I can but thank you again & again, my dear SirThomas Noon Talfourd | Born: 1795-05-26 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1854-03-13 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.
Close friend, literary mentor, and frequent correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. A native of Reading, Talfourd was educated at the Reading’s newly-established Mill Hill school, a dissenting academy, from 1808 to 1810. He attended Dr. Richard Valpy’s Reading School from 1810 to 1812. His career in law began with a legal apprenticeship with Joseph Christy, special pleader, in 1817. He was called to the bar in London in 1821 and ultimately earned a D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Oxford on June 20, 1844. While establishing his practice as a barrister and special pleader, he worked as legal correspondent for The Times, reporting on the Oxford Circuit, and also continued his literary interests. After 1833, he was appointed Serjeant at Law, as well as a King’s and Queen’s Counsel. He was elected and served as Member of Parliament for Reading from 1835 to 1841 and from 1847 to 1849 ; he served with Charles Fyshe Palmer, Charles Russell, and Francis Piggott. Highlights of his political and legal career included introducing the first copyright bill into Parliament in 1837 (for which action Charles Dickens dedicated Pickwick Papers to him) and defending Edward Moxon’s publication of Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab in 1841 . He was appointed Queen’s Serjeant in 1846 and Judge of Common Pleas in 1849 , at which post he served until his death in 1854. He was knighted in 1850 .
Talfourd’s literary works include his plays Ion (1835), The Athenian Captive (1837) and Glencoe, or the Fate of the MacDonalds(1839).
—lmw, cmm, ebb
, for your exceeding kindness, & lament more than ever the trouble that I give you—I assure you this regret is not a form of words but a real feeling—I am so sorry to trespass on your valuable time—so very sorry—& yet when you bid me write and tease you with my doubts & difficulties I have not resolution to relinquish the comfort of telling them to you & the benefit of your advice.——What you say of the Plots is exactly what I feel—None of Miss James’sElizabeth 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.—lmwhit my fancy except that one last scene to which it seems difficult to adapt any train of events that should be unobjectionable—free I mean from licentious love, & the lovely boy & girl story which is totally unfit for representation, but of which if I be lucky enough to keep my footing in the LondonThe London Magazine. 1820-1829.
An 18th-century periodical of this title (The London Magazine, or Gentleman’s Monthly Intelligencer) ran from 1732 to 1785 . In 1820, John Scott launched a new series of The London Magazine emulating the style of Blackwood’s Magazine, though the two magazines soon came into heated contention. This series ran until 1829, and this is the series to which Mitford and her correspondents frequently refer in their letters. Scott’s editorship lasted until his death by duel on 27 February 1821 resulting form bitter personal conflict with the editors of Blackwood’s Magazine connected with their insulting characterization of a London Cockney School. After Scott’s death, William Hazlitt took up editing the magazine with the April 1821 issue.—ebb, lmw I will certainly make a little Drama for that publication. Mrs. HoflandBarbara Wreaks Hofland | Born: 1770 in Yorkshire, England. Died: 1844-11-04 in Richmond-on-Thames.
Frequent correspondent of Mitford's, mentioned often in her Journal of 1819-1823. Novelist and writer of children’s books popular in England and America, Barbara Hofland was a native of Sheffield, Yorkshire, where she published poems from July 1794 in the local newspaper, The Sheffield Iris. Her first marriage to Thomas Bradshawe Hoole left her widowed and in poverty, raising a son, Frederic, on her own, and she supported herself by publishing poems and children’s books, and by running a girl’s school in Harrogate. Her second marriage was to the artist Thomas Christopher Hofland. (Source: ODNB)—ebb, hjb's story seems the best—I knew from the first that the Catastrophe would never do—neither do I like the sort of posthumous jealousy the triple refined sentiments of the Mother—her character would be excessively difficult to manage & scarcely worth the pains after all. Now I find on consulting the History of VeniceA View of Society and Manners in Italy: with Anecdotes relating to some Eminent Characters. John Moore, M.D.. London : Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell. 1781. that the Doge FoscariFrancesco Foscari, Doge
Historical Doge of Venice on whom Mitford based her Doge in Foscari. Mitford's declared historical source is A View of Society and Manners in Italy by Dr. John Moore.—ebb was turned out after a long & glorious government at the age of 95—which affront rather than the death of his sonCosmo Donato
son of Senator Donato in Foscari —ebb broke his heart. And on this hint I think it will be better to make the Senator Donato Donato Senator
Historical personage on whom Mitford based Senator Donato in her play, Foscari. Mitford's declared historical source is A View of Society and Manners in Italy by Dr. John Moore.—ebb (for whose murder Dr. MooreJohn Moore, M.D. | Born: 1729-12-07 in Stirling, Stirlingshire, Scotland. Died: 1802-02-21 in Richmond, Surrey, England.
