Location: Maer, Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom

Surnames/tags: Wedgwood Staffordshire
From Burkhardt, Frederick, et al., editors. “The Correspondence of Charles Darwin 1882.” The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, by Charles Darwin, vol. 30, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2023, pp. 1–402. The Correspondence of Charles Darwin. doi:10.1017/9781009233606.008 pages 159-163
Contents |
From Emma Wedgwood to F. E. E. Wedgwood [24 October 1836][1]
Maer
Monday
My dear Fanny
Jessie’s confinement was safely over on Sunday of a little girl.[2]
Caroline[3] & I went to call on them on Saturday & Jessie seemed very well but expecting that it was coming on. & she sent for her Dr & nurse very soon after we left them & at 9 1/2 the next morning it was over after a very good time which it might well be for the poor little thing is borne before its time & wretchedly small. They were afraid it would not live yesterday but today Hannah is in good heart about it. Eliza[4] looked harrassed & tired. We did not see Jessie who is going on as well as possible. She left orders that no visitors were to see the child till it grows less ugly, though Hannah & Bessy protest that it is very pretty[5] it has dark hair & is nothing but skin so you may
imagine how pretty it is. It seems much better than yesterday which is a very good
sign. There is not a chance of Jessie being able to nurse it yet & so they are going to
have a wet nurse for it & the child for Jessie as her own is too weak & small to attempt
it. It was very lucky their getting to Seabridge which looks very nice & cheerful.
The wedding at Boulston was a regular Sir Charles Grandison one. Flowers strewed & setting off with 4 horses. All the Cresselly folk were there & say Tom & Anne looked very happy & it was quite a merry wedding.[6] It is a comfort to hear that Bro[7] keeps to his old words of Dadoo &c which I was afraid he had lost.
We are getting impatient for Charles’s arrival.[8] The Langtons[9] must go on Monday any how so I hope he will come soon. We all ought to get up a little knowledge for him. I have taken to no deeper study that Capt Head’s gallop[10] which I have never read before. I am afraid it wont instruct me much. He seems to have been much struck with the sight of Hensleigh[11] walking up the st with a band box in one hand & a child in the other.
Your account of Violet[12] will certainly make us get it. Aunt Emma & Penelope may think themselves lucky not to be in Italy now for we heard a most pathetic story of a party of ladies & gentlemen in a ship at Civita Vecchia being put into 2 rooms & not allowed literally to stir out of them for 11 days. John Jones who was one of the party had no sort of objection to swearing falsely that they had not been at Genoa, for he said there was no Testament & nothing but an Image of the V. Mary.[13] The whole party forswore themselves most comfortably except a clergyman who scrupled the oath though he had no objection to a false declaration Lady Strachan[14] pathetically exclaimed, “Is there nobody who will persuade this gentleman that it is merely a matter of form? This came from Harry through Mr Vaughan Williams.[15]
Loo is here whom we are going in earnest to begin calling Louisa.[16] The new one is to be Caroline Elizabeth. Charles seems to have nearly settled in favor of living at Cambridge, which is a pity for Erasmus’s[17] sake but I shd feel sure that Charles wd like Cambridge best as he has a particular spite to London I believe.
Yours & [El’s][18] letters came in very apropos just as we were beginning to get rather cross. I am glad Mr Richmond is going to do the children.[19] I wish we could send up Godfrey[20] at the same time.
You shall hear again pretty soon how the poor little thing goes on but I expect it to do well. | Goodbye my dear Fanny.
People mentioned
- Emma (Wedgwood) Darwin (1808-1896), wife of Charles Darwin (Charles Robert Darwin FRS (1809-1882)), sister of Henry Wedgwood, sister-in-law and cousin of Jessie Wedgwood, aunt of baby Caroline
- F.E.E. Wedgwood (Fanny) is Frances (Mackintosh) Wedgwood (abt.1800-1889), wife of Hensleigh Wedgwood (1803-1891); Hensleigh was Emma's brother and thus Fanny was Emma's sister-in-law.
- Caroline Elizabeth Wedgwood (bef.1836-1916), the baby
- Henry Allen Wedgwood (1799-1885), baby Caroline's afther
- Jessie Wedgwood (1804-1872), baby Caroline's mother, first cousin of her husband and nee Wedgwood
- Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood (1795-1856) Eliza, sister of jessie, baby Caroline's aunt
- Caroline Sarah (Darwin) Wedgwood (1800-1888), sister of Charles Darwin and thus sister-in-law of Emma.
