England this summer, my project would have centered around these very diaries! Alas, again, it was not to be. So if anyone in England, near Winchester, wants to pop in, take a look, and tell readers what is or is not listed in these diaries — feel free to comment.
Lady Cunliffe was still alive (died in fall, 1814); and she knew Sir Joshua Reynolds — was painted by him even. She probably visited the exhibition, but so far very little written by her is known to exist. The Gosling/Cunliffe family was well-known to Mrs Piozzi (Hester Thrale); and she lent paintings to this exhibition! Small world…
For now, though, let’s take a viritual tour, circa 1813, in the company of Jane Austen!
Mona Lisa Mystery
Imagine… delving into portraits this week, and Today’s news surfaces about “THE” quintissential portrait: Mona Lisa. The hunt is on to solve of the mystery of her real-life identity. Watch and Read:
Visit my NEW “Authors” Page
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News ! * NEWS !! * NEWS !!!
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I spent last evening “building” an “author’s page” on Amazon.com!
Photos are up, a couple of videos will be there by the time you read this. Having written articles for journals and magazines, I can, of course, only “claim” those items up for sale at Amazon. That currently includes:
- the upcoming — projected publication, November 2013 — edited volume of Jane Austen and the Arts; my chapter entitled “A ‘Reputation for Accomplishment’: Marianne Dashwood and Emma Woodhouse as Artistic Performers”; you can see the Table of Contents (TOC) at Rowman. Am rather peeved that my name is slightly incorrect: it should read Kelly M. McDonald. Have to see what I can do about that. Unfortunately, it has rather proliferated already – even Amazon (which I have worked to CHANGE) had “misplaced” my middle initial.
- the essay from Persuasions (No. 30; 2008), “Derbyshires Corresponding: Elizabeth Bennet and the Austen Tour of 1833,” I have actually blogged about before. In July 2009, in a post called JUST TOO INCREDIBLE, I mused as to WHY Amazon had a digital copy of this for sale! (There are other Persuasions articles that have suffered the same fate.) I don’t see a penny of their $9.95 download cost. But worst: the editorial board of Persuasions loved the article so much that they made it available — for FREE — online at JASNA.org! If I say so myself, this is a delightful essay: Using Emma’s diary and an 1833 letter, Elizabeth Bennet’s tour of Derbyshire — a turning point in her story — comes to life.
What will you see soon on this AUTHOR PAGE?
My Kindle book, Two Teens in the Time of Austen: Random Jottings, 2008-2013.
This is a newly-edited, and highly-rearranged, presentation of blog posts from the past six years. I think readers will find it a useful “introduction” to the major dramatis personae of my SMITH & GOSLING family.
I’ve created the cover, uploaded the content, and filled out most of the forms. I’ve let it cool, a bit; changed my mind about a few former choices; and need to REVIEW it all before it goes live.
I invite readers to SIGN UP for my “new releases” –>
you’ll see the link right at the top right of the page when you visit.
If this Kindle experience pleases me, I may release some shorter pieces, written but, having never found quite the right publishing venue, kept to one side. Being deep in the midst of research I really have only these small pieces to present, even though I’d love to put a book out there!
Two Teens in the Time of Austen 