No—I have not fixed any time for going to Town—I don't think I shall be there before the middle of May—It depends on half a hundred trifling contingencies—or rather I believe the country is so lovely in this CowslipName: cowslip or common cowslip or cowslip primrose | Genus: Primula | Family: Primulaceae | Species: Primula veris.
Mitford likely refers to Primula veris (also called cowslip, common cowslip, cowslip primrose), a plant bearing yellow flowers in spring, found in woods and meadows, native throughout most of temperate Eurasia, although absent from more northerly areas. May hybridize with English or common primroses.—lmw

-tide—one has such pleasure in doddering along the hedgerows, gathering violetsName: violet or wood violet or Common dog-violet | Genus: Viola | Family: Violaceae | Species: Viola riviniana.
One of Mitford’s favorite flowers (as it was of many of her contemporaries). Native to Eurasia, including the UK, it blooms from April to June in Berkshire. he terms viola and violet are used for small-flowered annuals or perennials, including the species. Mentioned in the 1811 Poems as well as in Our Village. Mitford likely refers to wild forms of the Viola such as the common dog-violet. Field pansies (Viola arvensis) are also native to the UK and are wild relatives of the multi-coloured, large-flowered cultivars used as bedding plants. T—lmw

& wood sorrelName: wood sorrel | Genus: Oxalis | Family: Oxalidaceae | Species: Oxalis acetosella.
Mitford likely refers to common wood sorrel, a member of the oxalis family, native to the Northern Hemisphere, including the UK. It grows in mixed woodlands and is a low-growing plant with heart-shaped trilobal leaves that bears white flowers in April and May. The plant is not related to sorrel proper (Rumex acetosa), although the two plants share an acidic taste that may have led to the similar name.—lmw

—listening to the woodlark—watching for the nightingale—Such enjoyment in the mere consciousness of existence in this sunny springy atmosphere with all its sweet scents & sounds, that there is no making up one's mind to leave it for smoky dusty LondonLondon, England | London | England | 51.5073509 -0.12775829999998223 Capital city of England and the United Kingdom; one the oldest cities in Western Europe. Major seaport and global trading center at the mouth of the Thames. From 1831 to 1925, the largest city in the world.—lmw—So I make excuses to myself & my friends, & invent apologies ^for staying at home which everybody believes—even myself—from all this you will find, my dear Sir WilliamWilliam Elford, Sir, baronet, Recorder for Plymouth, Recorder for Totnes, Member of Parliament | Born: 1749-08 in Kingsbridge, Devon, England. Died: 1837-11-30 in Totnes, Devon, England.
According to L’Estrange, Sir William was first a friend of Mitford’s father, and Mitford met him for the first time in the spring of 1810 when he was a widower nearing the age of 64. They carried on a lively correspondence until his death in 1837.
Elford worked as a banker at Plymouth Bank (Elford, Tingcombe and Purchase) in Plymouth, Devon, from its founding in 1782. He was elected a member of Parliament for Plymouth as a supporter of the government and Tory William Pitt, and served from 1796 to 1806. After his election defeat in Plymouth in 1806, he was elected member of Parliament for Rye and served from July 1807 until his resignation in July 1808. For his service in Parliament as a supporter of Pitt, he was made a baronet in 1800. After his son Jonathan came of age, he tried to secure a stable government post for him but never succeeded. Mayor of Plymouth in 1796 and Recorder for Plymouth from 1797 to 1833, he was also Recorder for Totnes from 1832 to 1834. Sir William served as an officer in the South Devon militia from 1788, eventually attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; the unit saw active service in Ireland during the Peninsular Wars. Sir William was a talented amateur painter in oils and watercolors who exhibited at the Royal Society from 1774 to 1837; he exhibited still lifes and portraits but preferred landscapes. He was elected to the Royal Society Academy in 1790. He was also a talented amateur naturalist and was elected to the Royal Linnaean Society in 1790; late in life, he published his findings on an alternative to yeast.
He married his first wife, Mary Davies of Plympton, on January 20, 1776 and they had one son, Jonathan, and two daughters, Grace Chard and Elizabeth. After the death of his first wife, he married Elizabeth Hall Walrond, widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Maine Swete Walrond of the Coldstream Guards. His only son Jonathan died in 1823, leaving him without an heir.
—ebb, lmw

, that you must come & fetch the white kittenwhite kitten
Female white kitten belonging to Mitford that she proposes to give to Elford. Mitford variously proposes to name the kitten Selima (after the kitten's father Selim) or Grizzy (after the character in Ferrier's novel Marriage). Unknown whether Elford eventually takes the kitten. Dates unknown.—lmw Will you? You must come—the nightingales will never fail us in such beautiful weather—& in short you must come either going or coming. Let me know two days before that I may be sure to be at home—two days are necessary because our Post boy is sometimes not here till long after we have ridden out—& if you do not come in your journey to TownLondon, England | London | England | 51.5073509 -0.12775829999998223 Capital city of England and the United Kingdom; one the oldest cities in Western Europe. Major seaport and global trading center at the mouth of the Thames. From 1831 to 1925, the largest city in the world.—lmw tell me where you shall be when there—that if I should (as may possibly happen) be in LondonLondon, England | London | England | 51.5073509 -0.12775829999998223 Capital city of England and the United Kingdom; one the oldest cities in Western Europe. Major seaport and global trading center at the mouth of the Thames. From 1831 to 1925, the largest city in the world.—lmw I may let you know. Of course we should be very happy to see your friend with the magnificant name—Mr. Champer—Champern. [Champernowne](you have written this name as badly as ever I wrote) Mr.[Champernowne] with you. You will prepare him for our homely ways. But you must come either upwards or downwards.

You are more candid to your enemies than I am to my page 2
Friends—(political friends & Enemies I mean) but that's not saying much—candour's not my forte. Your account of Mr. NorthmoreThomas Northmore | Born: 1766 in Cleve, Devonshire, England. Died: 1851 in Furzebrook House, near Axminster, England.
