The first part of your delightful letter, 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

, to which I shall reply is your supposition respecting 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. You never were so much mistaken in your life. She has the finest & the prettiest 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 that ever was seen, & is herself quite well—that is "as well as can be expected." The young lady is quite a beauty & will be a fortnight old tomorrow—I did not think it possible for so young a child to be so pretty—perhaps I did not think it possible for me to be so interested in a young child—but really every bodyeverybody calls this brat lovely—its PapaCharles 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
—its MamaCatherine 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—its GrandmamaGrandmama Dickinson Dickinson
Identity unknown. Frances Dickinson's paternal grandmother, Elizabeth Marchant Dickinson, died in 1790, and is therefore an unlikely candidate. Dates unknown.—lmw—its nurseNurse
Nurse who worked for Charles Dickinson's family. Proper name unidentified. Dates unknown.—lmw—& I who stand for a sort of maiden Aunt I think it loveliest of all—quite a She-CupidCupid Eros
Classical god of sexual desire and erotic love, known as Eros in ancient Greece and Cupid in ancient Rome. In Roman mythology, son of the Roman goddess of love, Venus, and the messenger god, Mercury. Cupid is represented in art and myth as a handsome youth bearing a bow with arrows that he shoots into those whom he wishes to cause to fall in or out of love.—scw, ebb.—After all your supposition was far from being unreasonable—for 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 had made so great a mistake as to the time that half the neighbourhood was of your opinion.—The next important event was our election—Has your neighbour Sir John SinclairJohn Sinclair, Sir, Baronet | Born: 1754-05-10 in Thurso Castle, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. Died: 1835-12-21 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Sir John Sinclair was perhaps most politically active in the 1780s and 1790s when he was Member of Parliament for the district of Caithness and moved to organize an independent body of non-partisan parliamentarians. He took a great interest in political and agricultural economics of England and Scotland and published a History of the Public Revenue of Great Britain in two volumes in 1784 with additions in 1789 . In 1790 he proposed the idea of a detailed parish-by-parish study of local geography, history, and community culture which became the twenty-one volume Statistical Account of Scotland . Source: ODNB.—ajc, ebb


told you of this desperate contest—this struggle for life ^& death? It lasted 6 days—during the three last of which not more than thirty votes were polled on all sides—never to be sure were voters so filtered out drop by drop—Every unpolled elector was known on all sides—& the obstinate who would not vote—the fearful who dared not—the sick who could not, were assailed morning noon & night by the persuasions & exhortations of the candidates & their committees—Very little men were of great consequence during those three days—"Has Philips voted yet?""How is Butlerpage 2
this morning?" were the common salutations amongst committee men & fair ladies[.][1] Here Mitford's dash appears to terminate the sentence.—ebb—Now Philips was a Mill wrightmillwright desperately poor who tugged at on all sides deserted his house & home to escape the certainty of offending his employers on one side or other—& ButlerMr. Butler Butler Mr.
A Reading shop owner and Palmerite mentioned in Mitford's discussion of the Reading elections in her letter to Sir William Elford of 20 March 1820. Dates unknown. —ajc a sick PalmeritePalmerites
Supporters of Charles Fyshe Palmer in the Reading elections of March 16, 1820.—ajc who kept a little shop & was nursed & guarded by a WeylanditeWeylandites
Weyland supporters. On March 16, 1820, an election in Reading was held. There were three candidates: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.—ajc
— wife who at last not content with locking up her husband fairly flung the PalmerCharles Fyshe Palmer, or: Long Fyshe | Born: 1769 in Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1843-01-24 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
Charles Fyshe Palmer was the son of Charles Fyshe Palmer and Lucy Jones. He married Lady Madelina Gordon Sinclair in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire . They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country, and Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House.
A Whig politician, Palmer began running for Parliament elections as the member for Reading after 1816, and appears to have served off and on in that role until 1841. He led the Berkshire meetings to protest British government’s handling of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. On March 16, 1820, Palmer ran for a seat in Parliament against two other candidates. The votes ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.) Mitford’s letters around this time indicate she much preferred his opponent J. B. Monck, and she had earlier satirized Palmer in 1818 as vastly like a mop-stick, or, rather, a tall hop-pole, or an extremely long fishing-rod, or anything that is all length and no substance.
Mitford also mentions Palmer in connection with a legal issue surrounding the Billiard Club, in her letter to Talfourd of 31 August 1822 . Mitford also mentions the ways that Palmer’s political opponents sometimes undermined his Whig reformist positions by referencing the noble privileges (and money) he accrued by marrying the Lady Madelina Gordon in 1805.