- Thomas Josiah Wedgwood (abt.1797-1860), first cousin of Emma
- Anne Maria (Tyler) Wedgwood (1797-1855), wife of Thomas. Thomas and Anna married on 13 October 1836 in the parish of Boulston, Pembrokeshire.[21]
- Married: On the 13th inst., at Boulston, Pembrokeshire. by the Rev. S. O. Meares, Lieut. Col. Wedgwood, Scots Fusilier Guards, to Anne Maria, eldest daughter of the late Admiral Sir Charles Tyler, G. C. B. of Cottrel, Glamorganshire. [22]
- Charlotte (Wedgwood) Langton (1797-1862) was Emma's sister who was married to Charles Langton (1804-1886).
- James Mackintosh Wedgwood (1834-1864), the son of Hensleigh and Fanny
- Sir Francis Bond Head (1793-1875): Rapid journeys across the Pampas (1826) I am not sure what Emma is referring to when she says "He seems to have been much struck with the sight of Hensleigh walking up the st with a band box in one hand & a child in the other." I cannot find a reference.
- Aunt Emma, Emma Allen: Emma Augusta Allen (1780-1864)
- Lady Strachan: Lady Louisa (Dillon) Strachan (abt.1785-1868)
- Harry: Henry Allen Wedgwood (1799-1885) brother of Emma
- Mr Vaughan Williams: possibly Edward Vaughan Williams (1797-1875), who had been Wedgwood’s contemporary at Cambridge University
- Louisa Frances (Wedgwood) Kempson (1834-1903), daughter of Henry Allen Wedgwood and Jessie Wedgwood, sister of baby Caroline, Emma's niece
- Erasmus Alvey Darwin (1804-1881), brother of Charles Darwin and brother-in-law of Emma
- Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood (1793-1880) Emma's sister
- George Richmond, presume the painter, George Richmond (1809-1896)
- Frances Julia Wedgwood (1833-1913), Hensliegh and Fanny Wedgwood's daughter
- Godfrey Wedgwood (1833-1905) , the son of Francis Wedgwood and thus Emma's nephew
From Emma Wedgwood to F. E. E. Wedgwood [28 October 1836][23]
Maer
Friday
My dear Fanny
I have a very good report to send you of Jessie & the baby.[24] Eliza[25] keeps a capital watch & has not allowed any body to see Jessie yet in which I think she is very right. It was all Caroline & Elizabeth could do on Tuesday to see the baby as Jessie said it was so ugly that nobody should see it till it was prettyer, however Eliz. says she does not think it much smaller than other babies & not so ugly as Loo was & Eliz. thinks from seeing it that it cant be more than a fortnight before its time though
Mr Clarke thinks it is 6 weeks.[26] They have got a naughty woman for it & Jessie takes the naughty woman’s baby & I suppose in a little time they will change back again to their own babies.[27] Jessie’s was thought too weak to take to her at first. She is afraid of nursing on the bad side which is tiresome for her. Next week we shall be allowed to see her, but I cannot wait to see the baby till then. It is much more satisfactory
writing this baby talk to you my dear old wife after what you tell me which I am very glad to hear indeed & thank you for telling me.[28] It is quite melancholy to hear you talking of the fine weather while we have actually a very tolerably deep snow for the Langtons[29] to get home in. They were very sorry to give up seeing Charles[30] here; but his last letter gave no hopes of his being here this week & as their leave of absence was so nearly expired they went home 2 days before they needed in order to have a few days at liberty to meet him at Shrewsbury, & so they went this morning at 7 o’clock & will get to Onbury today. We are very glad to keep Caroline or we should be very dull but she will wait for Charles any how.
