BIB_ID
428245
Accession number
MA 14286.8
Creator
Knox, Maria, 1795-1822, sender.
Display Date
Nasirabad, India, 1820 October 20.
Credit line
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
Description
1 item (6 pages) ; 25.1 x 20.3 cm
Notes
Address panel with remains of seal: Outside the Dawk / Mrs. Butler / on her march to / [illegible] or / Biana.
Biana refers to the town of Bayana, Bharatpur District, Rajasthan, India.
"Alderman Woods" was Sir Matthew Wood, first baronet (1768-1843). He was a Whig politician who served first as Lord Mayor of London, and later as the Member of Parliament for the city. He was one of Caroline's strongest supporters, and she stayed in his home when she returned to England to claim her title. See Anita McConnell, "Wood, Sir Matthew, first baronet," in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Caroline of Brunswick was the wife of King George IV. The two were estranged for nearly their entire 25 years of marriage. When George IV ascended to the throne, he attempted to divorce Caroline in order to prevent her from becoming Queen. He accused her of adultery, and had the Bill of Pains and Penalties introduced in Parliament to allow a divorce. The hearings for the bill became a de facto trial of Caroline for adultery. A massive public controversy accompanied the hearings. See Jonathan Fulcher, "Queen Caroline Affair," in The Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age, edited by Ian McCalman et al. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
Forms part of a collection (MA 14286.1-66) of letters written by Maria Knox to her mother, Mrs. Harriet Butler.
Biana refers to the town of Bayana, Bharatpur District, Rajasthan, India.
"Alderman Woods" was Sir Matthew Wood, first baronet (1768-1843). He was a Whig politician who served first as Lord Mayor of London, and later as the Member of Parliament for the city. He was one of Caroline's strongest supporters, and she stayed in his home when she returned to England to claim her title. See Anita McConnell, "Wood, Sir Matthew, first baronet," in The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Caroline of Brunswick was the wife of King George IV. The two were estranged for nearly their entire 25 years of marriage. When George IV ascended to the throne, he attempted to divorce Caroline in order to prevent her from becoming Queen. He accused her of adultery, and had the Bill of Pains and Penalties introduced in Parliament to allow a divorce. The hearings for the bill became a de facto trial of Caroline for adultery. A massive public controversy accompanied the hearings. See Jonathan Fulcher, "Queen Caroline Affair," in The Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age, edited by Ian McCalman et al. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).
Forms part of a collection (MA 14286.1-66) of letters written by Maria Knox to her mother, Mrs. Harriet Butler.
Provenance
Bequest of Gordon N. Ray, 1987.
Summary
Mrs. Butler on her way to Calcutta, having left the Knox's a week earlier. Writing that she misses her mother. Recommending the book "Tales of Fancy" by Sarah Harriet Burnley. Writing that she suffered from headaches, but is "quite well now." Asking her mother to "never make yourself uneasy at these little attacks." Commenting on the delayed news from England that Caroline of Brunswick had arrived in England to claim her crown in June. Remarking, "the wretches would not prepare a habitation for her. She is obliged to go to Alderman Woods - how ridiculous and how shameful the Queen of England without a home and indebted to it to one of her own Subjects." Reporting other news and gossip to entertain her mother on her trip to Calcutta. Reporting that Mr. Halliday, has "got himself into a serious dilemma" because he "attacked the whole Medical practice of Calcutta and endeavoured to insinuate that Dr. Russell was very inattentive to the Hospital."
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