—ajc, lmw
See note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .
letters in the face of the messengers—so a long head of our party despairing to rescue him from her clutches paired him off with a sick WeylanditeWeylandites
Weyland supporters. On March 16, 1820, an election in Reading was held. There were three candidates: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.—ajc
—.—All this time I have not told you who the Candidates were —Mr. PalmerCharles Fyshe Palmer, or: Long Fyshe | Born: 1769 in Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1843-01-24 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
Charles Fyshe Palmer was the son of Charles Fyshe Palmer and Lucy Jones. He married Lady Madelina Gordon Sinclair in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire . They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country, and Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House.
A Whig politician, Palmer began running for Parliament elections as the member for Reading after 1816, and appears to have served off and on in that role until 1841. He led the Berkshire meetings to protest British government’s handling of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. On March 16, 1820, Palmer ran for a seat in Parliament against two other candidates. The votes ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.) Mitford’s letters around this time indicate she much preferred his opponent J. B. Monck, and she had earlier satirized Palmer in 1818 as vastly like a mop-stick, or, rather, a tall hop-pole, or an extremely long fishing-rod, or anything that is all length and no substance.
Mitford also mentions Palmer in connection with a legal issue surrounding the Billiard Club, in her letter to Talfourd of 31 August 1822 . Mitford also mentions the ways that Palmer’s political opponents sometimes undermined his Whig reformist positions by referencing the noble privileges (and money) he accrued by marrying the Lady Madelina Gordon in 1805.
—ajc, lmw
See note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .
the old Member—Mr. WeylandJohn Weyland | Born: 1774-12-04 in England. Died: 1854-05-08 in Woodrising, Norfolk, England.
Tory journal editor and political figure. He and William Roberts founded the Christian evangelical periodial the British Review and London Critical Journal, a quarterly that appeared between 1811 and 1825. He authored several publications on population and the English poor laws, including A Short Enquiry into the Policy, Humanity, and Effect of the Poor Laws (1807); Observations on Mr. Whitbread's Poor Bill and on the Population of England (1807); The Principle of the English Poor Laws, illustrated from the Evidence given by Scottish Proprietors (before the Corn Committee,) on the Connexion observed in Scotland between the Price of Grain and the Wages of Labour (1815); and The Principles of Population and Production as they are affected by the Progress of Society (1816). He believed that hardship was an incentive to industry and he did not support further education of the poor. On March 16, 1820, Weyland was the Blue (or Tory) candidate, supported by the municipal corporation, in the Reading election. Three candidates ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland (395 votes.); Weyland was not returned. See . Weyland later won a seat as Member of Parliament for Hindon, Wiltshire, and served from 1830 to 1832. —ajc, lmw

the old Candidate—& Mr. MonckJohn Berkeley Monck
Member of Parliament for Reading area 1820-1830, who frequently franked Mary Russell Mitford’s letters. Mitford’s letter to Sir William Elford of 20 March 1820 about the election of Monck describes him in context with a politically active Patriot shoemaker, Mr. Warry, who brought him from France. Monck was the author of General Reflections on the System of the Poor Laws (1807), in which he argued for a gradual approach to abolishing the Poor Laws, and for the reform of workhouses. Francis Needham claims that it is he who is referred to in Violeting, when the narrator thinks she sees Mr. and Mrs. M. and dear B.. (Dear B. would be their son, Bligh.) Dr. Webb’s research suggests that celebrated shoemaker is Mr. Warry, possibly Joseph Source: Francis Needham, Letter to William Roberts, 26 March 1954. Needham Papers, Reading Central Library.—lmw, ebb, scw an opposition man of large fortune brought from FranceFrance | 46.227638 2.213749000000007 Country in western Europe. Paris is the capital and largest city.—bas in a fit of patriotism by our celebrated shoemaker & Patriot Mr. WarryJoseph Warry | Born: 1775-11-08 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1822-08-04 in Reading, Berkshire, England.
Radical Whig trademan with premises at Minster Street, Reading, who went to France in 1820 to convince John Berkeley Monck to return to England to stand for election as one of the Members of Parliament for Reading. Mitford refers to him as our celebrated shoemaker & Patriot in a 20 March 1820 letter. Historical directories indicate that Warry was a bootmaker and a member of the Reading Freemason’s Lodge. His father, also Joseph Warry (1733-1801), was also a shoemaker. —lmw, scw. Mr. MonckJohn Berkeley Monck
Member of Parliament for Reading area 1820-1830, who frequently franked Mary Russell Mitford’s letters. Mitford’s letter to Sir William Elford of 20 March 1820 about the election of Monck describes him in context with a politically active Patriot shoemaker, Mr. Warry, who brought him from France. Monck was the author of General Reflections on the System of the Poor Laws (1807), in which he argued for a gradual approach to abolishing the Poor Laws, and for the reform of workhouses. Francis Needham claims that it is he who is referred to in Violeting, when the narrator thinks she sees Mr. and Mrs. M. and dear B.. (Dear B. would be their son, Bligh.) Dr. Webb’s research suggests that celebrated shoemaker is Mr. Warry, possibly Joseph Source: Francis Needham, Letter to William Roberts, 26 March 1954. Needham Papers, Reading Central Library.—lmw, ebb, scw is one of the best men that ever lived—a clever man—our old & most intimate friend—he has been abroad for 8 years & a half & yet—I was most thoroughly sorry to see him. The truth is that sending for him was an act of madness—Parties are so nearly balanced in 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 that it is impossible for two ministerial or two opposition men to sit quietly—& the compromise which was desired by all but a few têtes exaltees of bringing in Mr. PalmerCharles Fyshe Palmer, or: Long Fyshe | Born: 1769 in Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1843-01-24 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
Charles Fyshe Palmer was the son of Charles Fyshe Palmer and Lucy Jones. He married Lady Madelina Gordon Sinclair in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire . They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country, and Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House.