I dined at Whitmore yesterday with Jos. I wanted to see the beautiful little Mrs Johnson but she was not well enough to come down & it was only Fanny Northen & not Ellen so it was dull enough. General Johnson, who looks quite as old as he is seldom opens his lips while ladies are in the room & the beautiful Capt Mainwaring is very little worth looking at & not at all worth talking to, though Miss Chawner did not seem to be of that opinion & was very attentive & flirtatious to him which is not prudent in an elderly sort of humble companion. He had some Masaniello Trios which were not very brilliant Miss M. on the Harp & I got on pretty well but the Capt came in every now and then with a toot entirely out of time & tune, & as he told me he had formerly learnt the Violoncello & the Violin I thought he wd play decently at least.[31]
Charlotte is growner fatter & younger & handsomer & Charles is as well as possible & in gayer spirits than I ever remember him.[32] Allen has been spending 2 days at Etruria to meet the Ed. Mosley’s & has come home quite brisk & gay.[33] He wd be so much better if he could always go a visiting. I am reading Mrs Trollope. It is certainly interesting & I think it is evident that she now really feels for the slaves & I do believe the book wd do a great deal of good in America, where it cc only be smuggled in I shd think.[34] It is odiously disagreeable.
We shall be very anxious for Miss Martineau.[35] I thought Mrs Hemans was a sort of woman like Miss Landon & that one wd not like her.[36] Uncle John[37] goes to Monmouthshire on a canal meeting expedition tomorrow.
It will be very pleasant for Harry[38] finding Jessie so well when he comes home & the baby grown quite tidy. Caroline desires her best love to you. Snow[39] had no business to get a cough last week it was so very pleasant. I took to gardening at a great rate. I think one enjoys being alive more in that sort of late autumn fine weather than at any other time of the year. Goodbye my dear F. I hope Hensleigh[40] will get some holidays. Mamma is beginning to enquire when we may expect the Hensleighs—[41]
People mentioned=
- (Fanny) is Frances (Mackintosh) Wedgwood (abt.1800-1889), wife of Hensleigh Wedgwood (1803-1891); Hensleigh was Emma's brother and thus Fanny was Emma's sister-in-law.
- Jessie Wedgwood (1804-1872), baby Caroline's mother, first cousin of her husband and nee Wedgwood
- Caroline Elizabeth Wedgwood (bef.1836-1916), the baby
- Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood (1795-1856) Eliza, sister of jessie, baby Caroline's aunt
...
- Josiah Wedgwood (1795-1880) dined at Whitmore with Jos. Emma's brother.
References
- ↑ 1: The date is established by the postmark; the Monday before 26 October was 24 October. A summary extract from this letter was published in Correspondence vol. 1
- ↑ 2: Jessie Wedgwood was Emma’s cousin and sister-in-law; her new baby was Caroline Elizabeth Wedgwood.
- ↑ 3: Caroline Darwin.
- ↑ 4: Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood (1795–1857).
- ↑ 5: Neither Hannah nor Bessy has been identified
- ↑ 6: Jessie Wedgwood’s brother Thomas Josiah Wedgwood married Anna Maria Tyler. Sir Charles Grandison is the eponymous hero of a novel by Samuel Richardson (S. Richardson 1753). Emma’s maternal relations, the Allens, were from Cresselly, Pembrokeshire, about ten miles south-east of Boulston
- ↑ 7: James Mackintosh Wedgwood.
- ↑ 8: Following the Beagle’s return to England at the beginning of October, CD had announced his intention of visiting the Wedgwoods at Maer (see Correspondence vol. 1, letter to Josiah Wedgwood II, [5 October 1836])
- ↑ 9: Charles and Charlotte Langton.
- ↑ 10: Head 1826. (F. Head’s "gallop" Rapid journeys across the Pampas (1826)) author Head, Francis Bond, Sir, 1793-1875
- ↑ 11: Hensleigh Wedgwood
- ↑ 12: 2 [Malet] 1836. (Violet, or The danseuse : a portraiture of human passions and character : in two volumes by Malet, Marian Dora, Lady)
- ↑ 13: Emma Allen. Neither Penelope nor John Jones has been identified. A cholera epidemic had spread through Italy having first been detected at the port of Genoa and in Turin in November 1835 (Snodgrass 2017)
- ↑ 14: Louisa Strachan
- ↑ 15: Henry Allen Wedgwood, and possibly Edward Vaughan Williams, who had been Wedgwood’s contemporary at Cambridge University
- ↑ 16: Louisa Frances Wedgwood.
- ↑ 17: CD’s brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin, lived in London.
