Just one more thing…
Michael in Wales has seen the diary entry made by Lady Eleanor Butler about the Goslings’ 1821 trip through Northern Wales, when they made a four-hour stop to visit Lady Eleanor and Sarah Ponsonby – better known to the Goslings (and posterity) as The Ladies of Llangollen.
This is exciting (though dampened by Covid-19 closure of archival libraries), and FAIRLY puzzling: Michael’s comment unearthed an additional person visiting with the Ladies at Plas Newydd!
Michael’s summarization of Lady Eleanor’s comment:
5 Sept 1821 – Mr. and Mrs. Gosling, son, and 2 daughters.
led me to relook at Mary’s diary and two letters, written about the Goslings’ 1821 trip (i.e., merely reporting news of them NOT their news written by one of them). I doubt that Lady Eleanor gave much information, beyond WHO their visitors were, but I’m dying to know what SHE said! Oh, for libraries and archives to reopen.
This is NOT the first time that I have “waited with baited breath” for a tasty morsel; it usually turns out to be a mere TIDBIT only.
There once was hint of a letter’s contents: mention of “Master Charles Smith” and “our little maid” (i.e., his elder sister Augusta) during a stay with Grandpa and Grandma Smith at Stoke Park near Devizes, when the two children were quite young. Alas, there wasn’t much beyond the FACT of their stay, though there was enough extra to be satisfied with a small picture of their childish antics.
Another letter, different archive, was written on the very day William Gosling married his second wife, the Hon. Charlotte de Grey. Ooooohhhh, wedding news! And written by the mother-of-the-bride!
Alas… only the statement that they had married. NO details!
That felt like a sprinkling of crumbs, never mind a FAR tastier letter.
(I used to hope THIS was the face of Mary Gosling)
But, BACK TO WALES. The 1821 diary by MARY GOSLING was my FIRST acquaintance with her, her family, and the Smiths of Suttons, the family Mary married into in 1826. Little did I know then how much I would discover, and how far-ranging this project would become. But I always took Mary at her word: That they departed from Roehampton “Papa, Mamma, my sister [Elizabeth Gosling] and myself,” which makes up the very first sentence written to record this trip.
WHERE and WHEN did a “son” come into the mix?? Mary never says!
As I read and cogitated, an image of Columbo (yes, the 1970s TV detective) came to mind: “Just one more thing…” Only Mary didn’t come back with some second thoughts. (NB: I now wonder if she wrote up her entire diary once she got home.)
It was the second of the two letters (written in October 1821) that mentioned, “Mr. G-, Bennett & the two girls only crossed the sea” (ie, went to Ireland). LONG had I recalled that letter saying that Mrs. Gosling had stayed behind, with her relations the Irbys. WHY had I never thought about the inclusion of BENNETT Gosling in the same sentence?
Mary never mentioned that Bennett accompanied them, nor that her step-mother did not accompany them to Dublin. Nor was mention made about everyone in their party suffering from SEASICKNESS aboard the steamship! (Coming and going.) Only Emma, in a letter repeating news of a letter, let slip these vital details.
Of course, without Mary, I don’t know when Bennett joined them. But – thanks to Eleanor Butler’s diary! – I do know that he, too, visited the Ladies of Llangollen.
Elizabeth Chivers: Diary of a London Tourist, 1814
The Museum of London has produced a spectacular illustrated account of the London tour of Elizabeth Chivers, a resident of Bath. In 1814, twenty-eight-year-old Elizabeth and her younger sister Sarah, accompanied by their unnamed uncle (in his own carriage), left home on March 14th. Readers travel with them through such familiar places as Devizes, Marlborough, Bray, and Hounslow Heath. We halt with them at their hotel in Covent Garden. Here, with Miss Chivers, we see London in 1814 through the eyes of an untiring tourist. The Chivers sisters also were doing a bit of sleuthing, turning up places associated with several uncles (“late” as well as present) and even where “Father and Mother first became acquainted.”
Custom House, London
- Part 1: Days 1 thru 5, Noble Squares and Charming Cheesecake”
- Part 2: Days 6 thru 14, “From Royal Menagerie to Murderous Gardener”
- Part 3: Days 7 thru 21, “From Bedlam to Bath”
What makes the presentation extra special? The illustrations from the collection of The Museum of London, with captions that tell a bit more about what Miss Chivers saw, and whether something no longer exists. Helpful notes as well tease out the places visited or seen.