A Whig politician, Palmer began running for Parliament elections as the member for Reading after 1816, and appears to have served off and on in that role until 1841. He led the Berkshire meetings to protest British government’s handling of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. On March 16, 1820, Palmer ran for a seat in Parliament against two other candidates. The votes ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.) Mitford’s letters around this time indicate she much preferred his opponent J. B. Monck, and she had earlier satirized Palmer in 1818 as vastly like a mop-stick, or, rather, a tall hop-pole, or an extremely long fishing-rod, or anything that is all length and no substance.
Mitford also mentions Palmer in connection with a legal issue surrounding the Billiard Club, in her letter to Talfourd of 31 August 1822 . Mitford also mentions the ways that Palmer’s political opponents sometimes undermined his Whig reformist positions by referencing the noble privileges (and money) he accrued by marrying the Lady Madelina Gordon in 1805.
—ajc, lmw
See note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .
&Mr. WeylandJohn Weyland | Born: 1774-12-04 in England. Died: 1854-05-08 in Woodrising, Norfolk, England.
Tory journal editor and political figure. He and William Roberts founded the Christian evangelical periodial the British Review and London Critical Journal, a quarterly that appeared between 1811 and 1825. He authored several publications on population and the English poor laws, including A Short Enquiry into the Policy, Humanity, and Effect of the Poor Laws (1807); Observations on Mr. Whitbread's Poor Bill and on the Population of England (1807); The Principle of the English Poor Laws, illustrated from the Evidence given by Scottish Proprietors (before the Corn Committee,) on the Connexion observed in Scotland between the Price of Grain and the Wages of Labour (1815); and The Principles of Population and Production as they are affected by the Progress of Society (1816). He believed that hardship was an incentive to industry and he did not support further education of the poor. On March 16, 1820, Weyland was the Blue (or Tory) candidate, supported by the municipal corporation, in the Reading election. Three candidates ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland (395 votes.); Weyland was not returned. See . Weyland later won a seat as Member of Parliament for Hindon, Wiltshire, and served from 1830 to 1832. —ajc, lmw

without a contest was the only thing that could have ensured the peace of the Borough. At present by desperate & despairing exertions the two opposition men are come in—but another time one must go out—& that one (don't tell Sir John SinclairJohn Sinclair, Sir, Baronet | Born: 1754-05-10 in Thurso Castle, Thurso, Caithness, Scotland. Died: 1835-12-21 in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Sir John Sinclair was perhaps most politically active in the 1780s and 1790s when he was Member of Parliament for the district of Caithness and moved to organize an independent body of non-partisan parliamentarians. He took a great interest in political and agricultural economics of England and Scotland and published a History of the Public Revenue of Great Britain in two volumes in 1784 with additions in 1789 . In 1790 he proposed the idea of a detailed parish-by-parish study of local geography, history, and community culture which became the twenty-one volume Statistical Account of Scotland . Source: ODNB.—ajc, ebb


) must be Mr. PalmerCharles Fyshe Palmer, or: Long Fyshe | Born: 1769 in Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1843-01-24 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
Charles Fyshe Palmer was the son of Charles Fyshe Palmer and Lucy Jones. He married Lady Madelina Gordon Sinclair in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire . They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country, and Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House.
A Whig politician, Palmer began running for Parliament elections as the member for Reading after 1816, and appears to have served off and on in that role until 1841. He led the Berkshire meetings to protest British government’s handling of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. On March 16, 1820, Palmer ran for a seat in Parliament against two other candidates. The votes ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.) Mitford’s letters around this time indicate she much preferred his opponent J. B. Monck, and she had earlier satirized Palmer in 1818 as vastly like a mop-stick, or, rather, a tall hop-pole, or an extremely long fishing-rod, or anything that is all length and no substance.
Mitford also mentions Palmer in connection with a legal issue surrounding the Billiard Club, in her letter to Talfourd of 31 August 1822 . Mitford also mentions the ways that Palmer’s political opponents sometimes undermined his Whig reformist positions by referencing the noble privileges (and money) he accrued by marrying the Lady Madelina Gordon in 1805.
—ajc, lmw
See note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .
, against whom the run was this time, & whose purse is in no condition to stand these repeated contests, & whose conduct has been so fair so pure so honourable that it quite breaks one's heart to think of his being cast asidepage 3
in a fit of caprice—no not caprice a cold calculation made in the very spirit of trade—that a rich Member living in the neighbourhood is better than one less rich who lives at a distance. In the meanwhile all 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 is experiencing the double evils of a beginning & a finished election—all the malice hatred envy & ill will of the one, combined with the restless activity, the perpetual talking, the threatening promising & canvassing of the other. Mr. WeylandJohn Weyland | Born: 1774-12-04 in England. Died: 1854-05-08 in Woodrising, Norfolk, England.
Tory journal editor and political figure. He and William Roberts founded the Christian evangelical periodial the British Review and London Critical Journal, a quarterly that appeared between 1811 and 1825. He authored several publications on population and the English poor laws, including A Short Enquiry into the Policy, Humanity, and Effect of the Poor Laws (1807); Observations on Mr. Whitbread's Poor Bill and on the Population of England (1807); The Principle of the English Poor Laws, illustrated from the Evidence given by Scottish Proprietors (before the Corn Committee,) on the Connexion observed in Scotland between the Price of Grain and the Wages of Labour (1815); and The Principles of Population and Production as they are affected by the Progress of Society (1816). He believed that hardship was an incentive to industry and he did not support further education of the poor. On March 16, 1820, Weyland was the Blue (or Tory) candidate, supported by the municipal corporation, in the Reading election. Three candidates ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland (395 votes.); Weyland was not returned. See . Weyland later won a seat as Member of Parliament for Hindon, Wiltshire, and served from 1830 to 1832. —ajc, lmw

had no sooner lost his election by five votes, made his mob drunk, & takes himself off, than his party began to organiseorganize Committees in all the Parishes for the purpose of securing the Independence & so forth of the Borough at the next election which of course was instantly met by counter Committees for the exactly same purpose on the other side.—I love Mr. MonckJohn Berkeley Monck
Member of Parliament for Reading area 1820-1830, who frequently franked Mary Russell Mitford’s letters. Mitford’s letter to Sir William Elford of 20 March 1820 about the election of Monck describes him in context with a politically active Patriot shoemaker, Mr. Warry, who brought him from France. Monck was the author of General Reflections on the System of the Poor Laws (1807), in which he argued for a gradual approach to abolishing the Poor Laws, and for the reform of workhouses. Francis Needham claims that it is he who is referred to in Violeting, when the narrator thinks she sees Mr. and Mrs. M. and dear B.. (Dear B. would be their son, Bligh.) Dr. Webb’s research suggests that celebrated shoemaker is Mr. Warry, possibly Joseph Source: Francis Needham, Letter to William Roberts, 26 March 1954. Needham Papers, Reading Central Library.—lmw, ebb, scw (always with his wife's permission)—I like Mr. PalmerCharles Fyshe Palmer, or: Long Fyshe | Born: 1769 in Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1843-01-24 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
Charles Fyshe Palmer was the son of Charles Fyshe Palmer and Lucy Jones. He married Lady Madelina Gordon Sinclair in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire . They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country, and Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House.
A Whig politician, Palmer began running for Parliament elections as the member for Reading after 1816, and appears to have served off and on in that role until 1841. He led the Berkshire meetings to protest British government’s handling of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. On March 16, 1820, Palmer ran for a seat in Parliament against two other candidates. The votes ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.) Mitford’s letters around this time indicate she much preferred his opponent J. B. Monck, and she had earlier satirized Palmer in 1818 as vastly like a mop-stick, or, rather, a tall hop-pole, or an extremely long fishing-rod, or anything that is all length and no substance.
Mitford also mentions Palmer in connection with a legal issue surrounding the Billiard Club, in her letter to Talfourd of 31 August 1822 . Mitford also mentions the ways that Palmer’s political opponents sometimes undermined his Whig reformist positions by referencing the noble privileges (and money) he accrued by marrying the Lady Madelina Gordon in 1805.
—ajc, lmw
See note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .
—& I don't like Mr. WeylandJohn Weyland | Born: 1774-12-04 in England. Died: 1854-05-08 in Woodrising, Norfolk, England.