John Moore, M.D., physician and author, wrote A View of Society and Manners in Italy and Journal during a Residence in France (1793) as well as the novel Zeluco (1789). —lmw, ebb
says young FoscariJacopo Foscari | Born: 1416. Died: 1457 in Crete.
Historical personage on whom Mitford based the character of Francesco Foscari in her play, Foscari. Byron followed the historical names for father (Francesco) and son (Jacopo) in his play, The Two Foscari. Mitford's declared historical source is A View of Society and Manners in Italy by Dr. John Moore.—ebb
was sentenced) page 2
grasping ambitiously at the Dogal Bonnet. At the beginning of the PlayFoscari: A Tragedy. London : G. B. Whittaker . 1826. FoscariDoge Foscari
character in Mitford’s play Foscari See also historical counterpart: Doge Foscari.—ebb may be absent commanding the armies of the Republic—Donato Donato Senator
character in Foscari —lmw
See also historical counterpart: Senator Donato.—ebb may propose in the Senate the dismissal of the DogeDoge Foscari
character in Mitford’s play Foscari See also historical counterpart: Doge Foscari.—ebb on account of his great age &c—FoscariFrancesco Foscari
character in Foscari —ebb
See also historical counterpart: son of Doge Foscari.—ebb may return suddenly with news of a great Victory, detect & overthrow [del: .]Donato Donato Senator
character in Foscari —lmw
See also historical counterpart: Senator Donato.—ebb's faction & reject indignantly the hand of his beloved CamillaCamilla Donato
daughter of Senator Donato in Mitford’s play Foscari —ebb when offered as the price of his fathers degradation. This gives rise to a public quarrel between Foscari,Francesco Foscari
character in Foscari —ebb
See also historical counterpart: son of Doge Foscari.—ebbDonato Donato Senator
character in Foscari —lmw
See also historical counterpart: Senator Donato.—ebb & his son CosmoCosmo Donato
son of Senator Donato in Foscari —ebb—& a cloak found near the dead Senator Donato Senator
character in Foscari —lmw
See also historical counterpart: Senator Donato.—ebb[del: .] left by FoscariFrancesco Foscari
character in Foscari —ebb
See also historical counterpart: son of Doge Foscari.—ebb in hastening from a stolen visit to CamillaCamilla Donato
daughter of Senator Donato in Mitford’s play Foscari —ebb will be sufficient ground for suspicion in Cosmo DonatoCosmo Donato
son of Senator Donato in Foscari —ebb, whom I intend to make a bold gallant generous character, & who the moment the sentence is pastpassed begins to harbour doubts of its justice which must be strengthened by the many small circumstances & end in the detection by him of the real murderer too late however to save FoscariFrancesco Foscari
character in Foscari —ebb
See also historical counterpart: son of Doge Foscari.—ebb who in an agony of impatient grief had swallowed poison—or stabbed himself (which shall it be?)—& dies on the stage in the midst of the friends [del: .] who come to announce his triumphant acquittal. Tell me if you think this will do? And pray if any alteration should suggest itself to you let me know it—I am not myself pleased with the scheme—but as I can hit on nothing better I think at least to write an act or two & try if I can work myself up into something like passion. I am terribly afraid of the first scene before the Senate—& still more of the Trial—but I will write an Act or two certainly—though if you should meet with any thing better I would relinquish this immediately. You will see that Cosmo DonatoCosmo Donato
son of Senator Donato in Foscari —ebb is created for Mr. Charles KembleCharles Kemble | Born: 1775-11-25 in Brecon, South Wales. Died: 1854-11-12 in England.