- ↑ 18: Possibly Emma’s sister Elizabeth Wedgwood (1793–1880)
- ↑ 19: George Richmond; Fanny’s children were Frances Julia Wedgwood (b. 1833), and James Mackintosh Wedgwood
- ↑ 20: Godfrey Wedgwood.
- ↑
Marriage:
"Pembrokeshire, Wales, Anglican Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1599-1995"
Archives Wales; Wales; Pembrokeshire Baptisms, Marriages and Burials
Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 62109 #330056 (accessed 5 November 2023)
Anne Maria Tyler marriage to Thomas Josiah Wedgewood on 13 Oct 1836 in Boulston, Pembrokeshire, Wales. - ↑ The Glamorgan Monmouth and Brecon Gazette and Merthyr Guardian 22nd October 1836 page 3 retrieved through the National Library of Wales Welsh Newspapers
- ↑ 1: The date is established by the postmark; the Friday before 31 October was 28 October. A summary extract of this letter was published in Correspondence vol. 1.
- ↑ 2: Jessie Wedgwood and Caroline Elizabeth Wedgwood. See this volume, Supplement, letter from Emma Wedgwood to F. E. E. Wedgwood, [24 October 1836]
- ↑ 3: Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood (1795–1857).
- ↑ 4: See letter from Emma Wedgwood to F. E. E. Wedgwood, [24 October 1836]. Emma refers to Caroline Darwin, Elizabeth Wedgwood (1793–1880), and Louisa Frances Wedgwood. Mr Clarke has not been identified.
- ↑ 5: Wet nurses were often the mothers of illegitimate babies (Fildes 1988, pp. 191–2)
- ↑ 6: Fanny may have passed on news of her own pregnancy: her son Ernest Hensleigh Wedgwood was born on 17 June 1837 (Alum. Cantab.).
- ↑ 7: Charles and Charlotte Langton.
- ↑ 8: CD (see this volume, Supplement, letter from Emma Wedgwood to F. E. E. Wedgwood, [24 October 1836] and n. 8).
- ↑ 9: Whitmore Hall near Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, was about four miles from the Wedgwood family home at Maer. It was owned by Sarah Mainwaring. Emma was accompanied by her brother Josiah Wedgwood III. The other guests were Fanny Northen, possibly Edward Pellew Mainwaring, William Augustus Johnson, and Lucy Johnson. Miss Mainwaring was probably Edward’s sister, Sophia Henrietta Mainwaring; their father, Captain Rowland Mainwaring, heir to the estate, was away in Germany (Cavenagh-Mainwaring [1934], pp. 110–11). The companion, Miss Chawner, has not been further identified. Masaniello, the name given in Britain to the grand opera ‘La Muette de Portici’, after its central character, was first performed in Paris in 1828 and then at Drury Lane, London, in 1829; almost immediately, trios based on music from the opera (some arranged for piano, harp, and flute) were published in London (Grove 2002; Fuhrmann 2015, p. 235; Harmonium: A monthly journal of music, no. 18, June 1829, Advertisements). Captain Mainwaring played the flute; see this volume, Supplement, letter from Emma Wedgwood to F. E. E. Wedgwood, [17 December 1836]. Emma also mentions Ellen Cotton Northen.
- ↑ 10: 0 Charlotte and Charles Langton.
- ↑ 11: Allen Wedgwood. John Edward Mosley and his wife, Caroline Sophia Mosley, were presumably visiting J. E. Mosley’s sister, Frances Mosley Wedgwood, and her husband, Francis Wedgwood, partner in the Etruria pottery works.
- ↑ 12: For Fanny Trollope’s discussion of slavery, see, for example, Trollope 1832, 1: 257–8.
- ↑ 13: Harriet Martineau.
- ↑ 14: Felicia Dorothea Hemans and Letitia Elizabeth Landon.
- ↑ 15: John Wedgwood.
- ↑ 16: Henry Allen Wedgwood.
- ↑ 17: Frances Julia Wedgwood.
- ↑ 18: Hensleigh Wedgwood.
- ↑ 19: Elizabeth Wedgwood (1764–1846). The ‘Hensleighs’ were Frances Emma Elizabeth Wedgwood and her husband, Hensleigh Wedgwood.
Research notes
See Darwin Correspondence Project https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-316.xml for letter and annotations
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