MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF GEORGE III

Memoirs of the Court of George III Volume 2.indd i 13/01/2015 12:26:10 Contents of the Edition

volume 1 General Introduction Th e Memoirs of Charlotte Papendiek (1765–1840) Index

volume 2 Mary Delany (1700–1788) and the Court of King George III Index volume 3 Th e Diary of Lucy Kennedy (1790–1816) Index volume 4 Th e Diary of Queen Charlotte, 1789 and 1794 Index

Memoirs of the Court of George III Volume 2.indd ii 13/01/2015 12:26:10 MEMOIRS OF THE COURT OF GEORGE III

General Editor Michael Kassler

Volume 2 Mary Delany (1700–1788) and the Court of King George III

Edited by Alain Kerhervé

Memoirs of the Court of George III Volume 2.indd iii 13/01/2015 12:26:10 First published 2015 by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited

Published 2016 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

Copyright © Taylor & Francis 2015 Copyright © Editorial material Alain Kerhervé 2015

To the best of the Publisher’s knowledge every eff ort has been made to contact relevant copyright holders and to clear any relevant copyright issues. Any omissions that come to their attention will be remedied in future editions.

All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

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british library cataloguing in publication data Memoirs of the court of George III. 1. Great Britain – History – George III, 1760–1820 – Sources. 2. Great Britain – Court and courtiers – History – 18th century – Sources. 3. Great Britain – Court and courtiers – History – 19th century – Sources. 4. Papendieck, Charlotte. 5. Delany, Mary – Correspond­ ence. 6. Kennedy, Lucy – Diaries. 7. Charlotte, Queen, consort of George III, King of Great Britain, 1744–1818 – Diaries. I. Kassler, Michael, 1941–, editor. II. Clark, Lorna J., editor. III. Kerhervé, Alain, editor. 941'.073-dc23

ISBN-13: 978-1-84893-469-6 (set) Typeset by Pickering & Chatto (Publishers) Limited

Memoirs of the Court of George III Volume 1.indd iv 13/01/2015 12:22:32 CONTENTS

List of Figures vii Acknowledgements ix Introduction xi Bibliography xxxix Editorial Policy xlv Abbreviations xlvii List of Letters xlix

Letters 1

Mary Delany’s Court Diary (1785–6) 285 Mary Delany’s Virtual Library 291 Mary Delany’s Family 305 Mary Delany’s Paintings 307 Index of Persons 311

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Chronological repartition of letters included in the present volume xvii Figure 2: Recipients of Mary Delany’s court letters xviii Figure 3: Origin of the letters sent to Mary Delany xx Figure 4: Mary Delany’s family tree 305

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would fi rst like to express my very sincere thanks to Michael Kassler for solicit­ ing me to take part in this collective work, for his suggestions and for his repeated encouragement. I also want to thank the Pickering & Chatto team (especially Mark Pollard and Frances Lubbe) for supporting the project and completing the present volume. I would also like to thank the staff of several libraries for their invaluable help: Suzanne Fagan at Th e John Rylands Library (Manchester, UK); Ryan Pimm, Community Learning & Library Assistant, at the Newport Reference Library (Wales, UK); Leah Lefk owitz, Library Assistant in the Department of Public Services, Houghton Library, Harvard University (USA); and Anne Marie Menta, reproductions Coordinator in the Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University (USA). Finally, a number of individuals were extremely helpful with annotating one or several letters. Among them, I wish to pass my sincere acknowledgemens to Mrs John Comyn, Th e Cross House, Turnastone, Vowchurch (UK), descendant of Dr. Burney, to Professor Alvaro Ribeiro from Georgetown University Washing­ ton, DC (USA) and to Professor Pierre Degott, Université de Lorraine (France).

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INTRODUCTION

Commonly remembered and celebrated nowadays for her fl ower collages, Mary Delany’s fame grew in the eighteenth century. Several poems, by Char­ lotte Walsingham, George Keate and Erasmus Darwin, were dedicated to her.1 George Ballard insisted on dedicating his Th ird Century of Illustrious Women (1752) to her,2 Horace Walpole wrote about her in his Anecdotes on Painting (Llanover 6, p. 416), Hannah More in ‘Sensibility’.3 She was adored by Frances Burney whose diaries and letters are fi lled with references to her4 and who lav­ ished repeated praise on her ‘very dear friend’ (Burney, DL 2: 224): ‘Th e purity and excellence of her character have risen upon me in every circumstance and in every sentiment that has come to my knowledge’; ‘What character is Mrs Delany’s! – how noble throughout! – how great upon great occasions! – how sweet, how touching, how interesting upon all. Oh, what should I do without her here?’5 Edmund Burke also wrote:

She was not only the woman of fashion of the present age, but she was the highest bred woman in the world, and the woman of fashion of all ages; she was high-bred, great in every instance, and would continue fashionable in all ages.6

To Edward Young, she was also a sociable character: ‘As long as the prime Vir­ tues, Decencys, & Elegancies, & Arts of Life preserve their due Estimation in the World by No One who ever had once the Happiness of knowing her, will she ever be forgot’.7 Th ose laudative statements concern a woman who also created a new art form, celebrated in Ruth Hayden and Molly Peacock’s critical studies,8 and whose letters provide numerous elements of information on Ireland and on menus, medicines and manners in eighteenth-century England as highlighted in Angélique Day’s and Katherine Cahill’s works.9 However, she was also a Wind­ sor resident at the time of George III whose letters provide interesting insights into the court at the time, as the present volume shows.10

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Mary Delany’s Life and Works Much has already been written on Mary Delany’s life. In the eighteenth cen­ tury, her second husband, Patrick Delany, wrote a short biography of his wife11 and Frances Burney later expressed her intention of writing her biography in 1786.12 Several biographical notes were published from the nineteenth century onwards: a ‘sketch’, written by the fi rst editor of some of Mary Delany’s letters in 1820,13 and a full book by Simon Dewes in 1940.14 Moreover, most academic essays on Mary Delany – by Austin Dobson, Gertrude Townshend Mayer and George Paston – mainly focus on the events of her life.15 Two manuscripts still remain unpublished: a full text by John Ballinger;16 held in the archives of the National Library of Wales, and a consistent set of notes gathered to prepare a biography, held by the Butler Library of Columbia University (New York).17 Finally, a few dictionaries contain an entry for Mary Delany.18 Considering the caution with which some of those detailed accounts must be taken, as well as the degree of subjectivity contained in Mary Delany’s Auto­ biography or in the writings of her contemporaries, the present approach will introduce the main periods of her life and establish her links with the successive sovereigns, using her correspondence. Th e main stages of Mary Delany’s life can be associated with her periods of married life and two widowhoods: born Gran­ ville in 1700, she bore the name of her fi rst husband, Pendarves, from 1717 until she remarried in 1743 and then bore the name of her second husband, Patrick Delany, aft er being nineteen years a widow. She was a widow again for twenty years before her death in 1788. Mary Granville was born in 170019 at Coulston in Wiltshire. From the age of six, she was educated by a French governess. She then left her ‘good and kind mistress’ (Llanover 1, p. 2) to go and live at Whitehall with her uncle and aunt Stanley, a former Maid of Honour to Queen Mary. She was barely ten when she met Georg Friedrich Handel for the fi rst time. He performed on her harpsichord and she promised to equal him one day. When the Stuart Queen Anne died in 1714, Mary’s father had to renounce his Chelsea residence and fi nd shelter near Broadway in Gloucestershire with his wife and two daughters, Mary and Anne (born in 1707). It was a sad blow to the teenager, who being taken away from the beau monde, the London fashionable world of theatres, operas and court,20 lost her hopes of being a handmaiden to the queen or one of the princesses. She consoled herself with exchanging letters with her new friend Sally Kirkham and fell in love with Mr Twyford, alias Roberto, a 22-year-old man who proposed to her but died of grief after his own parents’ refusal. At the end of the year 1716, Mary Granville accompanied her uncle and aunt Lansdowne to Bath and win­ tered with them. She was pleased to gain new access to the fashionable world and enjoyed intellectual complicity with her uncle.