British actor, the younger brother of John Phillip Kemble and Sarah Siddons. Although he was considered by some to be as fine an actor as his sister and brother, he mostly appeared in secondary rather than leading roles. Father of Frances Kemble. One of the co-proprietors of Covent Garden Theatre . He served as Examiner of Plays in the early nineteenth-century, reviewing plays for licensing by the Lord Chamberlain.—lmw
—I could make nothing of the DogeDoge Foscari
character in Mitford’s play Foscari See also historical counterpart: Doge Foscari.—ebb—an uphill character who has little to do but to suffer—No Mr. MacreadyWilliam Charles Macready | Born: 1793-03-03 in London, England. Died: 1873-04-27 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
English actor, one of the most prominent tragedians of his era. He appeared at Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres in London and also toured the United States. He appeared in Sheridan Knowles's William Tell, Byron's Sardanapolus, and Bulwer-Lytton's Money (1840), as well as in many Shakespearean roles. He also managed both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres. In his role as actor-manager, Macready was a correspondent and collaborator with Mary Russell Mitford. The first play on which they worked was Mitford's Julian. Mitford dedicated to Macready the print edition of Julian: To William Charles Macready, Esq., with high esteem for those endowments which have cast new lustre on his art; with warm admiration for those powers which have inspired, and that taste which has fostered the tragic dramatists of his age; with heartfelt gratitude for the zeal with which he befriended the production of a stranger, for the judicious alterations which he suggested, and for the energy, the pathos, and the skill with which he more than emhodied its principal character; this tragedy is most respectfully dedicated by the author. Macready retired from the stage in 1851. —lmw
must be page 3
FoscariFrancesco Foscari
character in Foscari —ebb
See also historical counterpart: son of Doge Foscari.—ebb—Write to me, my dear Mr. TalfourdThomas Noon Talfourd | Born: 1795-05-26 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1854-03-13 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.
Close friend, literary mentor, and frequent correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. A native of Reading, Talfourd was educated at the Reading’s newly-established Mill Hill school, a dissenting academy, from 1808 to 1810. He attended Dr. Richard Valpy’s Reading School from 1810 to 1812. His career in law began with a legal apprenticeship with Joseph Christy, special pleader, in 1817. He was called to the bar in London in 1821 and ultimately earned a D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Oxford on June 20, 1844. While establishing his practice as a barrister and special pleader, he worked as legal correspondent for The Times, reporting on the Oxford Circuit, and also continued his literary interests. After 1833, he was appointed Serjeant at Law, as well as a King’s and Queen’s Counsel. He was elected and served as Member of Parliament for Reading from 1835 to 1841 and from 1847 to 1849 ; he served with Charles Fyshe Palmer, Charles Russell, and Francis Piggott. Highlights of his political and legal career included introducing the first copyright bill into Parliament in 1837 (for which action Charles Dickens dedicated Pickwick Papers to him) and defending Edward Moxon’s publication of Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab in 1841 . He was appointed Queen’s Serjeant in 1846 and Judge of Common Pleas in 1849 , at which post he served until his death in 1854. He was knighted in 1850 .
Talfourd’s literary works include his plays Ion (1835), The Athenian Captive (1837) and Glencoe, or the Fate of the MacDonalds(1839).
—lmw, cmm, ebb
, if you think he would not—write & stop me immediately—one word would be enough—Mr. MacreadyWilliam Charles Macready | Born: 1793-03-03 in London, England. Died: 1873-04-27 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.
English actor, one of the most prominent tragedians of his era. He appeared at Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres in London and also toured the United States. He appeared in Sheridan Knowles's William Tell, Byron's Sardanapolus, and Bulwer-Lytton's Money (1840), as well as in many Shakespearean roles. He also managed both Covent Garden and Drury Lane Theatres. In his role as actor-manager, Macready was a correspondent and collaborator with Mary Russell Mitford. The first play on which they worked was Mitford's Julian. Mitford dedicated to Macready the print edition of Julian: To William Charles Macready, Esq., with high esteem for those endowments which have cast new lustre on his art; with warm admiration for those powers which have inspired, and that taste which has fostered the tragic dramatists of his age; with heartfelt gratitude for the zeal with which he befriended the production of a stranger, for the judicious alterations which he suggested, and for the energy, the pathos, and the skill with which he more than emhodied its principal character; this tragedy is most respectfully dedicated by the author. Macready retired from the stage in 1851. —lmw
is my only inspiration. Amongst my other perplexities I don’t know whether Cosmo DonatoCosmo Donato
son of Senator Donato in Foscari —ebb & FoscariFrancesco Foscari
character in Foscari —ebb
See also historical counterpart: son of Doge Foscari.—ebb should be friends or enemies—Which would be best? But these things will arrange themselves. Pray forgive this unconscionable programme of a PlayFoscari: A Tragedy. London : G. B. Whittaker . 1826. that may never be written. Your indulgence has completed the spoiling me—a job which was pretty far advanced before you took it in hand.