An acquaintance of Mary Russell Mitford, friend of John Johnson and co-founder with him of the Hampden Club. A Radical, Northmore ran unsuccessfully as Member of Parliament for Exeter and for Barnstaple. In a letter to Haydon dated 9 February 1824 , Mitford refers to Northmore as a great Devonshire reformer, one of the bad epic poets and very pleasant men in which that country abounds ( Life of Mary Russell Mitford ed. L'Estrange Vol II, page 22). In an 1819 letter to Elford, Mitford gives this description of Northmore, and mentions his authorship of an epic poem on George Washington: what a man! How loud & shrewd & full of himself & sharp all over from his eagle nose to his pointed hook toe! What a perpetual sky rocket bouncing starting & flaming! What a talker against time! Well might Mr. Hobhouse call him the gentleman who came all the way from Devonshire to tell us that he was a great man at home. And he is a Poet too. Has written an Epic, which must have appeared incognito–for I never remember to have heard it mentioned in my life. An Epic Poem about Washington . Mitford may not have seen the poem, since it was published in Baltimore, MD. Northmore's poem was entitled Washington; or Liberty Restored. A Poem in Ten Books.—kab, lmw
is charity itself. I think much the better of him for what you say—& probably Absence, like distance in a landscape has tended to soften down the rugged points & glaring hues of his character. Mr. NorthmoreThomas Northmore | Born: 1766 in Cleve, Devonshire, England. Died: 1851 in Furzebrook House, near Axminster, England.
An acquaintance of Mary Russell Mitford, friend of John Johnson and co-founder with him of the Hampden Club. A Radical, Northmore ran unsuccessfully as Member of Parliament for Exeter and for Barnstaple. In a letter to Haydon dated 9 February 1824 , Mitford refers to Northmore as a great Devonshire reformer, one of the bad epic poets and very pleasant men in which that country abounds ( Life of Mary Russell Mitford ed. L'Estrange Vol II, page 22). In an 1819 letter to Elford, Mitford gives this description of Northmore, and mentions his authorship of an epic poem on George Washington: what a man! How loud & shrewd & full of himself & sharp all over from his eagle nose to his pointed hook toe! What a perpetual sky rocket bouncing starting & flaming! What a talker against time! Well might Mr. Hobhouse call him the gentleman who came all the way from Devonshire to tell us that he was a great man at home. And he is a Poet too. Has written an Epic, which must have appeared incognito–for I never remember to have heard it mentioned in my life. An Epic Poem about Washington . Mitford may not have seen the poem, since it was published in Baltimore, MD. Northmore's poem was entitled Washington; or Liberty Restored. A Poem in Ten Books.—kab, lmw
is much better calculated for recollected than a present friend. This is my last word of him—perhaps the last word would have been saucier still had WashingtonWashington; or Liberty Restored. A Poem in Ten Books. Thomas Northmore. Thomas Northmore Northmore Thomas . Baltimore: John Vance and co..
Epic poem about George Washington published in 1809. Only Baltimore editions now in existence; Mitford may not have known of this work before she met Johnson and Northmore in 1819 because it was never published in England.—lmw made its appearance—but as that "heroic in Tens" (as Mr. Bellamy the Bible-manJohn Bellamy | Born: 1755. Died: 1842.
Hebraicist and author of The Holy Bible newly translated from the original Hebrew: with notes critical and explanatory, published for the author by subscription in 1818.—lmw, rnes
once advised me to construct out of the book of RuthBook of Ruth.
Book of the Old Testament, considered a historical book in the canon of the the Christian Bible. Authorship traditionally ascribed to the prophet Samuel.—lmw) [1] A reference to Northmore's epic poem on George Washington; the phrase "heroic in tens' refers to the literary convention of epics being written in ten cantos. Mr. Bellamy advises her to create an epic out of the Book of Ruth.—lmwhas not yet arrived here for me to yawn & stretch & pity myself over & try to praise—why I can afford to be charitable enough.

Upon my honour you had never before told me the story of Mr. Marriott—I would not have lost for "all the worlds one ever has to give"[2] A quotation from chapter 28 of Austen's Emma—lmw—It is admirable. Is not somebody with such supernatural pretentions mentioned in one of the periodical papers? I think the SpectatorThe Spectator.
A daily periodical founded by Joseph Addison Richard Steele which was published from 1711 to 1712. The original run consisted of fifty-five numbers, later collected into seven volumes and frequently reprinted thereafter. The paper was briefly revived by Steelein 1714.—lmw. In Mr. Marriott's case I apprehend the addresses first sent deterred him from exerting his powers—he might very willingly have accomodated some ready believer—some cullible [3] A now-obsolete words that describes someone who is easily deceived, similar to "gullible" Source: OED.—lmwSquire or Squiress—but when he found he had to do with an acute & sceptical man of wit (I hope you let me tell this truth) then he drew in his horns—There is in the new & delightful volume of Clarke's Travels in Sweden, Norway & so forthTravels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa. Part the third, section the first: Scandinavia, Travels in Various Countries of Scandinavia: Including Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lapland and Finland. Edward Daniel Clarke . London: Cadell and Davies. 1819.
Clarke began publishing a series of travel accounts in 1811 under the series title, Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa. The third part, first published in 1819, covered the Scandinavarian countries of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Lapland and Finland. The volumes were later reprinted both together and as individual volumes under separate titles.—tlh, lmw an anecdote of a Baron who professed Animal Magnetism which quite confirms my idea—he was pressed to show off by Dr. ClarkeEdward Daniel Clarke, Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge University, or: Dr. Clarke, Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge University | Born: 1769-06-05 in Willingdon, Sussex, England. Died: 1822-03-09 in London, England.
Traveller, writer, and naturalist. Author of Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa.—lmw
& Signor AcerbiGiuseppe Joseph Acerbi, Signor | Born: 1773-05-03 in Castel Goffredo, Italy. Died: 1846-08-25.
Author of Travels through Sweden, Finland, and Lapland to the North Cape, in the years 1798 and 1799.—lmw
(the other great Northern Traveller) & performed very sucessfully upon the led Italian & the led Englishman Messieurs LucettiLucetti
May be a fellow traveller with Joseph Acerbi; however, he is not mentioned by name in Travels through Sweden, Finland, and Lapland to the North Cape, in the years 1798 and 1799. Further research needed.—tlh, lmw & CrippsJohn Marten Cripps | Born: 1780 in Sussex, England. Died: 1853 in Novington, Sussex, England.