To actually walk in the footsteps of such Regency visitors – you might enjoy a copy of Louise Allen’s Walks Through Regency London. Great for the armchair traveller too.
Lord Compton’s Sicily
An additional link to the same exhibition and book is available on YouTube, in which the “pages” are flipped in a 10-minute-plus video. The book is Viaggio in Sicilia: Il taccuino di Spencer Compton. My original blog post from 2014 discusses a bit more the actual sketchbook and the art exhibition.
I recently found a link in which each drawing can be examined, for those wishing to spend a bit more time with Lord Compton, on his tour of Sicily. Click the photo, and you will be brought to the site for the Fondazioni Sicilia.
Etching Memories
A year or two ago I bought a batch of letters; included was one which should have had a half-page etching of Worthing, England. The Smiths & Goslings _never_ wrote on the rear of these pictures – though the letter confesses that the writer had written ON the drawing: an “X” marked the spot where the parents of the recipient had over-nighted.
But I can’t tell you where anyone stayed: the picture has been cut off. All that remains is the letter.
So within the last few weeks, when I came across some letter sheets I bought them. But none are of Worthing….
Companies, such as ROCK & CO, did produce books of their engravings. You can see one here, currently (Nov 2017) for sale. In my ‘searches’, however, I came across a very useful and touching website.
This book, posted online, forms both a diary and a book of engravings. A unique combination.
What is *special* about this copy of the book Drives &c In & About TORQUAY is that the author collected the drawings AND put down memories of a trip.
In the days before easy photography, these drawings procured the author the perfect illustrations!
Destination: Bath Easton
I just have to share…
The book is entitled, WALKS THROUGH BATH; it is the 1819 edition.
“Bath-Easton, this is a small town, of one tolerable street in length, and the appearance of the houses is very neat and clean. In this neighbourhood is Bailbrook-Lodge, a recent establishment formed for the reception of decayed ladies of respectability and high rank, under the patronage and sanction of her late Majesty. Also Bath-easton-Villa, once the residence of Sir John Millar. This seat was distinguished for the weekly parties of his lady, famed for their poetic productions. … Several other gentlemen’s seats are contiguous to Bath-easton, and the prospects and variety of subjects along the road interest the traveller, till he descends the hill adjoining to Walcot.”
The description has literally “made my day” today!
A nice historical description of Batheaston Villa is available as a PDF through Pritchards of Bath. {LOVE the photo of the two little girls, peering in the window!}
Read more about the area at the Fanny Chapman diary website.
FABULOUS Thames Trip (online)
Last night, searching for biographical information about the Sharpe family, as well as trying to RE-find a book on London Bankers (which I had had to interlibrary loan, once upon a time… Thanks, Internet!!), I came across this WONDERFULLY evocative Trip down (or up) the Thames.
This is what I first stumbled upon, notice of Rothbury House “now” [in 1829] occupied by “Benjamin Sharpe, a wealthy banker, and his family.” There were at least TWO Benjamin Sharpe partners at Goslings & Sharpe (not sure how much they overlapped) – father and son.
I hadn’t noticed last night that the image darkens everything EXCEPT the dwelling being considered. (VERY useful.) What _I_ noticed was the FABULOUS “painting” of the villas and woods and scenes that I could “sail” past. Like this Chiswick vista,
I strongly recommend the website and project, Panorama of the Thames. A digitized 1829 panorama from London to Richmond, you can catch a whole ride on the river (press the “restart” button on the screen), or dip in at any point you wish to see (press the “Back to River Map” button). Historians will appreciate the Georgian London tour. ALL travellers and London-fans will thoroughly enjoy the 2014 panorama in photos! Although it’s hard not to lament when one sees side-by-side Battersea Church surrounded by trees and Battersea Church overtaken by tower blocks!
“Imperial Guide, Great Post Roads”
Friends and I are always on the lookout for books which give a feel for the countryside and travel in eighteenth and early nineteenth-century England.
HIGHLY recommended is the Imperial Guide with picturesque plans, of the Great Post Roads. This link is specifically for the 1802 edition.
Elizabeth Bennet might have travelled with a copy of the book…
…and slipped it into her reticule while at Pemberley.
I came across this while looking for further information on an area Emma Smith called Velvet Bottom – a name I was simply enchanted with. It turns out to have been a particularly verdant area near Aylesbury (you’ll find it mentioned on page 42). Evidently, though, its name was thought rather “rude”! And it does becomes known as Velvet Lawn, not half so fun a name. But guess what: Emma uses BOTH names in her diaries!
