A manuscript letter book containing copies of incoming correspondence from George Beauchamp Proctor, Mr. Oldenshaw, Lancaster Framingham, the Duke of Richmond, Sir William Fordyce, Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, Mr. Lionel Smythe, Benjamin Stehelin, and others as well as Townshend’s outgoing letters to Mr. Stacpoole, the earliest dated 5 March 1785 and the last dated 22 June 1785. The subjects discussed with Thomas Beevan include a living in his posession that he did not confer on Beevan’s son, to Beevan’s great disappointment; issues regarding his regiment with Major Taylor; his appointment by the King to the Board of Land & Sea Offices to investigate the plans to secure the dock yards at Plymouth and Portsmouth; a court martial of 1785; the American loyalists (“I have given one fourth of my Lot to the unfortunate American Loyalists”; military patronage, concerns about his son Frederick, who was later declared insane for shooting his brother. Other matters include the difficulties in assembling an impartial jury and other parliamentary matters and references to the wishes of the King.
- Author: Townshend, George Townshend, Marquis, 1724-1807.
- Title: George Townshend manuscript letter book entitled ‘1. Copies of letters from the 5th March 1785-‘ : manuscript.
- Production: Norfolk, England, approximately 1785.
Catalog Record
LWL Mss Vol. 245
Acquired March 2019
A letter from Caroline of Brunswick to Lady Abercorn, in a secretary’s hand, which conveys a sense of her isolation living in London after her separation from the Prince of Wales. The letter begins with her friendly thanks to Lady Abercorn for the “keepsake” or “talisman” which she sent onto Dr. Pimberton that she suspects would have decorated “the grand Mufti”. She continues with apologies for the need to decline her invitation to the seaside due to her mother’s (Princess Augusta) uncertain health and her “knowing so few people in England”. She talks of other mutual acquatiances who have visited her, the Aberdeens and Lady Maria Chaperone, and reports on Lady Maria’s recovery. Caroline writes of her pleasure in Walter Scott’s visits and a lively evening with Monk Lewis who told “ghost stories the whole evening” and how his embellishment of a story she told made it unrecognizable. She end with regards to her and her family “who have not yet forgotten me and my nonsense.”