E.D. Clarke was his tutor; Clarke accompanied Cripps on his travels. Both attended Jesus College, Cambridge. Source: Alumni Cambridgiensis.—lmw, tlh
, but utterly failed when he attempted their shrewd & wary leaders. Depend upon it if you had sent letters addressed to some Mr. Smith or Miss Brown, or page 3
even to J. Webb Esqre he would have given you the amusement you required. Do tell me if you ever hear of any more of this curious affair. Is he the Mr. Marriott, Walter ScottWalter Scott, Sir, Baronet, or: Sir Baronet | Born: 1771-08-15 in College Wynd, Edinburgh, Scotland. Died: 1832-09-21 in Abbotsford, near Melrose, Roxburghshire, Scotland.
Scottish advocate, antiquarian, poet, and novelist. Also worked as clerk of the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He assembled a collection of Scottish ballads, many of which had never before been printed, in Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, first published in 1802, but continually expanded in revised editions through 1812 . Author of the long romance poems, The Lay of the Last Minstrel (1805), Marmion (1808), and The Lady of the Lake (1810). From 1814-1831, Scott published 23 novels, and over the course of his literary career, he wrote review articles for the Edinburgh Review, The Quarterly Review, Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, and the Foreign Quarterly Review.—ebb, esh
's friend to whom one of the letters between the Cantos of MarmionMarmion: A Tale of Flodden Field. Walter Scott. London Edinburgh: John Murray Constable and Co.. 1808. are addressed? He was a clergyman and went to live in DevonshireDevonshire | Devonshire | England | Devon | 50.716667 -3.716667 The county of Devonshire, now known as Devon, in the south west of England.—scw—You will see that I have recovered my appetite for reading—I have been quite delighted with Dr. ClarkeEdward Daniel Clarke, Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge University, or: Dr. Clarke, Professor of Mineralogy at Cambridge University | Born: 1769-06-05 in Willingdon, Sussex, England. Died: 1822-03-09 in London, England.
Traveller, writer, and naturalist. Author of Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa.—lmw
as I told you—very much amused with "Tom Crib's Memorial"Tom Crib’s Memorial to Congress. Thomas Moore . London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. 1819. the Battle is capital—better than the Twopenny post bagIntercepted Letters, or, the Twopenny Post-bag. Thomas Moore . London: J. Carr. 1813. —better than the Fudge'sThe Fudge Family in Paris. Thomas Moore . London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. 1818. —in short MooreThomas Moore | Born: 1779-05-28 in Dublin, Ireland. Died: 1852-02-25 in Sloperton Cottage, Bromham, Wiltshire, England.
Irish poet, singer, and musical composer; friend of Byron. Author of Irish Melodies, a collection of ballads published between 1808 and 1834 . In 1803, worked briefly as registrar to the Admiralty in Bermuda, then travelled throughout the United States and Canada, returning in 1804. Author of a comic opera, Whig satirical essays and poems, and works of social satire such as The Fudge Family in Paris (1818). Author of Memoirs of the Life of the Right Honourable Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1825) as well as editor of Letters and Journals of Lord Byron, with Notices of his Life (1830) as Byron's literary executor. —lmw
's best—all the rest is "Caviare"—Then I have admired Mr. RogersSamuel Rogers | Born: 1763-07-30 in Newington Green, London, England. Died: 1855-12-18 in London, England.
Banker, poet and literary and art patron. Author of The Pleasures of Memory (1792). Friend of artists John Flaxman, John Opie, and John Henry Fuseli; Charles James Fox, Sheridan, and the Holland House circle; as well as authors ranging from Byron and Thomas Moore to Walter Scott and Wordsworth. His conversation and notebooks and letters were later collected in the 1850s as Recollections of the Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers and in Recollections by Samuel Rogers.—lmw
's Human LifeHuman Life: A Poem. Samuel Rogers . London: John Murray. 1819. —with a certain quiet & calm sort of admiration such as one bestows on those works which are very short & seem very long—I have been very much pleased Dr. KingWilliam King, Doctor of Laws, or: Doctor of Laws | Born: 1685-03-16 in Stepney, Middlesex, London, England. Died: 1763 in England.
Principal of St. Mary's Hall, University of Oxford, and leader of the Jacobite interest at Oxford in the seventeenth century.—lmw
's AnecdotesPolitical and Literary Anecdotes of His Own Times.. William King 1818 . London: John Murray.
According to the title page, a memoir of Dr. William King, written in his seventy-sixth year, rediscovered and published for the first time by John Murray in 1818.—lmw—a curious little book in which amongst many other choice stories he insinuates that a certain Poet called Mr. PopeAlexander Pope | Born: 1688-05-21 in London, England. Died: 1744-05-30 in Twickenham, Middlesex, England.
Augustan-era Catholic poet whose achievements include the mock epics The Rape of the Lock and the Dunciad, as well as the Essay on Man, and a translation of the Illiad. He had a disfiguring disability, probably resulting from Pott's disease, and was an invalid for much of his life. He was known for his biting satire. Source: Britannica.—lmw, rnes
died of Dram drinking—& gives an account of the PretenderJames Francis Edward Stuart, or: Prince of Wales , the Pretender , the old Pretender | Born: 1688-06-10 in St. James Palace, England. Died: 1755-01-01.
Son of the deposed James II of England and Ireland and James VII of Scotland. As such, he claimed the English, Scottish and Irish thrones (as James III of England and Ireland and James VIII of Scotland) after the death of his father in 1701. Scottish supporters started The Fifteen Jacobite rising in Scotland in 1715, aimed at putting him on the British throne, but the uprising failed. After his death, the right to the Stuart succession was claimed by his son Charles Edward Stuart.—lmw
which if there were such things as Jacobites now a daysnowadays would cure them though it did not cure the author—moreover I have been perfectly disgusted with Mr. MaturinCharles Maturin | Born: 1782-09-25 in Dublin, Ireland. Died: 1824-10-30 in Dublin, Ireland.
's WomenWomen: Or Pour et Contre. A Tale. Charles Maturin. Charles Maturin Charles Maturin . Edinburgh: Constable and co.. 1818.
