You are the most provoking man that ever lived in the world—& the most provoking part of your provokingness is that one cannot find in one's heart to quarrel with you. To think of your expecting a letter at Oakhampton HouseOakhampton House, Dunley, Worcestershire, England | Dunley | Worcestershire | England | 52.3199693 -2.30756109999993 Oakhampton House is a country estate in Dunley, owned by the descendants of Royalist Sir Richard Crane during Mitford’s time. Sir William Elford was staying at this address in April 1821. More research needed.—lmw! Well you shall get one at BickhamBickham, Somerset, England | Bickham | Somerset | England | 51.163534 -3.506621999999993 Hamlet near Plymouth, and residence of Sir William Elford, who lived there until the failure of his finances in 1825 forced him eventually to sell his family’s estate. He sold his property in Bickham in 1831 and moved to The Priory, in Totnes, Devon the house of his daughter (Elizabeth) and son-in-law.—ebb, lmw instead for if you do not leave it till the 4th I shall have time to catch you & I wish to explain to you all my thoughts & feelings respecting these letters. I should be as glad as you would, my always dear & kind & too partial friend, if I thought they would by any chance make some attractive volumes. But I do not. There is about them now a piquancy which results almost entirely from saucy criticism on the one hand, & personal anecdotes no less saucy on the other. If I were to publish them as they are I have no doubt but they would sell—But to publish them as they are would be impossible—everything that could by the remotest chance hurt the feelings either of authors or acquaintances or whoever else might be mentioned must without hesitation be expunged—& I blush to think how little would remain worth reading when this playful malice (excusable perhaps for a lively young woman to write but which she would be unpardonable in printing) should be taken away. With these feelings, I shall persist in my request for a loan of those letters—It seems to me that I may find [del: .] bits in them which would dovetail in with great ease & some effect—For instance I want to write an article on RichmondRichmond, London, England | Richmond upon Thames | Richmond | London | England | 51.46131099999999 -0.3037420000000566 Richmond upon Thames, now a borough of London, formerly part of Surrey. The Hoflands lived there and Thomas Hofland painted views of the area.—lmw, & if I remember right I wrote you an account of the impression which that beautiful & elegant place made on me when I was there last year. If you will trust me with these letters I will promise you to look over them & if I find your plan practicable to put it in execution in preference to my own—If not the letters will be just as good as new twenty page 2
years hence, even though I should get them now—for neither my Essays nor the Magazines will be remembered then more than the last year's clouds. If you should incline to yield to my reasons or my importunity, you can bring these epistles with you & either leave them for me at 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 or bring them yourself here on your return, when I hope we may depend on seeing you at all events. If you leave them at 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 will you have the goodness to send a line to the Post Office as you pass through to let me know that you have done so. We must not let these precious pieces of impertinence be lost. I am quite ashamed to have made such a clatter about them. 〰My TragedyFiesco. Mary Russell Mitford.
Mitford’s first attempt to write a full-length tragedy, never performed or printed, although she did submit it for consideration to William Macready and the managers of Covent Garden Theatre in 1820. Schiller also wrote a play on this subject, entitled Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua; or Fiesco’s Conspiracy at Genoa. In a letter of 9 February 1821 Mitford indicates that she was not familiar with Schiller’s work, having neither seen nor sought for it. —lmw is still in Mr. MacreadyWilliam Charles Macready | Born: 1793-03-03 in London, England. Died: 1873-04-27 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
English actor, one of the most prominent tragedians of his era. He appeared at Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres in London and also toured the United States. He appeared in Sheridan Knowles's William Tell, Byron's Sardanapolus, and Bulwer-Lytton's Money (1840), as well as in many Shakespearean roles. He also managed both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres. In his role as actor-manager, Macready was a correspondent and collaborator with Mary Russell Mitford. The first play on which they worked was Mitford's Julian. Mitford dedicated to Macready the print edition of Julian: To William Charles Macready, Esq., with high esteem for those endowments which have cast new lustre on his art; with warm admiration for those powers which have inspired, and that taste which has fostered the tragic dramatists of his age; with heartfelt gratitude for the zeal with which he befriended the production of a stranger, for the judicious alterations which he suggested, and for the energy, the pathos, and the skill with which he more than emhodied its principal character; this tragedy is most respectfully dedicated by the author. Macready retired from the stage in 1851. —lmw
's hands—but I am afraid it will be ultimately rejected—Oh I shall never have the good luck to be damned!—Mr. MacreadyWilliam Charles Macready | Born: 1793-03-03 in London, England. Died: 1873-04-27 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
English actor, one of the most prominent tragedians of his era. He appeared at Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres in London and also toured the United States. He appeared in Sheridan Knowles's William Tell, Byron's Sardanapolus, and Bulwer-Lytton's Money (1840), as well as in many Shakespearean roles. He also managed both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres. In his role as actor-manager, Macready was a correspondent and collaborator with Mary Russell Mitford. The first play on which they worked was Mitford's Julian. Mitford dedicated to Macready the print edition of Julian: To William Charles Macready, Esq., with high esteem for those endowments which have cast new lustre on his art; with warm admiration for those powers which have inspired, and that taste which has fostered the tragic dramatists of his age; with heartfelt gratitude for the zeal with which he befriended the production of a stranger, for the judicious alterations which he suggested, and for the energy, the pathos, and the skill with which he more than emhodied its principal character; this tragedy is most respectfully dedicated by the author. Macready retired from the stage in 1851. —lmw
wrote the other day to my friend & his friend who gave him my PlayFiesco. Mary Russell Mitford.
