Turn you off! My dear friend! Why how did I know but you were tourifying & honey-mooning—Then you off! I that always begin a letter by return of post (that's an excellent new ball) & generally send it off within three days—Turn you off! Pray were you ever turned off in your life? And do you think me the person to begin? Eh? I have a good mind to play the affronted. But I can't write two letters for one—No—those good days of idleness & doing nothing the history of which used to amuse you so much are past & gone—I am a busy woman; I write Tragedies & essays & work my brains out—& if you have a mind to take a perfect hatred to the sight of pen & ink you have nothing to do but to write a Tragedy as I have done, three times over in  three two months. It is finished now thank God! All but another copying—& my oracle Mr. TalfourdThomas 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
thinks it will do. Seriously, my always dear & kind friend, you must not expect me to write twice before you answer me—at least you must not wait for my writing—& pray if you should be such a flatterer as to miss my letters & should pay me the compliment of being a little angry don't say "She's idle, naughty one!" but "Poor thing she's busy!" I assure you I should like nothing so well as to be able to fling my tragedies & my acticles into the fire & new novels for your sake & [del: .] write long long letters about them all the day long.—Well now let me thank you most heartily & sincerely for your most kind & charming letter. It is the best of your best—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
never wrote one half so charming—because he was a dismal old bachelor & had never the happiness to have such materials—The Turkey is charming—Ah I wish wepage 2
lived 200 miles nearer that I might have the happiness of being introduced to Lady ElfordElizabeth Walrond Hall, or: Mrs. Elford | Born: 1780 in Manadon, Devon, England. Died: 1839 in Totnes, Devon, England.
Elizabeth Walrond was the second wife of Sir William Elford; they married on July 5, 1821 , fourteen years after the death of Mary Davies Elford in 1807 . Elizabeth was the daughter and co-heiress of Humphrey Hall of Mandon, Devon, England and his wife, the Hon. Jane St. John, daughter of John St. John, 11th Baron St. John of Bletsoe. She was previously married to Maine Swete Waldron, an officer in the Coldstream Guards, in 1803 and they had two children, only one of whom survived to adulthood. Her first husband died around 1817 and she married Sir William Elford four years later. Following her death, her will was probated on 10 December 1839. Some secondary sources erroneously give the spelling of her first married name as Waldron; however, she is not to be confused with the American Elizabeth Waldron (1780 to 21 July 1853).‏ Her birthdate is not given in any standard nineteenth-century reference sources, but is likely to be before 1780.—ebb, ajc, lmw—I am the least in the world afraid of a live turkey-cock—they have an aversion to me all the race—but he is a magnificent find notwithstanding, & the rearing them must be delightful because it is an uncertain crop & requires great care & skill in the culture. The finest I ever saw were a regiment of white turkeys belonging to Mrs. Roddam in the middle of the Cheviot hills—Pray make my very best respects to Lady ElfordElizabeth Walrond Hall, or: Mrs. Elford | Born: 1780 in Manadon, Devon, England. Died: 1839 in Totnes, Devon, England.
Elizabeth Walrond was the second wife of Sir William Elford; they married on July 5, 1821 , fourteen years after the death of Mary Davies Elford in 1807 . Elizabeth was the daughter and co-heiress of Humphrey Hall of Mandon, Devon, England and his wife, the Hon. Jane St. John, daughter of John St. John, 11th Baron St. John of Bletsoe. She was previously married to Maine Swete Waldron, an officer in the Coldstream Guards, in 1803 and they had two children, only one of whom survived to adulthood. Her first husband died around 1817 and she married Sir William Elford four years later. Following her death, her will was probated on 10 December 1839. Some secondary sources erroneously give the spelling of her first married name as Waldron; however, she is not to be confused with the American Elizabeth Waldron (1780 to 21 July 1853).‏ Her birthdate is not given in any standard nineteenth-century reference sources, but is likely to be before 1780.—ebb, ajc, lmw—I do not despair of seeing her some day or other—Does she never come to 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? And would she not condescend to visit our Cottage? 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 will remember the Manadon commisioncommission, & he sees so many people that there is a change I think of his hearing of a tenant of course if he does I shall let you know immediately.—Oh how much I was struck & charmed with the inseparable lives of those two Sisters—Oh I hope they will never be condemned to letter-writing distance! General Adams will live in your neighborhood—will he not? They should never be driven to any intercourse farther off than notes.