Mitford records that she don't like it much--too dismal.In Journal Saturday 27 March 1819. .—lmw —a vile hotch potch of GlenarvonGlenarvon. Caroline Lamb Ponsonby. Caroline Ponsonby Lamb Ponsonby Lamb Caroline Lady . & CorinneCorinne, ou, L’Italie, Corinne; or, Italy. Madame De Stael . Paris: Nicolle. 1807. —such a book as any clergyman, not Irish, would have blushed to write—very much amused with HolcroftThomas Holcroft | Born: 1745-12-10 in Orange Court, Leicester Fields, London, England. Died: 1809-03-23.
British author and journalist, friend and associate of literary-political radicals such as William Godwin. Author of the plays The Road to Ruin (1792) and Deaf and Dumb (1801), his work is important in the development of early nineteenth-century melodrama. He was also the author of Anna St. Ives (1792), considered the first Jacobin political novel of the 1790s. Arrested along with Hardy and Horne Tooke during the Treason Trials of 1794 , he was later released without being brought to trial. William Hazlitt later edited his memoirs.—lmw
's MemoirsMemoirs of the Late Thomas Holcroft, Written by Himself and Continued to the Time of His Death. Thomas Holcroft , William Hazlitt . London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. 1816. , begun by himself & finished by HazlittWilliam Hazlitt | Born: 1778-04-10 in Maidstone, Kent, England. Died: 1830-09-18 in Soho, London, England.
Essayist and critic, acquaintance of Mary Russell Mitford. Author of Table Talk (1821) and The Spirit of the Age (1825). Also authored collections of critical essays such as Characters of Shakespeare (1817), A View of the English Stage (1818), and English Comic Writers (1819). In a letter of 2 October 1820 , Mary Russell Mitford writes of Hazlitt to their mutual friend Haydon, He is the most delightful critic in the [world]— puts all his taste, his wit, his deep thinking, his matchless acuteness into his subject, but he does not put his whole heart & soul into it [. . . ] What charms me most in Mr. Haslitt is the beautiful candour which he bursts forth sometimes from his own prejudices [ . . . ] I admire him so ardently that when I begin to talk of him I never know how to stop. I could talk on for an hour in a see saw of praise and blame as he himself does of Beaumont & Fletcher & some of his old [favourites]. —lmw, cmm
—quite delighted with UndineUndine: A Romance, translated from the German. George Soane , Friedrich de la Motte .
Mitford would likely have been familiar with the 1818 translation by George Soane entitled Undine: a romance, translated from Friedrich de la Motte, Baron Fouqué’s Undine: eine Erzahlung, first published in German in 1811. Soane, a prolific playwright, also produced a play version of the Undine story in 1821.—lmw the prettiest German story of a Watersprite that ever was written—all poetry from end to end—& charmed—enchanted with another new Volume of Horace WalpoleHorace Walpole, or: 4th Earl of Orford (second creation) | Born: 1745-12-10 in London, England. Died: 1797-03-02 in Berkeley Square, London, England.
English politician, antiquarian, and author. Youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, British Prime Minister and Catherine, his wife. Built Strawberry Hill in Twickenham. Mitford admired Walpole's letter-writing style in a April 8, 1819 letter to Elford. His correspondence was published after his death.—lmw
's letters[4] It is unclear to which volume of Walpole's many volumes of letters Mitford refers here, since several volumes to different recipients appeared in the 1810's. The most likely candidate is Letters from the Hon. Horace Walpole to George Montagu, Esq. from the year 1736, to the year 1770: Now first published from the originals in the possession of the editor, published by Rodwell and Martin in 1818 and published in a second edition in 1819.—lmw—That Horace WalpoleHorace Walpole, or: 4th Earl of Orford (second creation) | Born: 1745-12-10 in London, England. Died: 1797-03-02 in Berkeley Square, London, England.
English politician, antiquarian, and author. Youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, British Prime Minister and Catherine, his wife. Built Strawberry Hill in Twickenham. Mitford admired Walpole's letter-writing style in a April 8, 1819 letter to Elford. His correspondence was published after his death.—lmw
was beyond a doubt the best letter writer of his day better than HumeDavid Hume | Born: 1711-05-07 in Edinburgh, Scotland . Died: 1776-08-25 in Edinburgh, Scotland .
The most influential philosopher of the Scottish Enlightenment, Hume championed skepticism in various contexts. He also wrote a celebrated History of England (1754-61), which covered English history from the Roman Invasion through the reign of James II.—rnes
—better than GrayThomas Gray | Born: 1716-12-26 in Cornhill, London, England. Died: 1771-07-30 in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England.
Poet and classicist. Author of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard and Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College, he was later known as part of the so-called Graveyard School of late-eighteenth-century poets, much admired and imitated into the nineteenth century. Friend of Horace Walpole. Fellow of Peterhouse and Pemrbroke, College, Cambridge University; later appointed Regius Chair of Modern History at Cambridge.—lmw
—better than CowperWilliam Cowper | Born: 1731-11-26 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England. Died: 1800-04-25 in East Dereham, Norfolk, England.
Poet, hymnodist, and author of the most important translations of Homer since Pope. He was deeply committed to the anti-slavery movement and wrote several poems on the subject. His poetry continued to be much-admired and reprinted in the Romantic and Victorian period.—lmw
—you and I thought so always—the world seems now to be pretty much of the same opinion—& I mean to reward the world by cheating page 4
it into pleasure in the same way that a very whimsical friend of mine chuseschooses to reverse the common practice by giving ChampaignChampagne under the name of Gooseberry wine. I intend to treat the public with a 3rd Volume of Walpolian letters—a little later in point of time—& dated not from Strawberry HillStrawberry Hill House, Twickenham, England | Twickenham | England | 51.4382596 -0.3345635000000584 Horace Walpole’s house at Strawberry Hill, near Twickenham.—lmw but from DevonshireDevonshire | Devonshire | England | Devon | 50.716667 -3.716667 The county of Devonshire, now known as Devon, in the south west of England.—scw—I shall leave out names &  changes places & I have no doubt of taking in the whole "Reading Public"—EdinburghEdinburgh Review, second series. Edinburgh: Constable.