Mitford’s first attempt to write a full-length tragedy, never performed or printed, although she did submit it for consideration to William Macready and the managers of Covent Garden Theatre in 1820. Schiller also wrote a play on this subject, entitled Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua; or Fiesco’s Conspiracy at Genoa. In a letter of 9 February 1821 Mitford indicates that she was not familiar with Schiller’s work, having neither seen nor sought for it. —lmw—& this mutual friendThomas Noon Talfourd | Born: 1795-05-26 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1854-03-13 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.
Close friend, literary mentor, and frequent correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. A native of Reading, Talfourd was educated at the Reading’s newly-established Mill Hill school, a dissenting academy, from 1808 to 1810. He attended Dr. Richard Valpy’s Reading School from 1810 to 1812. His career in law began with a legal apprenticeship with Joseph Christy, special pleader, in 1817. He was called to the bar in London in 1821 and ultimately earned a D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Oxford on June 20, 1844. While establishing his practice as a barrister and special pleader, he worked as legal correspondent for The Times, reporting on the Oxford Circuit, and also continued his literary interests. After 1833, he was appointed Serjeant at Law, as well as a King’s and Queen’s Counsel. He was elected and served as Member of Parliament for Reading from 1835 to 1841 and from 1847 to 1849 ; he served with Charles Fyshe Palmer, Charles Russell, and Francis Piggott. Highlights of his political and legal career included introducing the first copyright bill into Parliament in 1837 (for which action Charles Dickens dedicated Pickwick Papers to him) and defending Edward Moxon’s publication of Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab in 1841 . He was appointed Queen’s Serjeant in 1846 and Judge of Common Pleas in 1849 , at which post he served until his death in 1854. He was knighted in 1850 .
Talfourd’s literary works include his plays Ion (1835), The Athenian Captive (1837) and Glencoe, or the Fate of the MacDonalds(1839).
—lmw, cmm, ebb
(who is on the circuit just now) copied his letter for my edification. It was in the first place the prettiest letter I ever read in my life—thoroughly careless simple & unpresuming—showing great diffidence of his own judgment—the readiest goodnature—the kindest & most candid desire to be pleased. I wot the letter of a scholar & a gentleman, & not the least like an Actor. As far as regarded my TragedyFiesco. Mary Russell Mitford.