Yes I have got my packet quite safe—& I have looked over some part of it—& I really think one might with a great deal of leaving out & a little putting in make a salable Volume—I shall try the experiment by sending one or two letters as specimens (Copies—made letters—of course I mean not the originals)—as specimens to my Maecenas Mr. Colburn, & if he will give me  a littlesome money for said Volume—So! if not [del: .] we must wait a little longer for our immortality. I shall take great pains to alter & erase names & facts & places not to be found out—for I am convinced that the success of these things depends mainly upon their mystery—therefore I hope, my dear Friend that you will not speak of the plan to any one but the discreetest of the discreet—(I am afraid that it will fail altogether through Colburn's not  giving offering me any thing—I think I shall ask 50—Is that too much?)—at all events you shall have your M.S.S. back in the spring—You must come & fetch them.—Oh how good you are to me—how inexpressibly good & kind you have always been! I was quite astonished in looking over the packet of the fistfirst three years at your tolerating such a —I suppose you expected a [del: .] a butterfly—but alas! alas! after remaining a long time in her chrysalis state she was but a poor shabby little moth at last—a poor silly fluttering thing not worth looking at!——

Good night my dear Friend—we shall have a longer chat tomorrow—Good night! God bless you!

 lateFriday night—Regularly as you write to me before breakfast I write to you at 20-to-bedtime—Yes I have a book to recommend to you, 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

—a book that you will like I am sure Valerius a Roman Story."Valerius: A Roman Story. John Gibson Lockhart . Edinburgh London : William Blackwood T. Cadell. 1821. Have you heard of it? It is a novel in 3 Vols written by I know not who, but certainly well worth reading, Do get it & tell me all you think of it—I shall not say a word more about it myself because you like unexpectedness in a novel & would have half your pleasure destroyed by a previous criticism. You must tell me all your own opinion—And, I must just ask you one question—How do you like the Roman Centurion Sabinus?