Tory journal editor and political figure. He and William Roberts founded the Christian evangelical periodial the British Review and London Critical Journal, a quarterly that appeared between 1811 and 1825. He authored several publications on population and the English poor laws, including A Short Enquiry into the Policy, Humanity, and Effect of the Poor Laws (1807); Observations on Mr. Whitbread's Poor Bill and on the Population of England (1807); The Principle of the English Poor Laws, illustrated from the Evidence given by Scottish Proprietors (before the Corn Committee,) on the Connexion observed in Scotland between the Price of Grain and the Wages of Labour (1815); and The Principles of Population and Production as they are affected by the Progress of Society (1816). He believed that hardship was an incentive to industry and he did not support further education of the poor. On March 16, 1820, Weyland was the Blue (or Tory) candidate, supported by the municipal corporation, in the Reading election. Three candidates ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland (395 votes.); Weyland was not returned. See . Weyland later won a seat as Member of Parliament for Hindon, Wiltshire, and served from 1830 to 1832. —ajc, lmw

who is a puritan of the very first water, & yet I very sincerely wish that Mr. MonckJohn Berkeley Monck
Member of Parliament for Reading area 1820-1830, who frequently franked Mary Russell Mitford’s letters. Mitford’s letter to Sir William Elford of 20 March 1820 about the election of Monck describes him in context with a politically active Patriot shoemaker, Mr. Warry, who brought him from France. Monck was the author of General Reflections on the System of the Poor Laws (1807), in which he argued for a gradual approach to abolishing the Poor Laws, and for the reform of workhouses. Francis Needham claims that it is he who is referred to in Violeting, when the narrator thinks she sees Mr. and Mrs. M. and dear B.. (Dear B. would be their son, Bligh.) Dr. Webb’s research suggests that celebrated shoemaker is Mr. Warry, possibly Joseph Source: Francis Needham, Letter to William Roberts, 26 March 1954. Needham Papers, Reading Central Library.—lmw, ebb, scw was back at ToursTours, Indre-et-Loire, France | Tours | Indre-et-Loire | France | 47.394144 0.6848400000000083 City in France on the lower part of the River Loire. —ebb & Mr. WeylandJohn Weyland | Born: 1774-12-04 in England. Died: 1854-05-08 in Woodrising, Norfolk, England.
Tory journal editor and political figure. He and William Roberts founded the Christian evangelical periodial the British Review and London Critical Journal, a quarterly that appeared between 1811 and 1825. He authored several publications on population and the English poor laws, including A Short Enquiry into the Policy, Humanity, and Effect of the Poor Laws (1807); Observations on Mr. Whitbread's Poor Bill and on the Population of England (1807); The Principle of the English Poor Laws, illustrated from the Evidence given by Scottish Proprietors (before the Corn Committee,) on the Connexion observed in Scotland between the Price of Grain and the Wages of Labour (1815); and The Principles of Population and Production as they are affected by the Progress of Society (1816). He believed that hardship was an incentive to industry and he did not support further education of the poor. On March 16, 1820, Weyland was the Blue (or Tory) candidate, supported by the municipal corporation, in the Reading election. Three candidates ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland (395 votes.); Weyland was not returned. See . Weyland later won a seat as Member of Parliament for Hindon, Wiltshire, and served from 1830 to 1832. —ajc, lmw

quietly in ParliamentParliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; supreme legislative body in England.—ajc --which wish for Mr. PalmerCharles Fyshe Palmer, or: Long Fyshe | Born: 1769 in Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire, England. Died: 1843-01-24 in Wokingham, Berkshire, England.
Charles Fyshe Palmer was the son of Charles Fyshe Palmer and Lucy Jones. He married Lady Madelina Gordon Sinclair in 1805 at Kimbolton Castle in Kimbolton, Herefordshire . They lived at Luckley House, Wokingham, Berkshire and at East Court, Finchampstead, Berkshire. Through her siblings, Lady Madelina was connected to several of the most influential aristocratic families in the country, and Charles Fyshe Palmer’s marriage to Lady Madelina thus gained him access to aristocratic houses, including the Holland House.
A Whig politician, Palmer began running for Parliament elections as the member for Reading after 1816, and appears to have served off and on in that role until 1841. He led the Berkshire meetings to protest British government’s handling of the Peterloo Massacre in 1819. On March 16, 1820, Palmer ran for a seat in Parliament against two other candidates. The votes ran: John Berkeley Monck (418 votes), Charles Fyshe Palmer(399 votes), and John Weyland(395 votes.) Mitford’s letters around this time indicate she much preferred his opponent J. B. Monck, and she had earlier satirized Palmer in 1818 as vastly like a mop-stick, or, rather, a tall hop-pole, or an extremely long fishing-rod, or anything that is all length and no substance.
Mitford also mentions Palmer in connection with a legal issue surrounding the Billiard Club, in her letter to Talfourd of 31 August 1822 . Mitford also mentions the ways that Palmer’s political opponents sometimes undermined his Whig reformist positions by referencing the noble privileges (and money) he accrued by marrying the Lady Madelina Gordon in 1805.
—ajc, lmw
See note 2 in The Browning’s Correspondence rendering of Mitford’s letter of 12 March 1842 to Elizabeth Barrett Browning .