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 had heard of your short visit to 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 & had likewise learnt from Mr. WakefieldDaniel Wakefield, Queen's Counsel, or: Queen's Counsel | Born: 1776 in Tottenham, Middlesex, England. Died: 1846-07-19 in London, England.
Mentioned in letter of Mitford to Talfourd of June 21 1821, known to Mitford and her father as privy to law court gossip. Identified by Coles as Daniel Wakefield, which seems likely, cross-checking with the ODNB. Wakefield's mother was the Quaker writer Priscilla Bell Wakefield, though Wakefield himself converted to the Church of England. He published An Essay on Political Economy in 1799, and qualified for the law in 1807. His first wife, Isabella Mackie, swindled him of much of his income and nearly bankrupted him, before she fatally poisoned herself in August 1813. Later that year, 11 November 1813, Wakefield married Elizabeth Kilgour. He was eventually very successful and much consulted on legal cases.—ebb, rnes
the curious story of the sturdy domestic & the affronted Commissioner—What a scene must it have been! By the bye your opponents the Sladesthe Slades | Slade family | Slade
Mitford mentions the Slades in her letter to Thomas Noon Talfourd of June 21, 1821, as distant relatives involved in a court case over the execution of their father’s will, a case taken on by Talfourd, and which was settled before it got to a jury. William Colesinquires for information about them in a letter to Needham. He cites an article that appeared in the Reading Mercury on July 7, 1822. Source: Unpublished letter from William Coles to Needham, January 20, 1958, Reading Central Library .—scw, ebb are Cousins of ours, as far off I suppose as the twentieth degree—& as I have in all its injustice & unreasonableness the true North country clannish feeling, I cannot help wishing my Cousins success, though I know very little  againstabout them & never heard of the affair before—& though their adversary has done such a right & wise thing as to engage you in his cause. Did you hear when at ReadingReading, Berkshire, England | Reading | Berkshire | England | 51.4542645 -0.9781302999999753 County town in Berkshire, in the Thames valley at the confluence of the Thames and the River Kennet. The town developed as a river port and in Mitford’s time served as a staging point on the Bath Road and was developing into a center of manufacturing. Mitford lived here with her parents from 1791 to 1795, on Coley Avenue in the parish of St. Mary’s and attended the Abbey School. The family returned to Reading from 1797 to about 1804, after which they relocated to Bertram House. They frequently visited Reading thereafter from their homes at nearby Bertram House, Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. Mitford later used scenes from Reading as the basis for Belford Regis; or Sketches of a Country Town.—lmw that the dear Doctor ValpyRichard Valpy, Doctor of Divinity, or: Dr. Valpy | Born: 1754-12-07 in St. John’s, Jersey, Channel Islands. Died: 1836-03-28 in Reading, Berkshire, England.
Richard Valpy (the fourth of that name) was the eldest son of Richard Valpy [III] and Catherine Chevalier. He was a friend and literary mentor to Mary Russell Mitford. He matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford University on April 1, 1773, aged eighteen, as a Morley scholar. He received from Oxford a B.A. (1776), M.A. (1784), B.D. & D.D. (1792). He took orders in the Church of England in 1777. Richard Valpy served as Second Master at Bury School, Bury, Huntindonshire from 1771 to 1781, and was also collated to the rectory of Stradishall, Suffolk, in 1787. He became the Headmaster at Reading School, Reading, Berkshire, in 1781 and served until 1830, at which time he turned the Headmastership over to his youngest son Francis E. J. Valpy and continued in semi-retirement until his death in 1836. During his tenure as Headmaster of Reading Grammar School for boys over the course of fifty years, he expanded the boarding school and added new buildings. He is the author of numerous published works, including Greek and Latin textbooks, sermons, volumes of poetry, and adaptations of plays such as Shakespeare’s King John and Sheridan’s The Critic. His Elements of Greek Grammar, Elements of Latin Grammar,,Greek Delectus and Latin Delectus, printed and published by his son A. J. Valpy, were all much used as school texts throughout the nineteenth century. Valpy’s students performed his own adaptations of Greek, Latin, and English plays for the triennial visitations and the play receipts went to charitable organizations. Valpy enlisted Mitford to write reviews of the productions for the Reading Mercury. In 1803, his adaptation of Shakespeare’s King John was performed at Covent Garden Theatre.