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However, in 1717,21 Lord Lansdowne almost betrayed her confi dence by intro­ ducing his sixty-year-old, beefy and gouty friend Alexander Pendarves to the young girl, whom she dared not refuse for fear of displeasing her parents and relatives. Th e Pendarves moved to their Roscrow castle, in Cornwall, where Alexander proved to be very gentle and respectful. She decorated the place and invited relatives to stay with her. In 1720, the couple settled in London: when Mary Pendarves did not spend her days looking after the old man crippled with gout, she saw him come home early in the morning aft er a whole night out. In 1722, they moved to a shabby house in Windsor, where she was courted by several suitors and where eff orts were made by friends to ensure that she meet the king (Autobiography, letter 11). Th ey moved back to Soho in 1723 aft er the death of her father. Alexander Pendarves died in 1724. Aft er her husband’s death, Mary Pendarves stayed away from London, spending time with her mother during the summer, and also at the Stanleys’. Deceived by Lord Baltimore whom she thought to be the most trustworthy of her suitors but who married another woman, she could be satisfi ed neither with her sojourns at Northend and Tunbridge, nor with occasional visits at court. Although she shared a London house with her friend Sylvia Donnellan and was on friendly terms with the Wellesleys at whose place she met William Hogarth, she is reported to have sailed for the Cape of Good Hope in June 1730.22 John Wesley courted her by means of letters between 1730 and 1731, which must have added to her need to go abroad, hence her voyage to Ireland from September 1731 onwards. With her friends the Claytons and Sylvia Donnellan, she travelled from Dublin and Killala, during a year and a half, and became interested in shell- work, decorating grottoes. She was also a regular visitor at the Dublin court and repeatedly encountered Jonathan Swift , at whose place she met Patrick Delany. In the course of the next three years,23 back in England, she corresponded with Jonathan Swift , lost her uncle and aunt Lansdowne and her brother Bevil, and became more and more intimate with Margaret Cavendish Bentinck, the Duch­ ess of Portland. In 1740, her sister Anne married John Dewes and had a child, which occupied her more than her attraction to the court. In the autumn of 1742, Mary’s friend Patrick Delany, recently widowed, proposed to her. Th ey married on 9 June 1743. Th e happy couple moved to Ireland in June 1744, soon aft er learning the appointment of Patrick Delany as Dean of Down. Th ey lived in their Dublin residence – Delville – and near Downpatrick at Mount Panther. Mary Delany enjoyed being the mistress of Delville, went to the Dublin court in Irish clothes and accompanied her husband in his office. From 1744 till 1753, they occa­ sionally travelled to England, at the time of her mother’s death in 1747, and in 1749–50. In 1754, the dean off ered his wife a house at Spring Gardens and they spent the next three years there, because of her husband’s declining health,

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but also because it enabled her to make frequent visits to the court of George II. She exchanged several letters with Samuel Richardson at that time. Th e couple visited Bath to cure Patrick Delany’s rheumatism. Th ey also spent several months at Bulstrode, with the Portlands. Th ey were back to Ireland again from 1758 till 1767, one year before Patrick Delany decided to come to England for a fi nal time, where he died in May 1768. Aft er her husband’s death, Mary Delany settled in London, and was surrounded by her family: her sister Anne Dewes and her children, among whom Mary mar­ ried John Port in 1770. Th eir daughter Georgina Mary Anna repeatedly stayed at her aunt’s place in the years that followed. She also became reconciled with her brother Bernard Granville before he died in 1775. From 1768 till 1785, she sent several months annually at the Duchess of Portland’s where she met famous musicians, authors and botanists, read, drew, painted and started her Flora Delanica, a huge collection of fl ower collages commenced in the summer of 1776. At that time, she repeatedly met King George III and Queen Charlotte with the Duchess of Portland. Soon aft er her friend’s death in 1785, she was off ered a pension by King George III and an apartment at court, where she lived from 1785 till 1787, only occasionally returning to her house near Saint James’s Place. She met the royal family on a daily basis, and introduced Frances Burney to the queen. She died in April 1788, at the age of eighty-eight.

Sources Th e present selection of letters is mainly edited from manuscripts held in vari­ ous archival centres. Previous editions were sourced in cases where certain letters could no longer be located. Th e manuscript sources are located in several diff erent places. Th e Lewis Wal­ pole Library, with sixty-one letters transcribed from the manuscripts, constitutes the main archival source of the present edition. Several other north-American archival centres provided a few additional letters: Yale University Library (sev­ enteen letters), the Houghton Library at Harvard (two letters) and the New York Public Library (one item). Although the Newport Reference Library in Wales24 constitutes the main archival centre for Mary Delany’s correspondence, with ten volumes of manuscript letters, classifi ed ever since 1998, containing a total of 372 manuscript letters or fragments written by Mary Delany, only four of them were used in the present edition. In England, some letters are conserved at the Bodleian Library, Oxford (nine items), in the John Rylands Library of the University of Manchester (fi ve letters), in the Royal Archives, Windsor (one let­ ter), in the British Library (one item) and in a private collection owned by the late John Comyn (1 letter).25 Th e National Library of Wales, in Aberystwyth, also holds Mary Delany’s will.

