It appears to be very unnecessary, my dear friendWilliam 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

to trouble you with a letter just to tell you I am not coming 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—but 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 tells me that he engaged that I should write—so being a dutiful daughter I obey. I am not detained by indisposition or any thing half so pretty-sounding being perfectly recovered from my cough & sound & flourishing as a red CabbageName: red cabbage | Genus: Brassica | Family: Brassicaceae | Species: Brassica oleracea.
Edible arden plant, related to the green cabbage whose leaves are dark red-purple, depending on the acidity of the soil. Mitford jokingly compares herself to one in her letter to Elford of 14 May 1819 (because she is round and red). Keeps well over winter and is eaten raw or cooked.—lmw
in a housewife's garden—indeed it's quite provoking to have had so genteel a complaint (as a young lady of my acquaintance calls it) without the consolation of losing a whit of my ruddiness or rotundity—The reason that I cannot keep the engagement 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 made for me 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, is that I had before made one for myself in the Country—a young friend of mine, who is leaving the neighborhood & therefore not put-off-able is coming here for a couple of days on Sunday. I regret this very much since it prevents my seeing 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—I should regret it much more if I thought it would likewise prevent my seeing you but I do not—I have no such fear—You are pledged to the nightingales & 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 & under their  influenceauspices I shall be fortunate enough to see you myself. 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 will be in 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 soon—Sundayperhaps, or Monday or Tuesday & you can settle with him or with me by letter when we shall have the pleasure of your company. He will certainly be home by Friday, before which day you I understand do not intend to leave 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 you cannot  readmake out my writing! And so my honoured 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 cannot help you! Really this is too affronting! The page 2
two persons in all the world who have had the most of my letters cannot read them! Well there is the secret of your liking them so much—obscurity is sometimes a great charm—you just make out my meaning & fill it up by the force of your own imagination—the outline is mine—the colouring your own. So much the better for me. I assure you however whatever you may think of the matter that there are persons who write a worse hand than I. Here is my friend Mr. DickinsonCharles 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
—if you saw his writing! He can't read it himself—And if you heard him admire mine! Parmi les aveugles les borgnes sont Rois[1] Proverbial for "Among the blind, the one-eyed is King."—lmw for this. He thinks me the greatest (what is the [del: .]fine grand word for a person who writes a good hand?—Dear me I wish I had a Dictionary!) the greatest Calligrapher (is that speltspelled right 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
?) that ever trod the earth—& I keep up my dignity & never tell him what you say or what 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 says I assure you. By the way 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 says he can read my writing in general—only he was puzzled in that particular case because it was a hard word & he had not got his spectacles. The word is Undine, Sir, U.N.D.I.N.E. Can you read it now?

I have not seen your friend Mr. BowlesWilliam Lisle Bowles | Born: 1762-09-24 in King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, England. Died: 1850-04-07 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
Clergyman and poet, known for his sonnets as well as for his long poems including The Missionary published 1813 , The Grave of the Last Saxon published 1822 and St. John in Patmos published 1833 . Bowles was an acquaintance of Mitford's father for over thirty years. Bowles was a key figure in the Romantic-era sonnet revival. As a literary critic, Bowles ignited the so-called Pope-Bowles controversy, a pamphlet war about Alexander Pope's moral authority and literary significance, upon which Mitfordcomments in her letters.—kab, ebb, lmw