Mitford’s first attempt to write a full-length tragedy, never performed or printed, although she did submit it for consideration to William Macready and the managers of Covent Garden Theatre in 1820. Schiller also wrote a play on this subject, entitled Die Verschwörung des Fiesco zu Genua; or Fiesco’s Conspiracy at Genoa. In a letter of 9 February 1821 Mitford indicates that she was not familiar with Schiller’s work, having neither seen nor sought for it. —lmw it contained much good criticism—Mr. MacreadyWilliam Charles Macready | Born: 1793-03-03 in London, England. Died: 1873-04-27 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
English actor, one of the most prominent tragedians of his era. He appeared at Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres in London and also toured the United States. He appeared in Sheridan Knowles's William Tell, Byron's Sardanapolus, and Bulwer-Lytton's Money (1840), as well as in many Shakespearean roles. He also managed both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres. In his role as actor-manager, Macready was a correspondent and collaborator with Mary Russell Mitford. The first play on which they worked was Mitford's Julian. Mitford dedicated to Macready the print edition of Julian: To William Charles Macready, Esq., with high esteem for those endowments which have cast new lustre on his art; with warm admiration for those powers which have inspired, and that taste which has fostered the tragic dramatists of his age; with heartfelt gratitude for the zeal with which he befriended the production of a stranger, for the judicious alterations which he suggested, and for the energy, the pathos, and the skill with which he more than emhodied its principal character; this tragedy is most respectfully dedicated by the author. Macready retired from the stage in 1851. —lmw
thinks, & he is right, that there is too little of striking incident & too little fluctuation (Indeed I have made my FiescoFiesco
Title character of Mitford’s tragedy Fiesco.—lmw as virtuous & as fortunate as Sir Charles GrandisonSir Charles Grandison
Title character of Samuel Richardson’s novel The History of Sir Charles Grandison. Became proverbial for an impossibly perfect ideal man and used by Mitford in this sense.—lmw—& he goes about proné by every body & setting every body to rights much in the same style with that worthy gentleman—only that he has one wife instead of two mistresses) Nevertheless the dialogue which is my strong part has some how "put salt upon Mr. MacreadyWilliam Charles Macready | Born: 1793-03-03 in London, England. Died: 1873-04-27 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
English actor, one of the most prominent tragedians of his era. He appeared at Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres in London and also toured the United States. He appeared in Sheridan Knowles's William Tell, Byron's Sardanapolus, and Bulwer-Lytton's Money (1840), as well as in many Shakespearean roles. He also managed both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres. In his role as actor-manager, Macready was a correspondent and collaborator with Mary Russell Mitford. The first play on which they worked was Mitford's Julian. Mitford dedicated to Macready the print edition of Julian: To William Charles Macready, Esq., with high esteem for those endowments which have cast new lustre on his art; with warm admiration for those powers which have inspired, and that taste which has fostered the tragic dramatists of his age; with heartfelt gratitude for the zeal with which he befriended the production of a stranger, for the judicious alterations which he suggested, and for the energy, the pathos, and the skill with which he more than emhodied its principal character; this tragedy is most respectfully dedicated by the author. Macready retired from the stage in 1851. —lmw
's tail" as 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 says [1] Not a quotation but a proverbial phrase. According to Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898), the phrase usually means to "catch or apprehend" someone. Mitford seems to mean that Macready has been halted or frozen by indecision. —lmw—so that he is in a very unhappy state of doubt about it & cannot make up his mind one or the other. The only thing upon which he was decided was that page 3
the handwriting was illegible & that it must be copied for presentment to the Managers—which has been done accordingly & Mr. MacreadyWilliam Charles Macready | Born: 1793-03-03 in London, England. Died: 1873-04-27 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
English actor, one of the most prominent tragedians of his era. He appeared at Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres in London and also toured the United States. He appeared in Sheridan Knowles's William Tell, Byron's Sardanapolus, and Bulwer-Lytton's Money (1840), as well as in many Shakespearean roles. He also managed both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres. In his role as actor-manager, Macready was a correspondent and collaborator with Mary Russell Mitford. The first play on which they worked was Mitford's Julian. Mitford dedicated to Macready the print edition of Julian: To William Charles Macready, Esq., with high esteem for those endowments which have cast new lustre on his art; with warm admiration for those powers which have inspired, and that taste which has fostered the tragic dramatists of his age; with heartfelt gratitude for the zeal with which he befriended the production of a stranger, for the judicious alterations which he suggested, and for the energy, the pathos, and the skill with which he more than emhodied its principal character; this tragedy is most respectfully dedicated by the author. Macready retired from the stage in 1851. —lmw
& they will now do exactly as they like.—I am delighted to find that you think I may succeed as a Dramatic writer—I am now occupied in Dramatic Sketches for Baldwin's MagazineThe London Magazine. 1820-1829.
An 18th-century periodical of this title (The London Magazine, or Gentleman’s Monthly Intelligencer) ran from 1732 to 1785 . In 1820, John Scott launched a new series of The London Magazine emulating the style of Blackwood’s Magazine, though the two magazines soon came into heated contention. This series ran until 1829, and this is the series to which Mitford and her correspondents frequently refer in their letters. Scott’s editorship lasted until his death by duel on 27 February 1821 resulting form bitter personal conflict with the editors of Blackwood’s Magazine connected with their insulting characterization of a London Cockney School. After Scott’s death, William Hazlitt took up editing the magazine with the April 1821 issue.—ebb, lmw—slight stories of about one act developed in fanciful dialogues of loose blank verse.—I have written two—& I suppose they will appear in May or June. By the way Mr. BaldwinRobert Baldwin | Born: 1780. Died: 1858-01-29.
Printer of the London Magazine; London printer and bookseller. Partners with Charles Cradock and William Joy; published works with them under firm name Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. Also published separately under R. Baldwin. See Coles 14.—lmw
has not heard word yet of the felicity that is to befalbefall him—for they are upon the Circuit with my young Barrister friendThomas Noon Talfourd | Born: 1795-05-26 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1854-03-13 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.