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Th e formats of the manuscript letters present a number of variations. Th e most frequent size of the letters is 22 cm (8.6 in) x 38 cm (15 in). Th e use of the sheet diff ers considerably, even if the main trend is to cover the whole sheet of paper with words.26 Judging from the mass of letters held in Newport and a number of fragments of incomplete letters,27 the average length of Mary Delany’s message is two sheets of folded paper or eight pages. Her handwriting being extremely regular, it consisted of twenty lines per page. On average, her letters were 160 lines long.28 In the present volume, they amount to about 350 words per letter, some of them being short messages, since towards the end of her life, the length of Mary Delany’s letters was reduced.29 A number of letters comprise abbreviations of all types, although they were strongly advised against in the letter-writing manuals of the century.30 Th ey can easily be transcribed when they replace possessive adjectives – ‘yr’ used for ‘your’ – articles – ‘the’ abridged ‘ye’ or conjunctions ‘wth’ for ‘with’ or ‘wm’ for ‘whom’. It is occasionally more diffi cult to be very certain of the family name implied when only the fi rst letter of the name or of the nickname is capitalized,31 while the recipient of the message must have known whom the writer meant. Th e abbreviations were developed in the present volume (see the ‘Editorial Policy’ section for more information). Some of the wax seals used at the time have been carefully preserved at the New­ port Reference Library and are in good condition.32 Th ey are rarely mentioned in the content of the letters33 and yet also bear some messages of their own. If it is diffi cult to draw conclusions from the reduced number of seals attached to the letters of the Duchess of Portland,34 or the Countess Gower,35 it is more obvious in the case of Mary Delany who, aft er using four diff erent seals from the begin­ ning of her correspondence to 1769, only resorted to a large36 black wax seal in the next two years, with her initials M and D intertwined, aft er the death of her second husband, and then turned back to red wax again.37 While she had always used family seals or the seals of friends, such as the Duchess of Portland’s when staying at their places,38 from the age of sixty-nine, Mary Delany got her own personal seal with which she could mark her letters. Th e present edition also relies on a number of published letters, the originals of which can no longer be located. While the fi rst edition of a few letters writ­ ten by Mary Delany in Jonathan Swift ’s correspondence does not correspond to the present volume, the second edition of Mary Delany’s letters, in 1820, was entitled Letters From Mrs. Delany (Widow Of Doctor Patrick Delany,) To Mrs. Frances Hamilton: From Th e Year 1779, To Th e Year 1788; Comprising Many Unpublished And Interesting Anecdotes Of Th eir Late Majesties And Th e Royal Family and it does correspond to the period envisaged by the present volume. None of the originals of the letters contained in those two editions seem to have been preserved: twenty-one of them were edited in the present volume.39

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Th e 1861–2 edition of Mary Delany’s correspondence, Th e Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville Mrs Delany, with Interesting Reminiscences of King George III and Queen Charlotte, by Augusta Hall, Lady Llanover,40 is the only attempt at a general edition of her correspondence. Released in six volumes (series 1 and 2) in 1861 and 1862, it is still an essential source for the study of Mary Delany’s writings, all the more so as several hundreds of the letters it con­ tains cannot be located in archives. A hundred and one letters from the present edition had to be taken from that source. However, one must keep in mind that it was established with nineteenth-century editorial principles which no longer satisfy contemporary standards: certain letters were left out, probably because they were too short, too repetitive in content or too informative on the family and ancestors of persons living at the time of the publication. When the auto­ graph letters can be spotted (as with letter 79 in this volume), one notices that parts were oft en cut out, new paragraphs indented, the punctuation changed, several punctuation marks, link words, inverted comas and italics added.41 Th e present selection of the letters is composed of 112 units written by Mary Delany, 64 letters which were sent to her from 1776 until 1788, and 40 letters which were exchanged by her close relatives and friends, occasionally acting as secretaries to the aging woman, who encountered more and more diffi culty writ­ ing and reading in her later years. At the time, Mary Delany exchanged a number of other letters with her relatives, and the Duchess of Portland in particular, which were omitted since their contents does not provide any information or establish any link with either the royal family and household or with the Court of George III.

Chronology Th e chart below shows the annual number of letters dealing with the court of George III from 1776 until 1788. It diff erentiates the letters written by and to Mary Delany as well as the other letters included in the present volume.

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Figure 1: Chronological repartition of the letters included in the present volume.