's sake—which wish is exceedingly disinterested on my part inasmuch as I mean the new Member to frank my letters & shall find him much easier to catch than the old one. Have not I tired you with this tirade? Punish me in kind—But you can't—no—you cantcan't—you cannot write so dully if you would—though you may certainly chusechoose the same dull subject—The only consolation to my fears for our next election is that is it less likely than appeared lately to happen soon. We saw yesterday a gentleman from BrightonBrighton, East Sussex, England | Brighton | East Sussex | England | 50.82253000000001 -0.13716299999998682 A resort town on the south coast of Great Britain, popularized by George IV while Prince Regent. Until 1810, the town’s official name was Brighthelmstone.—ajc, lmw who is intimate with Sir Matthew TierneyMatthew John Tierney, Sir, Baronet, M.D. | Born: 1776-11-04 in Ballyscandland, County Limerick, Ireland. Died: 1845-10-28 in Pavilion Parade, Brighton, England.
Tierney was a physician who studied medicine in Edinburgh and Glasgow and later became a Physician-in-Ordinary to Kings George IV and William IV. Known for his study and advocacy of vaccination.—ajc, lmw
& who received from him a few days ago an account of the King'sGeorge Augustus Frederick , King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Prince Regent, or: Prince Regent | Born: 1762-08-12 in St James's Palace, London, England. Died: 1830-06-26 in Windsor Castle, London, England.
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and King of Hanover. House of Hanover. Reigned as Prince Regent during the long final illness of his father from 1811 to 1820. Formerly Prince of Wales and a supporter of the Foxite Whigs. He commissioned the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and supervised the large-scale remodeling of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.—ebb, lmw
health so exceedingly favorable that no man of character couldpage 4
have given it had he been in so precarious a state as has been imagined—He said His MajestyGeorge Augustus Frederick , King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Prince Regent, or: Prince Regent | Born: 1762-08-12 in St James's Palace, London, England. Died: 1830-06-26 in Windsor Castle, London, England.
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and King of Hanover. House of Hanover. Reigned as Prince Regent during the long final illness of his father from 1811 to 1820. Formerly Prince of Wales and a supporter of the Foxite Whigs. He commissioned the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and supervised the large-scale remodeling of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.—ebb, lmw
was as well as ever he had been in his life—Now Sir Matthew TierneyMatthew John Tierney, Sir, Baronet, M.D. | Born: 1776-11-04 in Ballyscandland, County Limerick, Ireland. Died: 1845-10-28 in Pavilion Parade, Brighton, England.
Tierney was a physician who studied medicine in Edinburgh and Glasgow and later became a Physician-in-Ordinary to Kings George IV and William IV. Known for his study and advocacy of vaccination.—ajc, lmw
could not have said this of a man in whom the water was rising & whose legs were cased every morning in sheet lead—as has been the constant report hereabouts for the last fortnight. Did you ever happen to hear how boldly & wisely Sir Matthew TierneyMatthew John Tierney, Sir, Baronet, M.D. | Born: 1776-11-04 in Ballyscandland, County Limerick, Ireland. Died: 1845-10-28 in Pavilion Parade, Brighton, England.
Tierney was a physician who studied medicine in Edinburgh and Glasgow and later became a Physician-in-Ordinary to Kings George IV and William IV. Known for his study and advocacy of vaccination.—ajc, lmw
(Deuce take that man's name—I have three times mis-speltmisspelt it—& yet a lover of SmollettTobias George Smollett | Born: 1721-03-19 in Dalquhurn, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Died: 1771-09-17 in Antignano, Tuscany, Italy.
Novelist and poet, as well as editor, translator, critic, and medical practitioner. Smollett's best-known novels were written between 1748 and 1753: The Adventures of Roderick Random (1748), The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle (1751), and The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom (1753), and his four-volume Complete History of England was published in 1754, revised in 1758 . Together with Thomas Francklin, Smollett helped edit the thirty-five volume English translation of The Works of Voltaire, from 1761-1765 . He travelled extensively in France and Italy in his last years. Source: ODNB.—ebb, esh
ought to be able to spell the name sakenamesake of Matthew BrambleMatthew Bramble
character in The Expedition of Humphrey Clinker by Smollett.—ajc—how boldly Sir Mat:Matthew John Tierney, Sir, Baronet, M.D. | Born: 1776-11-04 in Ballyscandland, County Limerick, Ireland. Died: 1845-10-28 in Pavilion Parade, Brighton, England.
Tierney was a physician who studied medicine in Edinburgh and Glasgow and later became a Physician-in-Ordinary to Kings George IV and William IV. Known for his study and advocacy of vaccination.—ajc, lmw
saved the King'sGeorge Augustus Frederick , King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Prince Regent, or: Prince Regent | Born: 1762-08-12 in St James's Palace, London, England. Died: 1830-06-26 in Windsor Castle, London, England.
King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and King of Hanover. House of Hanover. Reigned as Prince Regent during the long final illness of his father from 1811 to 1820. Formerly Prince of Wales and a supporter of the Foxite Whigs. He commissioned the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and supervised the large-scale remodeling of Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.—ebb, lmw
life—he was dying—gasping—Sir Henry HalfordHenry Henry St. John Halford Vaughn, Sir, Baronet, or: Vaughn Henry | Born: 1766-10-02 in Leicester, Leicestershire, England. Died: 1844-03-09 in Curzon Street, Mayfair, London, England.
