BIB_ID
421401
Accession number
MA 1352.589
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1849 November 6.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 18.2 x 11.7 cm
Notes
Written from "Devonshire Terrace."
The letter is part of a collection, MA 1352, which consists of letters from Charles Dickens to the Baroness, to her companion Hannah (Meredith) Brown, or the latter's husband, William Brown; with 70 letters written by others to Miss Coutts or to Dickens in his capacity as her unofficial almoner; and a few others. See the collection-level record for more information.
The letter is part of a collection, MA 1352, which consists of letters from Charles Dickens to the Baroness, to her companion Hannah (Meredith) Brown, or the latter's husband, William Brown; with 70 letters written by others to Miss Coutts or to Dickens in his capacity as her unofficial almoner; and a few others. See the collection-level record for more information.
Provenance
The letters formed part of the Burdett-Coutts sale (Sotheby, 17 May 1922); they were purchased for Oliver W. Barrett in whose collection they remained until it was sold by his son (Parke-Bernet, 31 October 1951).
Summary
Informing him about a Committee meeting that day at Urania Cottage, which had been attended by Chesterton, Illingworth, Tennant, and himself; saying that he had acquainted them with the contents of the Bishop of Adelaide's (Right Reverend Augustus Short) letter regarding the women from Urania Cottage who had just arrived in Australia; adding the letter made an impression on all of them, as it had on him, of "heavy disappointment and great vexation;" saying that one of the residents, Isabella Gordon, was attempting to stir up antipathy towards Mrs. Morson and Mrs. Macartney and they heard her complaints: "We investigated them with the utmost care, confronted her with Mrs. Morson, and were convinced that her whole story was utterly false and malicious. We ordered her to her room while we considered the subject, and she danced upstairs before Mrs. Morson, holding her skirts like a lady at a ball;" adding that they conferred, decided that the authority of the Home had to be upheld, and dismissed her; saying that they also confronted Hannah Myers, who appeared to be in league with Isabella Gordon, and threatened her with dismissal; describing a third resident named Sesina, the problems they are having with her ("I never saw such a draggled piece of fringe upon the skirts of all that is bad"), and how they handled the matter; recounting in detail the departure of Isabella Gordon and the impression it made on the rest of the inhabitants; sending his best remembrances to Mrs. Brown and Miss Coutts, and asking him to convey the contents of the letter to the latter; commenting on the activities of the Legitimist party in France.
Catalog link
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