Richard Valpy was married twice and had twelve children, eleven of whom lived to adulthood. His first wife was Martha Cornelia de Cartaret; Richard and Martha were married about 1778 and they had one daughter, Martha Cartaretta Cornelia. His first wife Martha died about 1780 and he married Mary Benwell of Caversham, Oxfordshire on May 30, 1782. Together they had six sons and five daughters and ten of their eleven children survived to adulthood. Richard Valpy and Mary Benwell’s sons were Richard Valpy (the fifth of that name), Abraham John Valpy, called John; Gabriel Valpy, Anthony Blagrove Valpy; and Francis Edward Jackson Valpy. His daughters were Mary Ann Catherine Valpy; Sarah Frances Valpy, called Frances or Fanny; Catherine Elizabeth Blanch Valpy; Penelope Arabella Valpy; and Elizabeth Charlotte Valpy, who died as an infant.
Richard Valpy died on March 28, 1836 in Reading, Berkshire, and is buried in All Souls cemetery, Kensal Green, London. Dr. Valpy’s students placed a marble bust of him in St. Lawrence’s church, Reading, Berkshire, after his death. John Opie painted Dr. Valpy’s portrait. See .—ebb, lmw
has been annoyed again by persons encroaching on his play ground & means to try the right at the next Assizes. Oh how sorry I am that these Assizes will be at AbingdonAbingdon, Berkshire, England | Abingdon on Thames | Abingdon-on-Thames | Abingdon | Berkshire | Oxfordshire | England | 51.67078 -1.2879528999999366 Abingdon (now called Abingdon on Thames or Abingdon-on-Thames,) is a market town in Oxfordshire. In Mitford’s time, it was the county town of the county of Berkshire. It was reassigned to Oxfordshire in 1974. In the nineteenth century, the Assize Courts alternated between Reading and Abingdon, according to Coles.—lmw! What a treat it would be to hear you on a subject which would authorise & demand a kind of eloquence so glowing & so genial—so different from the common run of law cases—And you will speak—will you not? Even if there should be half a dozen Senior Counsel? Oh you must speak for the dear DoctorRichard Valpy, Doctor of Divinity, or: Dr. Valpy | Born: 1754-12-07 in St. John’s, Jersey, Channel Islands. Died: 1836-03-28 in Reading, Berkshire, England.
Richard Valpy (the fourth of that name) was the eldest son of Richard Valpy [III] and Catherine Chevalier. He was a friend and literary mentor to Mary Russell Mitford. He matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford University on April 1, 1773, aged eighteen, as a Morley scholar. He received from Oxford a B.A. (1776), M.A. (1784), B.D. & D.D. (1792). He took orders in the Church of England in 1777. Richard Valpy served as Second Master at Bury School, Bury, Huntindonshire from 1771 to 1781, and was also collated to the rectory of Stradishall, Suffolk, in 1787. He became the Headmaster at Reading School, Reading, Berkshire, in 1781 and served until 1830, at which time he turned the Headmastership over to his youngest son Francis E. J. Valpy and continued in semi-retirement until his death in 1836. During his tenure as Headmaster of Reading Grammar School for boys over the course of fifty years, he expanded the boarding school and added new buildings. He is the author of numerous published works, including Greek and Latin textbooks, sermons, volumes of poetry, and adaptations of plays such as Shakespeare’s King John and Sheridan’s The Critic. His Elements of Greek Grammar, Elements of Latin Grammar,,Greek Delectus and Latin Delectus, printed and published by his son A. J. Valpy, were all much used as school texts throughout the nineteenth century. Valpy’s students performed his own adaptations of Greek, Latin, and English plays for the triennial visitations and the play receipts went to charitable organizations. Valpy enlisted Mitford to write reviews of the productions for the Reading Mercury. In 1803, his adaptation of Shakespeare’s King John was performed at Covent Garden Theatre.