's pamphletThe Invariable Principles of Poetry, in a Letter Addressed to Thomas Campbell, Esq.; Occasioned by Some Critical Observations in his Specimens of British Poets, Particularly Relating to the Poetical Character of Pope.. William Lisle Bowles. William Lisles Bowles Bowles William Lisle . Bath London: R. Cruttwell Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. 1819.
Part of a controversy over the significance poetry of Alexander Pope in the early 1800s, the essay responds to a previous publication by Thomas Campbell.—lmwbut I have no doubt of his being quite right—I was always of his opinion about 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
—a great wit—a great Satyrist—a great writer certainly—but not a great Poet in the highest sense of the word, the sense in which SpenserEdmund Spenser | Born: 1552 in London, England. Died: 1599-01-13 in London, England.
Early modern poet and courtier, author of The Faerie Queen. Served in the military in Ireland and was later rewarded with lands confiscated from the Irish. Friend of Walter Raleigh. Buried in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey.—lmw
& MiltonJohn Milton, Secretary for Foreign Tongues, or: Secretary for Foreign Tongues | Born: 1608-12-09 in Bread Street, Cheapside, London, England. Died: 1674-11-08 in Bunhill, London, England.
English poet and polemical essayist who wrote in support of Parliamentary and Puritan causes, best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667).—esh, lmw
are Poets. Even if Mr. CampbellThomas Campbell | Born: 1777-07-27 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Died: 1844-06-15 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
Scottish poet and editor: author of The Pleasures of Hope (1799) and Gertrude of Wyoming (1799). Editor of the New Monthly Magazine from 1821 to 1830, in which capacity he knew Thomas Noon Talfourd as a contributor. See Cyrus Redding's Literary Reminiscences and Memoirs of Thomas Campbell . Possibly the Mr. Campbell that Mitford mentions in her letter to Talfourd of 13 August 1822 .—ebb
had been right in the matter of his criticism his manner was the very worst that could have been devised[2] In 1806, Bowles had edited a ten-volume edition of the complete works of Pope, entitled The Works of Alexander Pope, Esq., in Verse and Prose: Containing the Principal Notes of Drs. Warburton and Warton. When Campbell published his Specimens of British Poets in 1819, Bowles replied with a pamphlet entitled The invariable principles of poetry, in a letter addressed to Thomas Campbell, Esq.; occasioned by some critical observations in his Specimens of British poets, particularly relating to the poetical character of Pope. Bowles continued the controversy into 1821 with a pamphlet to Byron entitled Two letters to the Right Honorable Lord Byron, in answer to his Lordship's letter to **** ****** on the Rev. Wm. L. Bowles's strictures on the life and writings of Pope: more particularly on the question, whether poetry be more immediately indebted to what is sublime or beautiful in the works of nature, or the works of art?—lmw—an attempt at a sneer—not a sneer proper—for a good sneer is a great thing—a man had need have the upper lip of a Greek statue to to execute it—your good sneerers & have been of different persons from Mr. Thomas CampbellThomas Campbell | Born: 1777-07-27 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Died: 1844-06-15 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
Scottish poet and editor: author of The Pleasures of Hope (1799) and Gertrude of Wyoming (1799). Editor of the New Monthly Magazine from 1821 to 1830, in which capacity he knew Thomas Noon Talfourd as a contributor. See Cyrus Redding's Literary Reminiscences and Memoirs of Thomas Campbell . Possibly the Mr. Campbell that Mitford mentions in her letter to Talfourd of 13 August 1822 .—ebb
—VoltaireFrançois-Marie Voltaire Arouet | Born: 1694 in Paris, France. Died: 1778 in Paris, France.
Major figure of the French Enlightenment: philosopher, historian, naturalist, essayist, poet, playwright, and novelist. Advocated freedom of religion and freedom of expression, sharply criticized the Catholic Church, and wrote the philosophical novel Candide. He was exiled to Great Britain in the late 1720s, where he met and influenced many British notables.—lmw, rnes
—Horne page 3
Tooke, Lord ByronGeorge Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron | Born: 1788-01-22 in Holles Street, London, England. Died: 1824-04-19 in Missolonghi, Greece.
Romantic-era poet, playwright, and celebrity. English peer after he inherited the Barony of Byron of Rochdale in 1798. He died fighting for independence for Greece. Friend of William Harness.—lmw

, BuonaparteNapoleon 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
—these are your sneerers—Now Mr. CampbellThomas Campbell | Born: 1777-07-27 in Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Died: 1844-06-15 in Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.
Scottish poet and editor: author of The Pleasures of Hope (1799) and Gertrude of Wyoming (1799). Editor of the New Monthly Magazine from 1821 to 1830, in which capacity he knew Thomas Noon Talfourd as a contributor. See Cyrus Redding's Literary Reminiscences and Memoirs of Thomas Campbell . Possibly the Mr. Campbell that Mitford mentions in her letter to Talfourd of 13 August 1822 .—ebb
is a pretty poet & a "smooth & sober gentleman"[3] A quotation from The Edinburgh Review on Campbell's work from March 1819.—lmw as he says of Drummond of HawthorndenWilliam Drummond, or: Drummond of Hawthornden | Born: 1585-12-13 in Hawthornden Castle, Midlothian, Scotland. Died: 1649-12-04.
Called Drummond of Hawthornden, Drummond was a Scottish lyric poet with royalist sympathies. He is one of the sixteen poets and writers whose heads appear on the Scott Monument on Princes Street in Edinburgh.—lmw
—but no sneerer. He can't sneer, he does not know how—but he tries with all his might & main, & the objects whom he selects for this very unlucky attempt are Mr. BowlesWilliam Lisle Bowles | Born: 1762-09-24 in King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, England. Died: 1850-04-07 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
Clergyman and poet, known for his sonnets as well as for his long poems including The Missionary published 1813 , The Grave of the Last Saxon published 1822 and St. John in Patmos published 1833 . Bowles was an acquaintance of Mitford's father for over thirty years. Bowles was a key figure in the Romantic-era sonnet revival. As a literary critic, Bowles ignited the so-called Pope-Bowles controversy, a pamphlet war about Alexander Pope's moral authority and literary significance, upon which Mitfordcomments in her letters.—kab, ebb, lmw