Quarterly political and literary review founded by Francis Jeffrey, Sydney Smith, Henry Brougham, and Francis Horner in 1802 and published by Archibald Constable in Edinburgh. It supported Whig and reformist politics and opposed its Tory and conservative rival, The Quarterly Review. Ceased publication in 1929.—lmw & QuarterlyQuarterly Review. 1809-1967.
Tory periodical founded by George Canning in 1809, published by John Murray. William Gifford edited the Quarterly Review from its founding in 1809 until 1824, was succeeded briefly by John Taylor Coleridge in 1825, until John Gibson Lockhart took over as editor from 1826 through 1853. Archived at Romantic Circles, Quarterly Review Archive —lmw Reviewers not excepted. How do you like my plan? Shall you apply for an Injunction to the ChancellorJohn Scott, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain , or: 1st Earl of Eldon, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain | Born: 1751-06-04 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England. Died: 1838-01-13 in London, England.
John Scott, later created the first Earl of Eldon, was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He served as British Lord Chancellor of Great Britain between 1801 and 1806 and also between 1807 and 1827.—lmw
to stop the publication? Seriously, my dear Sir WilliamWilliam Elford, Sir, baronet, Recorder for Plymouth, Recorder for Totnes, Member of Parliament | Born: 1749-08 in Kingsbridge, Devon, England. Died: 1837-11-30 in Totnes, Devon, England.
According to L’Estrange, Sir William was first a friend of Mitford’s father, and Mitford met him for the first time in the spring of 1810 when he was a widower nearing the age of 64. They carried on a lively correspondence until his death in 1837.
Elford worked as a banker at Plymouth Bank (Elford, Tingcombe and Purchase) in Plymouth, Devon, from its founding in 1782. He was elected a member of Parliament for Plymouth as a supporter of the government and Tory William Pitt, and served from 1796 to 1806. After his election defeat in Plymouth in 1806, he was elected member of Parliament for Rye and served from July 1807 until his resignation in July 1808. For his service in Parliament as a supporter of Pitt, he was made a baronet in 1800. After his son Jonathan came of age, he tried to secure a stable government post for him but never succeeded. Mayor of Plymouth in 1796 and Recorder for Plymouth from 1797 to 1833, he was also Recorder for Totnes from 1832 to 1834. Sir William served as an officer in the South Devon militia from 1788, eventually attaining the rank of Lieutenant Colonel; the unit saw active service in Ireland during the Peninsular Wars. Sir William was a talented amateur painter in oils and watercolors who exhibited at the Royal Society from 1774 to 1837; he exhibited still lifes and portraits but preferred landscapes. He was elected to the Royal Society Academy in 1790. He was also a talented amateur naturalist and was elected to the Royal Linnaean Society in 1790; late in life, he published his findings on an alternative to yeast.
He married his first wife, Mary Davies of Plympton, on January 20, 1776 and they had one son, Jonathan, and two daughters, Grace Chard and Elizabeth. After the death of his first wife, he married Elizabeth Hall Walrond, widow of Lieutenant-Colonel Maine Swete Walrond of the Coldstream Guards. His only son Jonathan died in 1823, leaving him without an heir.
—ebb, lmw

, the resemblance in style, in playfulness, in humour, in Tact, is so perfect that if ever your letters should be printed anonymously I am sure they would be attributed to Horace WalpoleHorace Walpole, or: 4th Earl of Orford (second creation) | Born: 1745-12-10 in London, England. Died: 1797-03-02 in Berkeley Square, London, England.
English politician, antiquarian, and author. Youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, British Prime Minister and Catherine, his wife. Built Strawberry Hill in Twickenham. Mitford admired Walpole's letter-writing style in a April 8, 1819 letter to Elford. His correspondence was published after his death.—lmw
. People would miss a little of our honourable Friends small talk to be sure, & a great deal his selfishness & coldness, but in every other respect they ^are as much alike as SebastianSebastian
Character in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.—lmw was to ViolaViola
Character in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.—lmw.

I am very much obliged to you for your kindness respecting the poor Hoflands—things are very bad at WhiteknightsWhiteknights, Berkshire, England | Whiteknights | Berkshire | England | 51.440426 -0.9427994999999783 Berkshire estate of George Spencer-Churchill, the sixth Duke of Marlborough. Purchased by him in 1798 and extensively renovated at great expense until the Duke’s bankruptcy in 1819, when the estate and contents were sold at auction. Subject of an 1818 publication by the Hoflands. Formerly the manor of Earley Whiteknights; now Whiteknights Park, part of the campus of the University of Reading.—lmw—I don't think they will ever get anything but the sale of those 50 copies—for the ChancellorJohn Scott, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain , or: 1st Earl of Eldon, Lord Chancellor of Great Britain | Born: 1751-06-04 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England. Died: 1838-01-13 in London, England.
John Scott, later created the first Earl of Eldon, was an English barrister, judge, and politician. He served as British Lord Chancellor of Great Britain between 1801 and 1806 and also between 1807 and 1827.—lmw
has no respect for the Arts—& the DukeGeorge Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough, Marquess of Blandford, Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, or: 6th Duke of Marlborough Marquess of Blandford Lord Lieutenant of Oxfordshire | Born: 1793-12-27 in Bill Hill, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1857-01-07 in Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England.
Tory Member of Parliament and celebrated collector of books, art, and antiquities. Born at Bill Hill, an estate in Wokingham, Berkshire rented by his father. He owned and extensively renovated the house and grounds of the Whiteknights estate from 1798 to 1819, when bankuptcy forced the auctioning of the estate and all its contents. The auction created much excitement amongst book collectors, since his library contained works of early works printed in English by Caxton, Pynson, and deWorde; the catalogs of the auction remain an important record of book history and collecting. In 1819, he had commissioned Thomas and Barbara Hofland to produce the lavish publication A Descriptive Account of the Mansion and Gardens of White-Knights: A Seat of His Grace the Duke of Marlborough. By Mrs. Hofland. Illustrated with twenty-three engravings, from pictures taken on the spot by T.C. Hofland. They were never paid for their work because of the bankruptcy. Mitford discusses the Duke's penuriousness and his treatment of the Hoflands in her letters of 1819.—lmw
's vanity will now be as much mortified by  atby this Catalogue & description of pictures & books which are there no longer as it would once have been gratified. Nothing can be more pitiable than this loss to Mr. HoflandThomas Christopher Hofland | Born: 1777-12-25 in Nottinghamshire. Died: 1843-01-03 in Leamington Spa.