Chronologically, the letters can be divided into two main collections: the fi rst one corresponds to letters 1 to 102, written from 1776 to September 178542 which were written before Mary Delany was off ered an apartment at court and allow us to understand how she came into contact with the king and queen, through several exchanges with members of the household and meetings with the royal family, prior to her living at court. Th e second set of epistles, letters 103 to 230, written between 1785 and 1788, the year of Mary Delany’s death, were written while she was living in Windsor and had direct, daily access to and contact with the royal family. Th at turning point in the chronology can hardly be dissociated from the death of Margaret Cavendish-Bentinck, Duchess of Portland, who was Mary Delany’s closest friend at that time and had facilitated her coming into contact with court circles and with the royal family, who had met Mary Delany several times while she was staying at Bulstrode, the Portlands’ estate. Indeed, what were to become of Mary Delany’s connections with the royal family at her friend’s death? As sev­ eral letters explain, the royal family immediately reacted to the information by off ering Mary Delany an apartment and a pension.43 William Henry Cavendish­ Bentinck’s aff ection for Mary Delany, in whom he said ‘ever he should see his mother’, 44 may have prompted or confi rmed the king’s decision, since he had served as First Lord of the Treasury.45 Th e attention which both the queen and

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the king showed towards her on that particular occasion is particularly amazing to read: the king is described as the ‘overseer’ of the workmen decorating the house (letter 99); since some delay is necessary, the queen off ers Mary Delany an apartment within Windsor Castle (letter 99). Th e royal couple worry about the minutest detail: the king lets Mary Delany know that she only needs ‘to bring [herself ], niece, clothes, and attendants, as stores of every kind would be laid in for [her]’ (letter 101); the queen writes her a letter to announce that ‘the house [is] ready, excepting some little trifl es which it will be better for Mrs. Delany to direct herself in person’ (letters 102, 106). Th e queen’s visit on the fi rst morning confi rms the kindness and attention of the royal couple: while the queen shares Mary Delany’s mourning and insists on her being on friendly terms with the king and herself, she brings a paper containing part of the king’s £300 annual pension off ered to the old widow. Although very little remains of Mary Delany’s diary, which has been edited from the manuscript held in Lewis Walpole Library and reordered from previous attempts (see p. 285), the extant manuscript also testifi es to the closeness of the links between the royal couple and Mary Delany: George III and Queen Char­ lotte were regular visitors to the house they provided for Mary Delany near the Queen’s Lodge at Windsor.

A Network of Correspondents Th e graph below presents the main recipients of Mary Delany’s letters.

Figure 2: Recipients of Mary Delany’s court letters.

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Two thirds of her letters about the court of George III are directed to the Ham­ ilton family (including Henry II); half to Mary Hamilton, who served as third lady to help the young princesses of King George III and Queen Charlotte from June 1777 until November 1782 and thus provided Mary Delany with direct information on the daily life of the royal family;46 and several others to her mother Frances Hamilton. Before the death of the Duchess of Portland, Mary and Frances Hamilton were Mary Delany’s closest contact with the royal house­ hold. Th e two women became friends and the frequency of their exchanges was reinforced by the fact that Mary Hamilton married, which was the occasion of several letters. Th e second group of correspondents is Mary Delany’s family, mainly her neph­ ews, nieces and great-niece, to whom she sent fi rst-hand information about the royal family. Her great-niece, Georgina Mary Anna Port,47 lived with her when she was at court and is mentioned in most of her letters addressed to and received from Mary Delany’s correspondents at the time. King George III and Queen Charlotte mention her when they write to Mary Delany to tell her that her apartment would be ready soon, calling her Mary Delany’s ‘little deputy, Miss Port’ (letter 102). Not only did the old courtier tell her relatives of her contacts with the royals, but she also introduced her great-niece to the royal household, as she explains in letter 106: ‘Th ey are very condescending in their notice of my niece, and think her a fi ne girl’. Th e Sandfords were long-time friends of the Delanys, since Daniel Sandford, who was later to become Bishop of Edinburgh, was born in Delville, the Delany estate in Dublin. He was the son of Sarah Chapone, writer, friend of George Ballard and correspondent of Samuel Richardson.48 Mary Delany carried on exchanging letters with him and his wife until her death. Francis North (1704– 90) was another of Mary Delany’s main correspondents. Appointed by George II as a Gentleman of the Bedchamber to Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1730, he then served as governor to Prince George and Prince Edward from 1750. In September 1763, Grenville’s proposal that Guilford should succeed Bute as lord privy seal was rejected by George III, who considered that ‘it was not of suffi cient rank for him. Ten years later, at the age of sixty-nine, he was appointed treasurer to Queen Charlotte. He was an intimate personal friend of George III and Queen Charlotte and the father of Prime Minister Lord North (1767–82).49

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Figure 3: Origin of the letters sent to Mary Delany.