I have been reading Madame de StaëlAnne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein Necker, or: Madame de Staël | Born: 1766-04-22 in Paris, France. Died: 1817-07-14 in Coppet, Switzerland.
Franco-Swiss salonierre, celebrity and writer. Author of Corinne, a novel about a celebrated Italian improvatrice that influenced representations of female authorship in the nineteenth century.—lmw
's prose works—I was anxious to see what she did in the Drama way—not much to the purpose I think—though there is some merit in Sapho—as that French learned lady, is pleased to spell the Lesbian Muse—It is astonishing how those French people turn every  thing over name according to the fashion of their own barbarous tongue—there is her Dix Anneés d' Exil too—which I detest for its abuse of NapoleonNapoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, Emperor of the French, President of the Italian Republic, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, or: First Consul of France Emperor of the French President of the Italian Republic King of Italy Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine | Born: 1769-08-15 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. Died: 1821-05-05 in Longwood, St. Helena, United Kingdom.
Military commander and political leader. During the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon rose to prominence as a military leader. He engineered a coup in 1799 that brought him to power as First Consul of France and then as Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815). As Emperor, he led France against a series of European military coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, building an empire that extended over most of continental Europe until its collapse in 1815. In spring 1814, the Allies captured Paris and forced Napoleon to abdicate, exiling him to the island of Elba and restoring the Bourbons to power. Less than a year later, Napoleon escaped from Elba and retook control of France, only to suffer defeat by the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. The British then exiled him to the island Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. He is celebrated as one of Europe's greatest military commanders and as the disseminator of the system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code.—lmw
—tell you a secret I had some sympathy with the dear EmperorNapoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of France, Emperor of the French, President of the Italian Republic, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, or: First Consul of France Emperor of the French President of the Italian Republic King of Italy Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine | Born: 1769-08-15 in Ajaccio, Corsica, France. Died: 1821-05-05 in Longwood, St. Helena, United Kingdom.
Military commander and political leader. During the French Revolution and Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon rose to prominence as a military leader. He engineered a coup in 1799 that brought him to power as First Consul of France and then as Napoleon I, Emperor of the French (from 1804 until 1814, and again in 1815). As Emperor, he led France against a series of European military coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars, building an empire that extended over most of continental Europe until its collapse in 1815. In spring 1814, the Allies captured Paris and forced Napoleon to abdicate, exiling him to the island of Elba and restoring the Bourbons to power. Less than a year later, Napoleon escaped from Elba and retook control of France, only to suffer defeat by the Allies at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. The British then exiled him to the island Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he remained until his death in 1821. He is celebrated as one of Europe's greatest military commanders and as the disseminator of the system of laws known as the Napoleonic Code.—lmw
in his dislike of that Germanized FrenchwomanAnne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein Necker, or: Madame de Staël | Born: 1766-04-22 in Paris, France. Died: 1817-07-14 in Coppet, Switzerland.
Franco-Swiss salonierre, celebrity and writer. Author of Corinne, a novel about a celebrated Italian improvatrice that influenced representations of female authorship in the nineteenth century.—lmw
—whose example as to conduct has done great harm, & her exampage 3
ple [example] in literature has done no good—I hate that sentimentality—However I have done with Madame de StaëlAnne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein Necker, or: Madame de Staël | Born: 1766-04-22 in Paris, France. Died: 1817-07-14 in Coppet, Switzerland.
Franco-Swiss salonierre, celebrity and writer. Author of Corinne, a novel about a celebrated Italian improvatrice that influenced representations of female authorship in the nineteenth century.—lmw
& I am now stuck fast in the mire of Heracline—a novel in four mortal Volumes by your friend of the long nose Miss Hawkins. I never mean to finish it—& now that I read so little I really cannot imagine what could induce me to begin it. Of course I do not recommend that "Done good" piece of vulgarity to you.—No—my dear Friend I cannot tell you any thing about Mr. Waithman—for I was so sick of that unfortunate woman the dead & alive & the inquest looked so tremendously long when I first saw it half covering five newspapers (we don't take a paper now but get them three or four in a bunch from a neighbour by way of loan) that I fairly gave up the job & have not read a word of the matter—Lord! its as long as Heracline—& though it cannot possibly be quite so stupid yet I dare say its very nearly so—Pray are you ^all in black in your parts? Every body is to my sorrow, for I hate mourning at all times—dirty dusty dingy black!—& the ladies of 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 were so much of my opinion that till the order came out, not one would put on mourning though their husbands were as black as crows. There was a sort of Loyal Rebellion against their Jacobin  HusbandsHouses—a Neri & Bianche faction that was quite entertaining—I never heard of more conjugal quarrels upon a subject in my life.—But I have entirely lost my interest in politics, which you will think a great reformation—Don't you?—You must compliment me very much—& compliment your own discernment on seeing how well I should turn out—What mainly contributed to my care was the unfortunate affair last year of the QueenCaroline, Queen Consort of the United Kingdom Caroline Queen Consort of the United Kingdom Caroline of Brunswick Caroline Amelia Elizabeth of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Princess of Wales | Born: 1768-05-17 in Brunswick, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empire. Died: 1821-08-07 in Hammersmith, London, England.
The cousin and later the estranged wife of the Prince Regent (later George IV). Caroline was adopted as the mascot of the parliamentary reform movement around the time that the Regent attempted to divorce her on grounds of adultery in 1818, and his struggles with Parliament to divorce her and prevent her from becoming Queen are known as the Queen Caroline Affair. Mitford writes humorously in her letters of 1818 and 1819 of the political fodder made of the Affair by both Whigs and Tories.—lmw, ebb, rnes
—I have never recovered the horror I experienced at seeing the use made of that unhappy woman, by the Whigsthe Whig party | Whigs
In Mitford's lifetime, the Whigs developed into a formalized political party under the leadership of Charles James Fox, standing in opposition to the party. George Mitford and Mitfordsupported Whig and liberal candidates and causes. A number of Whig politicians subscribed to Mitford's early poems.—lmw & Reformers—I am at last settled in the opinion that one partypage 4
is as bad as the other. What Lady Madelina PalmerMadelina 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 will make of this "ratting"? I don't know—I dare say she'll be horror struck but that is a distant consideration—She has never been 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 since the two days she passed there last September & I don't know when she will—Mrs. DickinsonCatherine Dickinson Allingham | Born: 1787 in Middlesex, England. Died: 1861-09-02 in St. Marylebone, Middlesex, England.
Catherine Allingham was the daughter of Thomas Allingham. She married Charles Dickinson on August 2, 1807 at St. Giles, South Mimms, Middlesex. They lived in Swallowfield, where their daughter Frances was born, and where they were visited by the Mitford family. According to Mitford, Catherine Dickinson was fond of match-making among her friends and acquaintances. (See Mitford's February 8th, 1821 letter to Elford . Her husband Charles died in 1827, when her daughter was seven. Source: L'Estrange). —ajc, lmw who is a most thorough-going person in politics & in every thing is prodigiously scandalized at my defection—I have not see her this long while—she has a large family staying in her house & does not bring them here I suppose from a well founded apprehension that our parlour would not hold them. I shall not fail to give her your obliging message. Only think of her having [been] 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 at the Coronation & so stupid as not to go to see it—She said she had the headachheadache—but I do really believe it was politics because she is very subject to the headachheadache & I never knew it prevent her from doing any thing she liked in my life. He r husbandCharles Dickinson, or: Mr. Dickinson | Born: 1755-03-06 in Pickwick Lodge, Corsham, Wiltshire, England. Died: 1827 in Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, England.
Friend of the Mitford family. He was the son of Vikris Dickinson and Elizabeth Marchant. The Dickinson family were Quakers who lived in the vicinity of Bristol, Gloucestershire. On August 3, 1807, he married Catherine Allingham at St Giles, South Mimms, Middlesex. They lived at Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, where their daughter Frances was born, and where the Mitfords visited them. Charles Dickinson owned a private press he employed to print literary works by his friends (See letters to Elford from March 13, 1819 and June 21, 1820). He wrote and published an epic poem in sixty-six cantos, The Travels of Cyllenius, in 1795. Upon his uncle's death, Charles Dickinson inherited the considerable wealth his extended family had amassed in the West Indies.—ajc, lmw
is better & the little girlFrances Vikris Geils Elliott | Born: 1820-03-07 in Farley Hill, near Swallowfield, Berkshire, England. Died: 1898-10-26 in Siena, Toscana, Italy.
Frances Dickinson was the only child of Charles Dickinson and Catherine Allingham. Her father Charles died when she was seven years old, and she inherited the considerable wealth that had descended to him from his extended family's West Indian ventures. She is buried in Rome. She was married to and divorced from her first husband, John Edward Geils (1813-1894) and later married the Rev. Gilbert Elliott (1800-1891).—ajc, lmw charming.