Landscape painter, and second husband of the author Barbara Hofland.—ebb. They are excellent people—with regard to Miss JamesElizabeth Mary James, or: Miss James | Born: 1775 in Bath, Somerset, England. Died: 1861-11-25 in 3 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey, England.
Close friend and correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. She was the eldest daughter of Thomas Webb and Susanna Haycock. Her father died in 1818 and her mother in 1835. After her parents’ deaths, she lived with her two younger sisters, Emily and Susan, in Green Park Buildings, Bath, Walcot, Somerset; High Street, Mortlake, Surrey; and 3 Pembroke Villas, Richmond, Surrey. According to Coles, referring to Mitford’s diary, letters were also addressed to her at Bellevue, Lower Road, Richmond (Coles 26). She was buried at St. Mary Magdalene, Richmond, Surrey. In the 1841 census, she is listed as living on independent means; in the 1851 census, as landholder; in the 1861 census, she as railway shareholder.—lmw all my eloquence was quite unnecessary for they have relinquished the plan—At least so I understand from a letter I have just received from her—the only silly letter I suppose she ever wrote in her life, in which meaning to tell things delicately to avoid all vulgar mention of Governess-ships page 5
Schools, money & such vulgar things she is as obscure as one of Lord CastlereaghRobert Stewart, Lord Castlereagh, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs , Leader of the House of Commons , Secretary of State for War and the Colonies , President of the Board of Control , Chief Secretary for Ireland | Born: 1769-06-18 in Dublin, Ireland. Died: 1822-08-12 in Loring Hall, Kent, England.
Peer, politician, diplomat, and government official. From 1812,he helped organize the international coalition to defeat Napoleon and represented the British at the Congress of Vienna. He was leader of the House of Commons from 1812 to 1822. Mitford obliquely pokes fun at his oratorical skills in a letter of 1819 when says of a friend's circumlocutory letter that her style is as obscure as one of Lord Castlereagh's explanations. —lmw
's explanations. I am quite glad to have detected this sweet but too perfect creature in such a silly Missy fault. It seems like animating PygmalionPygmalion
Mitford generally refers to the version of the myth from Ovid’s Metamorphoses in which Pygmalion is a sculptor who carves a female statue out of ivory, falls in love with the statue, and Aphrodite brings the statue to life.—lmw's Statue & bringing the Charmer from her Pedestal to one's own level.

Our M.P.Charles Fyshe Palmer, or: Long Fyshe | Born: 1769 in Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1843-01-24 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
Charles Fyshe Palmer was the son of Charles Fyshe Palmer and Lucy Jones. He married Lady Madelina Gordon Sinclair in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire . They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country, and Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House.
A Whig politician, Palmer began running for Parliament elections as the member for Reading after 1816, and appears to have served off and on in that role until 1841. He led the Berkshire meetings to protest British government’s handling of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. On March 16, 1820, Palmer ran for a seat in Parliament against two other candidates. The votes ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.) Mitford’s letters around this time indicate she much preferred his opponent J. B. Monck, and she had earlier satirized Palmer in 1818 as vastly like a mop-stick, or, rather, a tall hop-pole, or an extremely long fishing-rod, or anything that is all length and no substance.
Mitford also mentions Palmer in connection with a legal issue surrounding the Billiard Club, in her letter to Talfourd of 31 August 1822 . Mitford also mentions the ways that Palmer’s political opponents sometimes undermined his Whig reformist positions by referencing the noble privileges (and money) he accrued by marrying the Lady Madelina Gordon in 1805.
—ajc, lmw
See note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .
is to make his triumphal entry into ReadingReading, Berkshire, England | Reading | Berkshire | England | 51.4542645 -0.9781302999999753 County town in Berkshire, in the Thames valley at the confluence of the Thames and the River Kennet. The town developed as a river port and in Mitford’s time served as a staging point on the Bath Road and was developing into a center of manufacturing. Mitford lived here with her parents from 1791 to 1795, on Coley Avenue in the parish of St. Mary’s and attended the Abbey School. The family returned to Reading from 1797 to about 1804, after which they relocated to Bertram House. They frequently visited Reading thereafter from their homes at nearby Bertram House, Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. Mitford later used scenes from Reading as the basis for Belford Regis; or Sketches of a Country Town.—lmw next Tuesday—in a grand procession—masculine & feminine. Pray is it common for ladies to make part of the Cortege on such an occasion? I thought the Etiquette was to stand at windows & in balconies waving handkerchiefs & looking as pretty as possible—However the present plan is that ladies (Lady MadalinaMadelina Madalina Sinclair Palmer, the Lady, or: Lady M.P., Lady Mad., Lady Madelina Palmer | Born: 1772-06-19 in Gordon Castle, Bellie, Moray, Scotland. Died: 1847 in Chapel Street, Grosvenor Place, London, England.
Lady Madelina Gordon was born on June 10, 1772, the daughter of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon, and Jane Maxwell, at Gordon Castle, Bellie, Moray, Scotland. Her first husband was Robert Sinclair, 7th Baronet Sinclair; they married in 1789 and had one child, John Gordon Sinclair. Her second husband was the Reading Whig politician Charles Fyshe Palmer. They married in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire. They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country. Her sister Charlotte Gordon became Duchess of Richmond through her marriage to Charles Lennox, 4th Duke of Richmond, 4th Duke of Lennox and 4th Duke of Aubigny. Her sister Susan Gordon became Duchess of Manchester through her marriage to William Montagu, Duke of Manchester. Her sister Louise Gordon became Marchioness Cornwallis through marriage to Charles Cornwallis, Marquess of Cornwallis. Her sister Georgiana Gordon became Duchess of Bedford through marriage to John Russell, Duke of Bedford. Her brothers were George Duncan Gordon, who became 5th Duke of Gordon, and Lord Alexander Gordon. Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House. Lady Madelina’s name is variously spelled Madelina and Madalina, although Madelina appears to be the more common and standard spellling of the name, as an anglicization of the French Madeline. For more on the Palmers, see note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .—kab, ebb, ad, lmw included) are to fill all manner of Barouches Curricles Postchaises Gigs & Carts—(to say nothing of the Pedestrian Elegantes) & to make in this way the Tour of our independent Borough. Don't tell—but I am afraid our Pat[gap: 5 chars, reason: torn.][riots] are a little cowardly & put ^on all these petticoats for fear prote[gap: reason: torn.][ction] The WeylanditesJohn Weyland | Born: 1774-12-04 in England. Died: 1854-05-08 in Woodrising, Norfolk, England.