Th e letters sent to Mary Delany originate from the royal couple with four let­ ters from Queen Charlotte, two from the king, which makes it interesting to show the friendliness with which they could address an old lady. Th e rest of her correspondents concerned with court matters include a number of aristocrats, such as the Countess of Bute,50 the Countess of Stamford,51 the Viscountess Weymouth52 and Lord Guilford. Th e four of them were closely related to Mary Delany’s friend, the Duchess of Portland, two being her daughters. She also received letters from a third group of people, whose fi rst concerns were much more literary and artistic than anything else: Frances Boscawen, William Gilpin, Hester Chapone in particular, but also Mary Hamilton (later Dickenson) who from 1783 enjoyed the company of a circle of literary and artistic friends who came to her 27 Clarges Street residence. While Mary Delany’s correspondents almost exclusively write from their main places of residence, Mary Delany’s letters were written (either by her or by Mrs Astley, by Georgina and by Court Dewes acting as her secretaries) and sent from three origins: Bulstrode, the Portland estate (thirty-three letters), her house in Saint James’s Place (forty-six letters) and her residence at Windsor (thirty-seven letters),53 after it was off ered to her by the royal couple.

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Th e Vision of the Court Th e letters illustrate the way the private and public spheres merged at the court of King George III and Queen Charlotte. Th e proximity of such benevolent observers as Mary Delany illustrates the obvious shift of allegiance from the public persona of the king to the family, the blurring of boundaries between the private or personal and the public or political.54 Mary Delany knew the royal family very well. Aft er several years at Bullstrode, she had become fully aware of the identity of all the members of the family and of the persons surrounding them. As a result, her letters very oft en begin with a description of the persons present, occasionally mentioning the absent ones as well. Th ere may have been a double interest in doing so. It must have been interesting for her young relatives to learn the names and identities of the royal household, to know them better through the eyes of their aunt (or great-aunt). On the other hand, Mary Delany was also involved in a process of self-valori­ zation; her letters showed that she was acquainted with everyone and that she knew the members of the entourage rather well. Before she settled at Windsor, Mary Delany paid particular attention to the way the royal family was dressed, and described it rather extensively in a few letters, paying attention both to the colours and material of their outfi ts.

Th e Queen was dressed in an embroidered lutestring; Princess Royal in deep orange or scarlet, I could not by candlelight distinguish which; Princess Augusta in pink; Princess Elizabeth in blue. Th ese were all in robes without aprons. Princess Mary (a most sweet child) was in cherry-coloured tabby, with silver leading strings; she is about four years old. (letter 8)

Mary Delany identifi es the bright colours (orange, pink, blue, cherry) of the attires, paying all the more attention to the embroidery as she had been an expert at needlework herself for years, not only making her own court dress but also aprons which were purely decorative at the time,55 even though sometimes not worn, as she notes above. Th ose distinctive outfi ts were commonly reserved for special occasions, while a great sense of harmony prevailed in more common activities:

Th e company were, the King and Queen, Princess Royal, Princess Augusta, Princess Elizabeth, Princess Mary, and Princess Sophia, – a lovely group, all dressed in white muslin polonoises, white chip hats with white feathers, except the Queen, who had on a black hat and cloak; – the King dressed in his Windsor uniform of blue and gold. (letter 56)

At that time, the princesses in fact did not usually dress till dinner but wore the morning gowns described here.56 Several days later, Mary Delany again mentions the way the family is dressed harmoniously: ‘All the royal family were dressed in

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a uniform for the demi-saison, of a violet-blue armozine, gauze aprons, etc. etc.: the Queen had the addition of a great many fi ne pearls’ (letter 56). Th e armoz­ ine, a plain silk used for the dresses of the ladies, and the pearls, which may have been the ones off ered to Queen Charlotte by her husband as a wedding gift , recall a portrait of the queen by Sir Th omas Lawrence.57 Mary Delany’s court letters also show that the life of the royal family was organ­ ized in a systematic way. Part of their daily routine included early prayers at the King’s Chapel, which Mary Delany rarely missed herself. Soon aft er her fi rst arriving at Windsor, in September 1785, she notes: ‘I have been three times at the King’s private chapel at early prayers, eight o’clock, where the royal family constantly attend’ (letter 106); in July 1786, she indicates again: ‘I seldom miss going to early prayers at the King’s chapel, at eight o’clock, where I never fail of seeing Th eir Majesties and all the royal family’ (letter 140). To the religious ritual was added a second one, in which the royal couple made themselves avail­ able for conversation as they walked from Chapel back to their lodgings:

When chapel is over, all the congregation make a line in the great portico till Th eir Majesties have passed; for they always walk to chapel and back again, and speak to every body of consequence as they pass: indeed, it is a delightful sight to see so much beauty, dignity, and condescension, united as they are in the royal family. (letter 140)

Mary Delany highlights the condescension of the king and queen again a year later:

Yesterday morning I ventured to early prayers. I went in my chaise which I don’t do when I am in my best health aft er prayers were over and the King and Queen had with their usual condescencion taken notice of those they passed by, her Majesty took me by the hand and said is my Dear Mrs. Delany well enough to go with us to the Lodge to breakfast, to which you may believe I with pleasure and gratitude consented to. (letter 166)

While admiring the attitude of the royal couple towards other people, Mary Delany shows that she is the object of superior attention from them. Again, in 1786, as she has got into the habit of dining at the Queen’s Lodge with Frances Burney, Mary Delany notes:

We were appointed to dine every day at Miss Burney’s table, at the Lodge, which we did almost every day. It is very magnifi cent, and the society very agreeable: about eight or ten persons, belonging to Th eir Majesties. Coffee was ready about six o’clock, which was immediately after dinner: about seven the King generally walked into the room, addressing every body with the most delightful condescen­ sion, and aft er that, commanded me and Mrs. Smelt to follow him into the Queen’s apartment, where we drank tea, and stayed till near ten o’clock. It is impossible to describe the pleasure and satisfaction such a society bestowed. (letter 189)

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Th e proximity of Mary Delany’s house and the royal lodgings also made it possi­ ble for the queen and king to visit their aged friend as oft en as they wanted. Mary Delany’s diary for the month of January 1786 comprises twelve meetings in twenty-four days.58 In fact, they visited her unannounced, at diff erent moments of the day, sometimes in the morning when they ‘take me as they fi nd me’ (letter 149), at mid-day or at dinner time:

Th e day before I intended to leave Windsor, when Mary Anne and I were set down to our little dinner, one simple dish of veal-collops, without any notice, the Queen walked into the dining-room, and said, I must not be angry with my servant, for she would come in, and that my dinner smelt so well, she would partake of it with me. I was both delighted and confused with the honour conferred upon me. Miss Port very readily resigned her place, and became our attendant. Th e Queen honoured my humble board, not only by partaking of it, (which she did to make me go on with my dinner,) but commended it very much. (letter 219)59

Th us, visiting Mary Delany constituted a frequent entertainment for the royal couple, even if it must have occasionally been disconcerting to the old lady. Considering the frequency of their meetings at court, Mary Delany becomes a regular witness of the royal family’s daily life, which supposes a degree of inti­ macy. Th is can be seen very clearly in some of the scenes she depicts:

I have been several evenings at the Queen’s Lodge, with no other company but their own most lovely family. Th ey sit round a large table, on which are books, work, pencils, and paper. Th e Queen has the goodness to make me sit down next to her; and delights me with her conversation, which is informing, elegant, and pleasing, beyond description, whilst the younger part of the family are drawing and working, etc. etc., the beautiful babe, Princess Amelia, bearing her part in the entertainment; sometimes in one of her sisters’ laps; sometimes playing with the King on the carpet; which, altogether, exhibits such a delightful scene. (letter 118)

Th e passage, the visual dimension of which was at the origin of a painting by the Victorian artist Henrietta Ward (1832–1924),60 echoes two previous descrip­ tions sent to Georgina Mary Ann Port and to Frances Hamilton from Bulstrode:

Th e King carried about in his arms by turns princess Sophia, and the last prince, Octavius; so called being the 8th son. I never saw more lovely children; nor a more pleasing sight than the King’s fondness for them, and the Queen’s; for they seem to have but one mind, and that is to make everything easy and happy, about them. Th e King brought in his arms the little Octavius prince to me, who held out his hand to play with me, which, on my taking the liberty to kiss, his M. made him kiss my cheek. (letter 8)

When the concert of music was over, the young Princess Amelia, nine weeks old, was sent for, and brought in by her nurse and attendants. Th e King took her in his arms, and presented her to the Duchess of Portland and to me. Your aff ectionate heart would have been delighted with the royal domestic scene. (letter 56)