How are  youoff for partridges? There are fewer round here than were left last year.—And how do your DahliaName: dahlia | Genus: Dahlia | Family: Asteraceae.
Group of tuberous flowering plants, brightly colored and highly variable in size, color, and petal shape. Dahlias are native to Mexico and central America and were first imported into continental Europe in the 1780s and thence to England in the early nineteenth century. The first printed illustration appeared in the Curtis's Botanical Magazine in 1804 and dahlias became fashionable garden flowers in England by the 1820s. In Mitford's time, both single- and double-flowered varieties were propagated, and varieties were largely classified by flower color. Outside their native range, dahlia tubers are susceptible to frost, and must have their tubers dug over winter and replanted, if they are not grown in greenhouses. Mitford raised and hybridized dahlias.—lmw


s & HollyhockName: hollyhock | Genus: Alcea | Family: Malvaceae | Species: Alcea rosea.
Biennial garden plant featuring many large single or double flowers in pink, red, yellow, or white, on a very tall stem, native to China and southern Europe, and garden-cultivated elsewhere.—tfb, lmw
s & Tyger lilies go on? I have had some of all which I wish were immortal—the hollyhockName: hollyhock | Genus: Alcea | Family: Malvaceae | Species: Alcea rosea.
Biennial garden plant featuring many large single or double flowers in pink, red, yellow, or white, on a very tall stem, native to China and southern Europe, and garden-cultivated elsewhere.—tfb, lmw
s especially were the most perfect beauties I ever saw or ever imagined—garlands of rozy blossoms a thousand times more lovely than any that ever blew.—Good bye my dear Friend—My FatherGeorge 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 & >MotherMary Russell Mitford, or: Mrs. Mitford | Born: 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire, England. Died: 1830-01-02 in Three Mile Cross, parish of Shinfield, Berkshire, England.
Mary Russell was the youngest child of the Rev. Dr. Richard Russell and his second wife, Mary Dicker; she was born about 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire. (Her birth date is as yet unverified; period sources indicate that she was ten years older than her husband George, born in 1760.) Through the Russells, she was a distant relation of the Dukes of Bedford (sixth creation, 1694). She had two siblings, Charles William and Frances; both predeceased her and their parents, which resulted in Mary Russell inheriting her family’s entire estate upon her mother’s death in 1785. Her father’s rectory in Ashe was only a short distance from Steventon, and so she was acquainted with the young Jane Austen. She married George Mitford or Midford on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford. Their only daughter, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. Mary Russell died on January 2, 1830 at Three Mile Cross in the parish of Shinfield, Berkshire. Her obituary in the 1830 New Monthly Magazine gives New Year’s day as the date of her death.—ajc, lmw
beg their kindest remembrances—write to me very soon—you will if you wish to hear—if all that you so kindly say on that subject be not make-believe—write to me with "with speed-speed-speed"—& believe me ever