Close friend, literary mentor, and frequent correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. A native of Reading, Talfourd was educated at the Reading’s newly-established Mill Hill school, a dissenting academy, from 1808 to 1810. He attended Dr. Richard Valpy’s Reading School from 1810 to 1812. His career in law began with a legal apprenticeship with Joseph Christy, special pleader, in 1817. He was called to the bar in London in 1821 and ultimately earned a D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Oxford on June 20, 1844. While establishing his practice as a barrister and special pleader, he worked as legal correspondent for The Times, reporting on the Oxford Circuit, and also continued his literary interests. After 1833, he was appointed Serjeant at Law, as well as a King’s and Queen’s Counsel. He was elected and served as Member of Parliament for Reading from 1835 to 1841 and from 1847 to 1849 ; he served with Charles Fyshe Palmer, Charles Russell, and Francis Piggott. Highlights of his political and legal career included introducing the first copyright bill into Parliament in 1837 (for which action Charles Dickens dedicated Pickwick Papers to him) and defending Edward Moxon’s publication of Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab in 1841 . He was appointed Queen’s Serjeant in 1846 and Judge of Common Pleas in 1849 , at which post he served until his death in 1854. He was knighted in 1850 .
Talfourd’s literary works include his plays Ion (1835), The Athenian Captive (1837) and Glencoe, or the Fate of the MacDonalds(1839).
—lmw, cmm, ebb
—but as he is a great literary man, & undertakes for their insertion I have not much doubt about the matter—Don't mention it though till we have actually made the bargain—If Mr. BaldwinRobert Baldwin | Born: 1780. Died: 1858-01-29.
Printer of the London Magazine; London printer and bookseller. Partners with Charles Cradock and William Joy; published works with them under firm name Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. Also published separately under R. Baldwin. See Coles 14.—lmw
will accept a series of such articles they will be not merely extremely advantageous to one in a pecuniary point of view (for the p[Damage: agent: torn.] is well up, they give 15 guineas a sheet) but excellent exercise for my Tragedies. At the same time I confess to you that nothing seems so tiresome & unsatisfactory as writing poetry—Oh 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

! how much better I like working flowers! There when one had done a pattern one was sure that one had got on—& I had the comfort of admiring one's work & exulting in one's industry all the time that one was in fact indulging in the most comfortable indolence. Well courage Missy MitfordMary Russell Mitford | Born: 1787-12-16 in New Alresford, Hampshire, England. Died: 1855-01-10 in Swallowfield, Berkshire, England.
Poet, playwright, writer of prose fiction sketches, Mary Russell Mitford is, of course, the subject of our archive. Mary Russell Mitford was born on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire, the only child of George Mitford (or Midford) and Mary Russell. She was baptized on February 29, 1788. Much of her writing was devoted to supporting herself and her parents. She received a civil list pension in 1837. Census records from 1841 indicate that she is living with her father George, three female servants: Kerenhappuch Taylor (Mary’s ladies maid), two maids of all work, Mary Bramley and Mary Allaway, and a manservant (probably serving also as gardener), Benjamin Embury. The 1851 census lists her occupation as authoress, and lists her as living at Three Mile Cross with Kerenhappuch Taylor (lady’s maid), Sarah Chernk (maid-of-all-work), and Samuel Swetman (gardener), after the death of her father. Mitford’s long life and prolific career ended after injuries from a carriage accident. She is buried in Swallowfield churchyard. The executor of her will and her literary executor was the Rev. William Harness and her lady’s maid, Kerenhappuch Taylor Sweetman, was residuary legatee of her estate. —lmw, ebb
(as Blackwood's MagazineBlackwood’s Magazine. Edinburgh: 1817-04-1980.
Founded as a Tory magazine in opposition to the Whig Edinburgh Review.—ebb has the impudence to call me!) Courage Mon Amie—If you go on dramatizing at this rate 6 years longer  so you will get as enured to it as to working flounces or writing to your 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

—All your [del: .] fidgettiness will disappear Missy—The postman is this moment waiting—(I did not expect him for this half hour)—

Of course you will not expect to hear at Oakhampton HouseOakhampton House, Dunley, Worcestershire, England | Dunley | Worcestershire | England | 52.3199693 -2.30756109999993 Oakhampton House is a country estate in Dunley, owned by the descendants of Royalist Sir Richard Crane during Mitford’s time. Sir William Elford was staying at this address in April 1821. More research needed.—lmw.