But back to the book: I am really delighted with the illustrations. Truly ‘picturesque’.
Visitors to Bamburgh Castle, c1800-1820
While searching for information on the Northumberland Archives (nice online catalogue), I found an image – of a visitors’ book to Bamburgh Castle {where?}, and had to investigate WHY it turned up in a search for CARR GREGG.
A fantastic “slice of several lives” was revealed!
A “visitors’ book” is a litany of signatures, from those visiting a site (or hotel even); most will not contain more information that just a scrawled name. Yet in that name lies the “I was Here!” trace that is of use to me, 200 years later.
See images (4) and what seems a complete listing by clicking on the photo.
What rather thrills are the “oddly transcribed” names of a family which cannot be mistaken: the ladies of the family Maclean Clephane!
First, however, if you (like me) aren’t sure what Bamburgh Castle was/is – take a look at their website:
Lindisfarne Castle, a place I’ve longed to visit, is in the neighborhood of Bamburgh Castle – and looking into the history of this place I have to ask why was this never on my radar. Lindisfarne, however, is a National Trust property, and I’ve got at least one “Trust” publication. Bamburgh Castle continues as the “private home of the Armstrong family to this day.”
But what of my 19th-century visitors? Who did I find?
One family should come as no surprise: the Davisons of Swarland, Northumberland. Their visit is one of the earliest, taking place in 1801: “Mr and Mrs and 2 Masters Davison from Swarland, Northumberland“, e.g., Alexander Davison, Harriet Davison née Gosling (William’s sister; Mary’s aunt), and their two sons, the twins William and Hugh Percy (born in 1788). Even without further information – no thoughts about what they viewed – just knowing they toured the place puts the Davisons a little closer to “reality”. Perhaps Harriet once wrote Eliza Gosling, to tell them of their day out…
Another pair of visitors that same year are designated as “Mr Carr and Miss Carr from Newcastle upon Tyne“; the Carrs marry into the Gregg family – as did Maria Gosling, the remaining sister of William and Harriet (Davison) Gosling. Letters from the Carrs are often dated “Newcastle”; certainly those visitors from 1809 are them: “Mr. and Mrs Carr from Dunston Hill Co. Durham“; several Carrs turn up in the Bamburgh Castle visitors’ book.
An interesting name crops up in 1814: “Colonel and Mrs. Austen“. That spelling of the Austen name had my heart in palpitations for a moment; but surely NOT Henry Austen, as my first thought had flown to. A little digging, and I may have uncovered the correct man: Col. THOMAS Austen (1775-1859) “the second but eldest surviving son of Francis Motley Austen (d. 1815) and his wife Elizabeth, nee Wilson.” He inherited Kippington in 1817.
An 1819 party was of more immediate interest: “Colonel and Mrs. Davison from Swarland Hall. Mr. Henry Gregg and family.” Here was one of the twins, all grown up and perhaps married (Mrs D. could be his mother Harriet), in company (surely not separate visits) with Maria and Henry Gregg, and some (all?) of their children! Oh, for some letters from 1819!! Mary mentions her Davison cousins several times in her late diaries; Aunt Davison is only mentioned (in Charles’ diaries) following the news of her death.
And finally to the puzzling transcription, back in 1815: “Mrs. D. Maclean and Miss Maclean from Cliphane. Miss Wilmisson Maclean from Cliphane“. This can be none other than Mrs Douglas Maclean Clephane and her daughters, Anna Jane and Wilmina. After seeing letters of Margaret Maclean Clephane (after her marriage, Lady Compton; later, Lady Northampton), with a difficult hand where words often run together, I cannot be surprised at transcriptions like Wilmisson and Cliphane.
Several very small pieces of an extremely large puzzle, but welcome nonetheless.
St David’s Day – Dydd Gwyl Dewi Sant
Today, March 1st, celebrates Saint David’s Day, the feast day of the patron saint of Wales.
The first time I met Mary Gosling was on a family tour through North Wales: her comments on the Ladies of Llangollen (Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby) are what introduced me to this fascinating research project! Not that Mary had a LOT to say about the Ladies that everyone else didn’t say…
And the Smiths of Suttons seem staunch fans of travelling in Wales. Time and again they journey from home to spend some time in one of my favorite countries to visit: I also know how special the atmosphere is around the hills, mountains, streams, castles of Wales.
Two Teens in the Time of Austen 