Pray forgive the blotted paper.—No I did not write Geraldine—nor have I read it—but MamaMary Russell Mitford, or: Mrs. Mitford | Born: 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire, England. Died: 1830-01-02 in Three Mile Cross, parish of Shinfield, Berkshire, England.
Mary Russell was the youngest child of the Rev. Dr. Richard Russell and his second wife, Mary Dicker; she was born about 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire. (Her birth date is as yet unverified; period sources indicate that she was ten years older than her husband George, born in 1760.) Through the Russells, she was a distant relation of the Dukes of Bedford (sixth creation, 1694). She had two siblings, Charles William and Frances; both predeceased her and their parents, which resulted in Mary Russell inheriting her family’s entire estate upon her mother’s death in 1785. Her father’s rectory in Ashe was only a short distance from Steventon, and so she was acquainted with the young Jane Austen. She married George Mitford or Midford on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford. Their only daughter, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. Mary Russell died on January 2, 1830 at Three Mile Cross in the parish of Shinfield, Berkshire. Her obituary in the 1830 New Monthly Magazine gives New Year’s day as the date of her death.—ajc, lmw
has & she says your critique is excellent &page 5
that the fault of that novel like many other nowadays is this necessity that lady novel-writers think themselves under to make their books a chapel of ease to the Church—they mix up sermons with their fictions & so spoil both—Now in my mind it would be much wiser to part the two things & publish fairly & honestly the sermons in one [del: .] Volume & the novel in another. Which do you think would tell best? Eh? MamaMary Russell Mitford, or: Mrs. Mitford | Born: 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire, England. Died: 1830-01-02 in Three Mile Cross, parish of Shinfield, Berkshire, England.
Mary Russell was the youngest child of the Rev. Dr. Richard Russell and his second wife, Mary Dicker; she was born about 1750 in Ashe, Hampshire. (Her birth date is as yet unverified; period sources indicate that she was ten years older than her husband George, born in 1760.) Through the Russells, she was a distant relation of the Dukes of Bedford (sixth creation, 1694). She had two siblings, Charles William and Frances; both predeceased her and their parents, which resulted in Mary Russell inheriting her family’s entire estate upon her mother’s death in 1785. Her father’s rectory in Ashe was only a short distance from Steventon, and so she was acquainted with the young Jane Austen. She married George Mitford or Midford on October 17, 1785 at New Alresford, Hampshire. On the marriage allegation papers, both gave their addresses as Old Alresford. Their only daughter, Mary Russell Mitford, was born two years later on December 16, 1787 at New Alresford, Hampshire. Mary Russell died on January 2, 1830 at Three Mile Cross in the parish of Shinfield, Berkshire. Her obituary in the 1830 New Monthly Magazine gives New Year’s day as the date of her death.—ajc, lmw
says there is another both "The Favorite of Nature" just in the same predicament with Geraldine. The first Volume very good—the rest preachy & prosy & miserable

your abbreviation of the [del: .] Three Mile CrossThree Mile Cross, Berkshire, England | Three Mile Cross | Berkshire | England | 51.4047211 -0.9734518999999864 Village in the parish of Shinfield in Berkshire, where Mary Russell Mitford moved with her parents in 1820. They lived in a cottage there until 1851. —ebb put me in mind of 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 who from pure laziness always directs her letters to 3 Mile XThree Mile Cross, Berkshire, England | Three Mile Cross | Berkshire | England | 51.4047211 -0.9734518999999864 Village in the parish of Shinfield in Berkshire, where Mary Russell Mitford moved with her parents in 1820. They lived in a cottage there until 1851. —ebb—You can't think how bad it looks—I scold her for it—but she is the dearest idlest best love in all the world.—Once more goodBye.