Tory journal editor and political figure. He and William Roberts founded the Christian evangelical periodial the British Review and London Critical Journal, a quarterly that appeared between 1811 and 1825. He authored several publications on population and the English poor laws, including A Short Enquiry into the Policy, Humanity, and Effect of the Poor Laws (1807); Observations on Mr. Whitbread's Poor Bill and on the Population of England (1807); The Principle of the English Poor Laws, illustrated from the Evidence given by Scottish Proprietors (before the Corn Committee,) on the Connexion observed in Scotland between the Price of Grain and the Wages of Labour (1815); and The Principles of Population and Production as they are affected by the Progress of Society (1816). He believed that hardship was an incentive to industry and he did not support further education of the poor. On March 16, 1820, Weyland was the Blue (or Tory) candidate, supported by the municipal corporation, in the Reading election. Three candidates ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland (395 votes.); Weyland was not returned. See . Weyland later won a seat as Member of Parliament for Hindon, Wiltshire, and served from 1830 to 1832. —ajc, lmw

being prodigiously enraged at the failure of their petition & ready enough to vent their wrath in besetting their adversary—What a strange thing party spirit is! These PalmerCharles Fyshe Palmer, or: Long Fyshe | Born: 1769 in Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1843-01-24 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
Charles Fyshe Palmer was the son of Charles Fyshe Palmer and Lucy Jones. He married Lady Madelina Gordon Sinclair in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire . They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country, and Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House.
A Whig politician, Palmer began running for Parliament elections as the member for Reading after 1816, and appears to have served off and on in that role until 1841. He led the Berkshire meetings to protest British government’s handling of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. On March 16, 1820, Palmer ran for a seat in Parliament against two other candidates. The votes ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.) Mitford’s letters around this time indicate she much preferred his opponent J. B. Monck, and she had earlier satirized Palmer in 1818 as vastly like a mop-stick, or, rather, a tall hop-pole, or an extremely long fishing-rod, or anything that is all length and no substance.
Mitford also mentions Palmer in connection with a legal issue surrounding the Billiard Club, in her letter to Talfourd of 31 August 1822 . Mitford also mentions the ways that Palmer’s political opponents sometimes undermined his Whig reformist positions by referencing the noble privileges (and money) he accrued by marrying the Lady Madelina Gordon in 1805.
—ajc, lmw
See note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .
ites are almost to a man reformers & BurdettFrancis Burdett, Sir, 5th Baronet of Bramcote | Born: 1770-01-25 in Foremarke Hall, Derbyshire, England. Died: 1844-01-23 in St. James's Place, London, England.
Famous and frequently-caricatured radical and reformist politician, and member of Parliament. Gave many public speeches, protested abuse of prisoners and flogging of soldiers. His harsh critique of the House of Commons for excluding reporters from their debates led to the Commons voting to imprison Burdett in the Tower of London in 1810, where he was committed until June after clashes between crowds of Burdett's supporters and the army in London. The incident increased his popularity. Burdett introduced a parliamentary reform bill in 1818, condemned the Peterloo Massacre in 1820, and remained politically active into the 1830s. Source: ODNB.—ebb


ites & CartwrightJohn Cartwright, Major, or: | Born: 1740-09-17 in Marnham, Nottinghamshire, England. Died: 1824-09-23 in London, England.
Royal Navy officer who supported the aims of the American Revolution and radical and reformist causes in Great Britain. Corresponded with Thomas Jefferson. Wrote a pamphlet in 1776 advocating annual parliaments, the secret ballot, and universal manhood suffrage. Founder of the Society for Constutional Information, which later developed into the London Corresponding Society. In 1794, was a witness at the so-called Treason Trials supporting Horne Took, Thelwall, and Hardy. Also associated with Francis Burdett, William Cobbett, and Francis Place. In 1812, founded the Hampden Clubs, political clubs designed to bring together like-minded middle-class reformers and working-class radicals. Supporter of Thomas Wooler and The Black Dwarf. The Life and Correspondence of Major Cartwright was published in 1826.—lmw
ites as violent as Mr. NorthmoreThomas Northmore | Born: 1766 in Cleve, Devonshire, England. Died: 1851 in Furzebrook House, near Axminster, England.
An acquaintance of Mary Russell Mitford, friend of John Johnson and co-founder with him of the Hampden Club. A Radical, Northmore ran unsuccessfully as Member of Parliament for Exeter and for Barnstaple. In a letter to Haydon dated 9 February 1824 , Mitford refers to Northmore as a great Devonshire reformer, one of the bad epic poets and very pleasant men in which that country abounds ( Life of Mary Russell Mitford ed. L'Estrange Vol II, page 22). In an 1819 letter to Elford, Mitford gives this description of Northmore, and mentions his authorship of an epic poem on George Washington: what a man! How loud & shrewd & full of himself & sharp all over from his eagle nose to his pointed hook toe! What a perpetual sky rocket bouncing starting & flaming! What a talker against time! Well might Mr. Hobhouse call him the gentleman who came all the way from Devonshire to tell us that he was a great man at home. And he is a Poet too. Has written an Epic, which must have appeared incognito–for I never remember to have heard it mentioned in my life. An Epic Poem about Washington . Mitford may not have seen the poem, since it was published in Baltimore, MD. Northmore's poem was entitled Washington; or Liberty Restored. A Poem in Ten Books.—kab, lmw
himself—haters of pensions—at least of all pensions but this—& now for the success of this Pension they prepare not only an Ovation but a Triumph. Well it is one step toward consistency to see the inconsistency of others—& another not to ride behind the pension—which I don't intend to do—having the offer of a most convenient window & being something of the dear KingGeorge Augustus Frederick , King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Prince Regent, or: Prince Regent | Born: 1762-08-12 in St James's Palace, London, England. Died: 1830-06-26 in Windsor Castle, London, England.