, Mr. LambCharles Lamb | Born: 1775-02-10 in Inner Temple, London, England. Died: 1834-12-27 in Edmonton, Middlesex, London, England.
British author, best known for his Essays of Elia (1823-1833), many of which originally appeared in the London Magazine, and Tales from Shakespeare, written with his sister Mary Lamb. Friend of Wordsworth and Coleridge.—lmw, cmm
(a much better critic than himself by the bye) WebsterJohn Webster | Born: 1580 in London, England. Died: 1634 in London, England.
Early-modern era playwright, author of the Duchess of Malfi.—lmw
, one of the greatest dramatists of the great Dramatic age & FletcherJohn Fletcher | Born: 1579 in Rye, Sussex, England. Died: 1625 in London, England.
Playwright following Shakespeare, contemporary of Ben Jonson in the early seventeenth century, and collaborator with Francis Beaumont. Some plays once attributed to Beaumont and Fletcher as a duo were now known to have been written by only one of them and/or with other collaborators.—ebb, rnes
's Faithful ShepherdessThe Faithful Shepherdess. John Fletcher .
Likely first performed in 1608 and first appeared in print in 1609.—lmw, the finest pastoral in any language. Truly I think he has put Mr. BowlesWilliam Lisle Bowles | Born: 1762-09-24 in King's Sutton, Northamptonshire, England. Died: 1850-04-07 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.
Clergyman and poet, known for his sonnets as well as for his long poems including The Missionary published 1813 , The Grave of the Last Saxon published 1822 and St. John in Patmos published 1833 . Bowles was an acquaintance of Mitford's father for over thirty years. Bowles was a key figure in the Romantic-era sonnet revival. As a literary critic, Bowles ignited the so-called Pope-Bowles controversy, a pamphlet war about Alexander Pope's moral authority and literary significance, upon which Mitfordcomments in her letters.—kab, ebb, lmw

into very good company.

I have heard in two letters from 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 from people who love Painting of the fine landscape which 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 tells me is to be a landscape royal—[O rare!] He tells me of two of the flowers which are not in the ExhibitionRoyal Academy of Arts
The private arts institution The Royal Academy of Arts was founded by George III on 10 December 1768, at the behest of architect Sir William Chambers. Chambers and other artists and architects sought to establish a British national Society for promoting the Arts of Design, a society that would sponsor an annual exhibition (later the Summer Exhibition) as well as a School of Design (later the Royal Academy Schools.) Thirty-four founding members were elected; today, the society elects no more than eighty members at one time as Royal Academicians (Members of the Royal Academy, RA). During Mitford’s time, the Royal Academy was housed at Somerset House, a building designed and built by Chambers beginning in 1776 and likely not completed until after 1819. The institution moved to Trafalgar Square in the 1830s, to share space with the newly-founded National Gallery, and remained there until 1867. Mitford’s friend and correspondent Benjamin Robert Haydon, was a Member of the Royal Academy.—lmw
— but which will be I hope next year. I always thought the [gap: 1 word, reason: torn.][anemone] one of the loveliest of all flowers—the one which is fitter for painting because it has no scent to lose & all its char[gap: 1 chars, reason: torn.][m] can be given by that lovely Art. Some of the purple & red AnenomesName: anemone | Genus: Anemone | Family: Ranunculaceae.
Mitford may refer to the wood anemone (Anemone nemorosa), an early-spring flowering plant, native to Europe. Common names include wood anemone, windflower, thimbleweed, and smell fox, an allusion to the musky smell of the leaves. However, she may also refer to one of the cultivated varieties not native to England, such as the poppy anemone (Anemone coronaria), which is native to the Mediterranean region but was cultivated elsewhere in Europe beginning in the eighteenth century. Unlike the wood anemone, the poppy anemone appears in bright shades of red and blue.—lmw
preserve the rich lost tints of the old stained glass—You are lucky that a friend is just come to interrupt me & save you a platitude about Nature's never losing a beauty or a sunset, &c, &,—.

Goodbye 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

—Good bless you—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 & 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
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Have we any chance of seeing Mr. ElfordJonathan Elford, Member of Parliament, or: Mr. Elford, Member of Parliament | Born: 1776-11-05 in Plympton Erle, Plymouth, Devon, England. Died: 1823-03-11 in Upland, Tamerton Foliott, Plymouth, Devon, England.
The only son of Sir William Elford and his first wife Mary Davies Elford. He joined Oriel College, Oxford on June 3, 1795 and later moved to Tamerton Folliot, Devon on an estate he called Upland. He served as a Captain in the South Devonshire militia from 1803 with his father, who was also an officer. On May 10, 1810, he married Charlotte Wynne . He also became a freeman for Plymouth in 1810. Throughout his adulthood, his father tried unsuccessfully to secure him a position within the government. He served briefly as Member of Parliament for Westbury from March 10 to November 29, 1820, a seat he secured under the patronage of Sir Manasseh Masseh Lopes. At this time, Westbury was a controversial rotten borough whose interest Lopes had purchased from Lord Abingdon, and Jonathan Elford probably secured the position in the place of Lopes who was serving a prison sentence for electoral corruption. When Lopes's sentence was lifted, Elford resigned his seat in November 1820 so Lopes could return. His death at the age of 46 left Sir William without an heir and his debts contributed to his father’s financial collapse in 1825 .—kab, ebb, lmw
with you? People do not speak of him as they do of the rest of the world—I hope his distressing complaint is relieved—Adieu—