Richard Valpy was married twice and had twelve children, eleven of whom lived to adulthood. His first wife was Martha Cornelia de Cartaret; Richard and Martha were married about 1778 and they had one daughter, Martha Cartaretta Cornelia. His first wife Martha died about 1780 and he married Mary Benwell of Caversham, Oxfordshire on May 30, 1782. Together they had six sons and five daughters and ten of their eleven children survived to adulthood. Richard Valpy and Mary Benwell’s sons were Richard Valpy (the fifth of that name), Abraham John Valpy, called John; Gabriel Valpy, Anthony Blagrove Valpy; and Francis Edward Jackson Valpy. His daughters were Mary Ann Catherine Valpy; Sarah Frances Valpy, called Frances or Fanny; Catherine Elizabeth Blanch Valpy; Penelope Arabella Valpy; and Elizabeth Charlotte Valpy, who died as an infant.
Richard Valpy died on March 28, 1836 in Reading, Berkshire, and is buried in All Souls cemetery, Kensal Green, London. Dr. Valpy’s students placed a marble bust of him in St. Lawrence’s church, Reading, Berkshire, after his death. John Opie painted Dr. Valpy’s portrait. See .—ebb, lmw
's sake—I am only afraid that the offenders will be penitent & the DoctorRichard Valpy, Doctor of Divinity, or: Dr. Valpy | Born: 1754-12-07 in St. John’s, Jersey, Channel Islands. Died: 1836-03-28 in Reading, Berkshire, England.
Richard Valpy (the fourth of that name) was the eldest son of Richard Valpy [III] and Catherine Chevalier. He was a friend and literary mentor to Mary Russell Mitford. He matriculated at Pembroke College, Oxford University on April 1, 1773, aged eighteen, as a Morley scholar. He received from Oxford a B.A. (1776), M.A. (1784), B.D. & D.D. (1792). He took orders in the Church of England in 1777. Richard Valpy served as Second Master at Bury School, Bury, Huntindonshire from 1771 to 1781, and was also collated to the rectory of Stradishall, Suffolk, in 1787. He became the Headmaster at Reading School, Reading, Berkshire, in 1781 and served until 1830, at which time he turned the Headmastership over to his youngest son Francis E. J. Valpy and continued in semi-retirement until his death in 1836. During his tenure as Headmaster of Reading Grammar School for boys over the course of fifty years, he expanded the boarding school and added new buildings. He is the author of numerous published works, including Greek and Latin textbooks, sermons, volumes of poetry, and adaptations of plays such as Shakespeare’s King John and Sheridan’s The Critic. His Elements of Greek Grammar, Elements of Latin Grammar,,Greek Delectus and Latin Delectus, printed and published by his son A. J. Valpy, were all much used as school texts throughout the nineteenth century. Valpy’s students performed his own adaptations of Greek, Latin, and English plays for the triennial visitations and the play receipts went to charitable organizations. Valpy enlisted Mitford to write reviews of the productions for the Reading Mercury. In 1803, his adaptation of Shakespeare’s King John was performed at Covent Garden Theatre.
Richard Valpy was married twice and had twelve children, eleven of whom lived to adulthood. His first wife was Martha Cornelia de Cartaret; Richard and Martha were married about 1778 and they had one daughter, Martha Cartaretta Cornelia. His first wife Martha died about 1780 and he married Mary Benwell of Caversham, Oxfordshire on May 30, 1782. Together they had six sons and five daughters and ten of their eleven children survived to adulthood. Richard Valpy and Mary Benwell’s sons were Richard Valpy (the fifth of that name), Abraham John Valpy, called John; Gabriel Valpy, Anthony Blagrove Valpy; and Francis Edward Jackson Valpy. His daughters were Mary Ann Catherine Valpy; Sarah Frances Valpy, called Frances or Fanny; Catherine Elizabeth Blanch Valpy; Penelope Arabella Valpy; and Elizabeth Charlotte Valpy, who died as an infant.
Richard Valpy died on March 28, 1836 in Reading, Berkshire, and is buried in All Souls cemetery, Kensal Green, London. Dr. Valpy’s students placed a marble bust of him in St. Lawrence’s church, Reading, Berkshire, after his death. John Opie painted Dr. Valpy’s portrait. See .—ebb, lmw
placable & that it will not be tried at all.page 4
You will not doubt how exceedingly we lamented not seeing you—Shall you come to 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 in your way to the Sessions? If you do we shall rely on that pleasure.

What you say of "Our Village"Our Village. . 1821.