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and King of Hanover. House of Hanover. Reigned as Prince Regent during the long final illness of his father from 1811 to 1820. Formerly Prince of Wales and a supporter of the Foxite Whigs. He commissioned the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and supervised the large-scale remodeling of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.—ebb, lmw
's mind who told Sir W. BeecheyWilliam Beechey, Sir | Born: 1753-12-12 in Burford, Oxfordshire, England. Died: 1839-01-28 in London, England.
Official portrait painter to Queen Charlotte and member of the Royal Academy; he painted many members of the British royal family as well as celebrated figures such as Sarah Siddons and Admiral Nelson. He specialized in smaller scale full-length portraits.—lmw
vide HolcroftThomas Holcroft | Born: 1745-12-10 in Orange Court, Leicester Fields, London, England. Died: 1809-03-23.
British author and journalist, friend and associate of literary-political radicals such as William Godwin. Author of the plays The Road to Ruin (1792) and Deaf and Dumb (1801), his work is important in the development of early nineteenth-century melodrama. He was also the author of Anna St. Ives (1792), considered the first Jacobin political novel of the 1790s. Arrested along with Hardy and Horne Tooke during the Treason Trials of 1794 , he was later released without being brought to trial. William Hazlitt later edited his memoirs.—lmw
's MemoirsMemoirs of the Late Thomas Holcroft, Written by Himself and Continued to the Time of His Death. Thomas Holcroft , William Hazlitt . London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. 1816. ) "That he envied him the right of a Procession to St. Paul'sSt. Paul’s Cathedral, London, England | Cathedral Church of St. Paul the Apostle | 51.5138453 -0.0983506000000034 St Paul’s Cathedral, London, is a Church of England (Anglican) cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of London, and the mother church of the Diocese of London. It sits on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London. The present church, by Sir Christopher Wren, was built after the Great Fire of London in the late seventeenth century. The building would have dominated the London skyline in Mitford’s time. The state funerals of Lord Nelson and the Duke of Wellington were held at St. Paul’s.—lmw , he being able to see nothing but the back of his page 6
Coachman."—PapaGeorge Mitford, Esq., or: George Midford | Born: . Died: .
Father of Mary Rusell Mitford, George Mitford was the son of Francis Midford, surgeon, and Jane Graham. The family name is sometimes recorded as Midford. Immediate family called him by nicknames including Drum, Tod, and Dodo. He was a member of a minor branch of the Mitfords of Mitford Castle in Northumberland. Although later sources would suggest that he was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh medical school, there is no evidence that he obtained a medical degree and he did not generally refer to himself as Dr. Mitford, preferring to style himself Esq.. In 1784, he is listed in a Hampshire directory as surgeon (medicine) of Alresford. His father and grandfather worked as apothecary-surgeons and it seems likely that he served a medical apprenticeship with family members.
He married Mary Russell on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford; they later came to live at Broad Street in New Alresford. Their only child to live to adulthood, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. He assisted Mitford's literary career by representing her interests in London and elsewhere with theater owners and publishers. He was active in Whig politics and later served as a local magistrate. He coursed greyhounds with his friend James Webb.
—lmw who was very unpolitely looking over my shoulder ^has just told me as I turned the page that the plan was altered & after being advertised in handbills & ReadingReading, Berkshire, England | Reading | Berkshire | England | 51.4542645 -0.9781302999999753 County town in Berkshire, in the Thames valley at the confluence of the Thames and the River Kennet. The town developed as a river port and in Mitford’s time served as a staging point on the Bath Road and was developing into a center of manufacturing. Mitford lived here with her parents from 1791 to 1795, on Coley Avenue in the parish of St. Mary’s and attended the Abbey School. The family returned to Reading from 1797 to about 1804, after which they relocated to Bertram House. They frequently visited Reading thereafter from their homes at nearby Bertram House, Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. Mitford later used scenes from Reading as the basis for Belford Regis; or Sketches of a Country Town.—lmw papers, ladies were not to go—because they could only muster 4 or 5 handsome carriages—so that the procession is now to be almost all mounted & all male, & the ladies are to look on—Really we patriots are so poor its quite shocking.—You will not suspect me of having fabricated this story of the ladies' procession in order to fill up a page—My credit for facility in nonsense stands so high with you that I have no fear of that accusation.—

Adieu my dear Friend—Kindest regards from PapaGeorge Mitford, Esq., or: George Midford | Born: . Died: .
Father of Mary Rusell Mitford, George Mitford was the son of Francis Midford, surgeon, and Jane Graham. The family name is sometimes recorded as Midford. Immediate family called him by nicknames including Drum, Tod, and Dodo. He was a member of a minor branch of the Mitfords of Mitford Castle in Northumberland. Although later sources would suggest that he was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh medical school, there is no evidence that he obtained a medical degree and he did not generally refer to himself as Dr. Mitford, preferring to style himself Esq.. In 1784, he is listed in a Hampshire directory as surgeon (medicine) of Alresford. His father and grandfather worked as apothecary-surgeons and it seems likely that he served a medical apprenticeship with family members.
He married Mary Russell on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford; they later came to live at Broad Street in New Alresford. Their only child to live to adulthood, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. He assisted Mitford's literary career by representing her interests in London and elsewhere with theater owners and publishers. He was active in Whig politics and later served as a local magistrate. He coursed greyhounds with his friend James Webb.
—lmw & Mama—Write soon—& above all Come—

The white kittenwhite kitten
Female white kitten belonging to Mitford that she proposes to give to Elford. Mitford variously proposes to name the kitten Selima (after the kitten's father Selim) or Grizzy (after the character in Ferrier's novel Marriage). Unknown whether Elford eventually takes the kitten. Dates unknown.—lmw sends a very fine message half love half duty