BIB_ID
186423
Accession number
MA 14347
Creator
Leven, David Leslie-Melville, Earl of, 1785-1860, sender.
Display Date
Fife, Scotland, 1848 or 1849
Credit line
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 18.4 x 11.4 cm
Notes
To "My dear Austen"; probably Rear Admiral Charles Austen (1779-1852), a longtime friend and associate of Lord Leven.
Written from "Melville House", the seat of the Melville family located in Fife, Scotland.
Written on paper watermarked "1848"; references to the writer's two sons identifying their ages as "17" and "12" at the time of writing suggest that the letter was written at the end of 1848 or possible the first days of 1849, as his eldest son, Alexander Leslie-Melville, was born November 19, 1831, and his younger son, David Archibald, on January 11, 1836.
Written from "Melville House", the seat of the Melville family located in Fife, Scotland.
Written on paper watermarked "1848"; references to the writer's two sons identifying their ages as "17" and "12" at the time of writing suggest that the letter was written at the end of 1848 or possible the first days of 1849, as his eldest son, Alexander Leslie-Melville, was born November 19, 1831, and his younger son, David Archibald, on January 11, 1836.
Provenance
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
Summary
Expressing his thanks to God for his "almost wonderful recovery, after a most dangerous illness", but stating that his progress has been slow and that he has been confined to his bed and "obliged to make use of the pen of my eldest boy"; writing that, like the recipient, he has all his family collected about him, including his two sons, the eldest of whom is 17, has left Eton, and plans to go into the army, and the younger boy of 12 who plans to be a lawyer, as well as his four daughters "all unmarried ... and all great sources of happiness to me in this illness."; noting that his medical attendants have urged to relocate to the South West of England in the Spring and that he intends to make some improvements to Melville House, but does not regard it as necessary to "make so long a journey", and stating that he intends to move instead to Kingsdale near Leven and the sea, where he would be happy to host the recipient and his family; remarking in conclusion on "What a fearful year of events the last has been on the Continent, and how satisfactory it is that in spite of Chartists, Radicals, etc. we have carried through so peacably and happily here."
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