Appointed physician-extraordinary to George III in 1793; he also attended George IV, William IV, and Queen Victoria. He held a variety of positions with the Royal College of Physicians, including President. Born Henry Vaughn, he inherited the Halford family estate of Wistow Hall. Source: ODNB. Also see —ajc, lmw
walking about the room with his head lost (put that into French if you don't understand it in English) & had been bled—till to bleed seemed to kill—when Sir MatthewMatthew John Tierney, Sir, Baronet, M.D. | Born: 1776-11-04 in Ballyscandland, County Limerick, Ireland. Died: 1845-10-28 in Pavilion Parade, Brighton, England.
Tierney was a physician who studied medicine in Edinburgh and Glasgow and later became a Physician-in-Ordinary to Kings George IV and William IV. Known for his study and advocacy of vaccination.—ajc, lmw
exclaimed—he will probably die in the bleeding—but he must die without—so I'll bleed him—He did so keeping his hand on the pulse & saved him—.

In the midst of this hub-bubhubbub—have you been reading any thinganything new? Did I mention to you a Scotch novel called GlenfergusGlenfergus. In Three Volumes. . 1820. ? Not interesting— & or probable & occasionally very prosy—but still of great merit, from its perfect truth of character, & the pointed vivacity of the style—two characters a clerical dandy & a most amicable & genuine oldish maiden homely, housewifely, & every thingeverything that is good pleased me particularly—If you read GlenfergusGlenfergus. In Three Volumes. . 1820. tell me if you were not charmed with Aunt RachelRachel , Aunt
Character in Glenfergus by Mudie.—ajc^(I think thatsthat's her name—but really an election puts every thingeverything out of one's head)—She would have done honour to the fine conception of Miss AustenJane Austen | Born: 1775-12-16 in Steventon, Hampshire, England. Died: 1817-07-18 in Winchester, Hampshire, England.
Novelist celebrated for her wit and style, whose works investigated women's social and economic vulnerabilities in English society. During her lifetime she published anonymously. Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1815), all anonymously. Northanger Abbey, the first written of her novels (composed in 1798-1799) was published posthumously in 1818 (the title was chosen by surviving family) along with her final completed novel, Persuasion. Mitford claims in a letter to Sir William Elford of 3 April 1815 that she has recently discovered Austen is my countrywoman,, that is, a neighbor. Later in a letter of 2 July 1816 praised Emma in particular among Austen's novels. She and Elford evidently knew the identity of Austen as the author long before the information was public knowledge, and she claims in the April 3 letter that her mother remembered Jane Austen in her youth as the prettiest, silliest, most affected, husband-hunting butterfly she ever remembers, but that Jane was by the 1810s extremely quiet, which impressed Mitford: till Pride and Prejudice showed what a precious gem was hidden in that unbending case, she was no more regarded in society than a poker or a fire-screen, or any other thin upright piece of wood or iron that fills its corner in peace and quietness. The case is very different now; she is still a poker—but a poker of whom every one is afraid. It must be confessed that this silent observation from such an observer is rather formidable. Most writers are good-humoured chatterers—neither very wise nor very witty:—but nine times out of ten (at least in the few that I have known) unaffected and pleasant, and quite removing by their conversation any awe that may have been excited by their works. But a wit, a delineator of character, who does not talk, is terrific indeed! Source: L’Estrange.—ebb, rnes
.—I have had a great regale in Mr. Fleury de ChaboulonPierre Alexandre Édouard deChaboulon Fleury | Born: 1779. Died: 1835-09-28.
Cabinet secretary of Napoleon after his return from Elba. In 1820 he published Mémoires pour servir à l’histoire de la vie privée, du retour, et du règne de Napoléon. —ajc
's Memoires de la vie privee &c &c de NapoleonMémoires pour servir à l’histoire de la vie privée, du retour, et du règne de Napoléon en 1815. Fleury de Chaboulon. London : John Murray. 1819-1820.
Two volume publication: the first volume was published in 1819 and the second in 1820. Fleury was Napoleon's secretary and cabinet member who served in the Emperor's private life.—sbb, ebb—I don't recommend this book to you though very interesting because you might not enjoy so much as I do two goodsizedgood-sized volumes well filled with praises of thepage 5
Ex-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
—By the bye this flaming Bon-apartishe book was printed at Murray'sJohn Samuel Murray | Born: 1778-11-27 in Fleet Street, London, England. Died: 1843-06-27.