This refers to the draft sketch of the story whose title became eponymous with MRM's famous series of stories. Coles suggests that Our Village mentioned in this 1821 letter to Talfourd refers to the sketch of the same name rather than the entire series. This draft is likely the sketch that became the first story in Our Village of 1824 (Coles #6, p. 40, note 11).—lmw, ebb[2] Coles suggests that "Our Village" here refers to the story/sketch of the same name rather than the entire series. This may be the sketch that became the first story in Our Village of 1824 (Coles #6, p. 40, note 11).—lmw, ebb is encouraging & comfortable—I had looked on prose composition as a thing not  only difficult merely, but impossible—I shall now take heart. If Mr. BaldwinRobert Baldwin | Born: 1780. Died: 1858-01-29.
Printer of the London Magazine; London printer and bookseller. Partners with Charles Cradock and William Joy; published works with them under firm name Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy. Also published separately under R. Baldwin. See Coles 14.—lmw
should not find Claudia's DreamClaudia’s Dream.
One of Mitford’s dramatic sketches, appeared in Lady’s Magazine September 30, 1822 462-66 , retitled as The Siege in Dramatic Scenes —lmw & Taylor & HesseyTaylor and Hessey
London publishers at 93 Fleet Street, began around 1819. The firm included John Taylor and J. A. Hessey —lmw should wish to have it, I will send another copy—though I have nothing but my rough draft—which bad as my finished things may be, is I assure ^you much worse—to say nothing of the writing. My dear Mr. TalfourdThomas Noon Talfourd | Born: 1795-05-26 in Reading, Berkshire, England. Died: 1854-03-13 in Stafford, Staffordshire, England.
Close friend, literary mentor, and frequent correspondent of Mary Russell Mitford. A native of Reading, Talfourd was educated at the Reading’s newly-established Mill Hill school, a dissenting academy, from 1808 to 1810. He attended Dr. Richard Valpy’s Reading School from 1810 to 1812. His career in law began with a legal apprenticeship with Joseph Christy, special pleader, in 1817. He was called to the bar in London in 1821 and ultimately earned a D.C.L. (Doctor of Civil Laws) from Oxford on June 20, 1844. While establishing his practice as a barrister and special pleader, he worked as legal correspondent for The Times, reporting on the Oxford Circuit, and also continued his literary interests. After 1833, he was appointed Serjeant at Law, as well as a King’s and Queen’s Counsel. He was elected and served as Member of Parliament for Reading from 1835 to 1841 and from 1847 to 1849 ; he served with Charles Fyshe Palmer, Charles Russell, and Francis Piggott. Highlights of his political and legal career included introducing the first copyright bill into Parliament in 1837 (for which action Charles Dickens dedicated Pickwick Papers to him) and defending Edward Moxon’s publication of Percy Shelley’s Queen Mab in 1841 . He was appointed Queen’s Serjeant in 1846 and Judge of Common Pleas in 1849 , at which post he served until his death in 1854. He was knighted in 1850 .
Talfourd’s literary works include his plays Ion (1835), The Athenian Captive (1837) and Glencoe, or the Fate of the MacDonalds(1839).
—lmw, cmm, ebb
figure to yourself my worst hand!—all blots & interlineations—& the dialogue all in a mess! Oh there never was such a skein of tangled silk! Nevertheless I will wind it off at a moment's warning if the other copy be not found—I have the strongest possible desire not to be turned off for Mr. CrolyGeorge Croly | Born: 1780-08-17 in Dublin, Ireland. Died: 1860-11-24 in Bloomsbury, London, England.
An Irish writer and cleric who held the living of St. Stephen Walbrook in the City of London. Contributor to Blackwood's Magazine and other Tory periodicals.—lmw
—a person whose doings I admire quite as little as you do. Perhaps I had better transcribe my little Drama at all events.

On looking up this page it seems dictated by the Demon of Tautology—But it's all 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's fault—I have been writing all this time in the room where he is settling a matrimonial difference between a young Couple in our neighborhood [3] George Mitford was magistrate and chairman of the bench in the Reading division, county of Berkshire, according to Coles (#7, p. 40, note 9). Presumably this is why he is "settling a matrimonial difference."—lmw(Dear me—I never saw a finer man or prettier woman—to think that they should fight! Oh dear!)—And 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 is haranguing & the husband explaining & the wife crying—I wonder that I can write a word—Besides I am curious as to the termination—they came desiring to be parted, never to look at one another again—but there is a relenting I think—a touch of the old love—Yes they will certainly make up. And 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's admonitions will be an excuse to themselves & to each other—Oh yes they will forgive.

Adieu, my dear Sir—