John Murray (second of that name) was proprietor of the publishing house bearing his name. The business was founded in 1768 by his father, John Mac Murray (1745–1793), (who later changed the family name to Murray), and was continued by his son, John Murray III. Byron's friend, correspondent, and early publisher. He also published works by Austen, Scott, Washington Irving, and Crabbe, and he helped to found the Quarterly Review and the Edinburgh Review. Under his leadership, the firm developed into one of the most important and influential publishing houses in Romantic-era Great Britain. After 1812, his publishing house premises (and home) in London were at 50 Albermarle Street in Mayfair. He is buried at All Soul's, Kensal Green, London.—ajc, lmw
[del: .]—Is not that singular?—I am now reading Dr. Drake'sNathan Drake, or: Dr. Drake, Nathan Drake, M.D. | Born: 1766-01-15 in York, Yorkshire, England. Died: 1836 in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England.
Essayist and physician; his most ambitious work was Shakespeare and his Times. Disambiguation note: Nathan Drake the essayist is the son of the portrait and artist of the same name, who was known for his painting of provincial hunting and sporting scenes and lived from 1728 to 1778.—ajc, lmw, ebb
great big  books volumes Shakespeare & his TimesShakespeare and His Times: Including the Biography of the Poet; Criticisms on his Genius and Writings; A New Chronology of the Plays; A Disquisition on the Object of His Sonnets; And a History of the Manners, Customs, and Amusements, Superstitions, Poetry, and Elegant Literature of His Age. Nathan Drake. London: T. Cadell and W. Davies. 1817.
Mitford considered it good materials badly used. In journal entry Sunday 19th March 1820 .—lmw—Every part of which that is not written by Dr. DrakeNathan Drake, or: Dr. Drake, Nathan Drake, M.D. | Born: 1766-01-15 in York, Yorkshire, England. Died: 1836 in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England.
Essayist and physician; his most ambitious work was Shakespeare and his Times. Disambiguation note: Nathan Drake the essayist is the son of the portrait and artist of the same name, who was known for his painting of provincial hunting and sporting scenes and lived from 1728 to 1778.—ajc, lmw, ebb
is good—all that he did write is bad—but luckily the far greater part consists of selections from the contemporaries of ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare | Born: 1564-04 in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England. Died: 1616-04-23 in Stratford upon Avon, Warwickshire, England.
Early modern era actor, theater manager, poet, and playwright. Part owner of playing company The Lord Chamberlain's men and author or co-author of thirty-eight plays. Considered the greatest English dramatist and Britain's national poet. Mitford wrote in the Introduction to her Dramatic Works: I had grown up—it is the privilege of English people to grow up—in the worship of Shakespeare, and many of his favourite scenes I literally knew by heart. —lmw
collected with [Damage: agent: wrinkle.]infinite labour & much taste. How odd it is [Damage: agent: wrinkle.] that a man whose reading is so extensive & so excellent as Dr. DrakeNathan Drake, or: Dr. Drake, Nathan Drake, M.D. | Born: 1766-01-15 in York, Yorkshire, England. Died: 1836 in Hadleigh, Suffolk, England.
Essayist and physician; his most ambitious work was Shakespeare and his Times. Disambiguation note: Nathan Drake the essayist is the son of the portrait and artist of the same name, who was known for his painting of provincial hunting and sporting scenes and lived from 1728 to 1778.—ajc, lmw, ebb
s & who has been writing all his life, should in his own compositions be so intolerably mawkish! There would be no [Damage: agent: wrinkle.] reading a page if  its one was not carried on by the hope of meeting with a quotation—indeed after a certain degree of acquaintance with the learned author one involuntarily skips every thingeverything not distinguished by inverted commas.

That is a beautiful Chapter of the four lambs—I am so much interested in them—particula[Damage: 3 chars, agent: tear.][rly] the blind one—Who brings that up? the dairy maid or the dam[gap: reason: torn.] ?—Is it melancholy poor little thing? Does it know its Mother[gap: reason: torn.] ? Does the Mother pay it particular attention?—Oh how interesting a creature must be a blind lamb! A thing that is so innocent & ought to be gay! Do tell me 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

all about your poor blind lamb—I do not believe a word about the man who had five—Whose ewe had five I mean—every bodyeverybody here stares in a very proper manner at  the four your four.

Mrs. 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 is a great deal too good to me—She has caught it of you—nothing so contagious as kindness in some families—I wish I were what she supposes me—but really except that reading is one agreeable kind of idleness & writing to you another, I do not know what either my trifling reading or my still more trifling remarks are good for—Nothing but Chitter Chatterchitter-chatter—as anpage 6
honest Cumberland Squire used to call my letters to his niece.

Make my very best & most grateful respects to her notwithstanding (there was no manner of occasion for that jerk)—[gap: reason: wrinkle.] let me hear very soon how you all are & whether you are coming 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.—lmwward & when.—I believe that at last we are really going away from this house—though I have heard & said it so often that I shall never thoroughly believe we are going till we are gone. At all events we shall not go far ^& you shall hear all about it—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
join in kindest Compliments, & I am ever my dear & kind friend most affectionately your'syours