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Mary Delany shows that the king was particularly close to his children, and proud of introducing them himself to his friends. As a close friend, Mary Delany is also alarmed by the various health problems of the royal family. Her letters provide interesting insight into the perception of the diseases, Prince Augustus’s ‘complaint … in the bowels’ (letters 119, 132, 134, 137), which is now known to have been chronic asthma61 or Princess Elizabeth’s hooping cough:

Th e little Princess’s hooping cough continues bad. I think I remember hearing you say ‘I never had it, nor has A.D.’ The poor little Princess takes emeticks every other day, (as Sir George Baker thinks it’s the best thing they can take,) and they have their back bones rubbed with musk. (letter 127)

Beyond the medical references, letters 122–34 express Mary Delany’s concern and sympathy with the illness of the young Princess Elizabeth. Th e most obvious example of Mary Delany’s concern for the king’s health and life concerns the assassination attempt perpetrated by Margaret Nicholson, on 2 August 1786. While the event was profusely commented upon and illustrated in such papers as Th e Times or in pictorial representations printed in the press, such as the Ladies Magazine, for instance,62 Mary Delany’s letters provide an inward look on the dramatic event, as Lord Guilford points out when asking her to tell him about it: ‘I am anxious to hear from you, who I know will have been well informed’ (letter 160), while concerned with what he reads in the press: ‘I was exceedingly shocked to see in my newspaper yesterday an account of a most wicked attempt upon the King’s person’ (letter 160). Yet, Mary Delany’s account was second-hand, as explained in Frances Burney’s diary: ‘She [Mary Delany] had escaped the news at the chapel, but had been told it aft erwards by Lady Spencer, lest it should reach her ears in any worse manner. You may imagine how greatly it shocked her’.63 On the occasion, Lord Guilford and Frances Boscawen both express their worries as much about the king’s reaction to the accident as about the queen’s response when she learned about it. Th eir anxiety is expressed in similar terms:

I have been in care too for Her Most Gracious Majesty; I hope nobody told it to her but the King himself, and then she will not think of this wretched lunatie, so as to give her a moment’s anxiety, for the horrid attempt itself suffi ciently shews (had we ever doubted it), how precious His Majesty’s life is, and how very dear to all his subjects, so that ‘Long live the King’ has been echo’d from every corner of his dominions. His coat of mail is the heart of all those that can approach him, and well might His Majesty say (with that magnanimity that belongs to him), ‘She is a lunatick, do not hurt her’ for no one in their senses could have lift ed a hand but in prayer for his safety.

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I trust therefore, my dear friend, this amazing event has not disturbed your mind, for you see it was the species of frenzy that this wretch is visited with, that could alone occasion an attempt that ends in proving that of all sovereigns, ours may most justly be hailed ‘Le bien aime.’ (letter 158)

Both want to be reassured by Mary Delany since she was closer to the king, how­ ever, no letter answering those queries can be found. Mary Delany was also involved in many of the royal household’s leisure activi­ ties. Since one of the king’s passions was stag-hunting,64 she once accompanied a hunting party, to which she had been invited by the king (letter 36) and which she described thus:

Th e King himself ordered the spot where the Duchess of Portland’s chaise should stand to see the stag turned out. It was brought in a cart to that place by the King’s command. Th e stag was set at liberty, and the poor trembling creature bounded over the plain, in hopes of escaping from his pursuers; but the dogs and the hunters were soon after him, and all out of sight. (letter 39)

While pointing to the organized nature of the party, Mary Delany pities the fate of the animal, to which she anthropomorphically ascribes human feelings, echoing what William Gilpin, one of her correspondents, wrote to his grandson at the same period:

I was much entertained with the story of the poor stag; or rather with your remarks on the cruelty of hunting him, with which I perfectly agree. I have no more obliga­ tion to kill a stag, than to kill an ox, or a sheep, which we want for food. But I would always have it done in the easiest way: to make sport of the suff erings of poor ani­ mals, (which God has given us only for their use,) appears to me to border a little on sinfulness. Hunting may be in itself a very pleasant diversion: I believe it is, because so many are addicted to it; but it is one of those pleasures, which, I think, we ought to deny ourselves.65

Th e king was also a great lover of music, more precisely of Handel’s music, a pas­ sion he shared with Mary Delany. In 1781, they fi rst talk of his music:

His Majesty did me the honour to sit by me. He went backwards and forwards between that and the music-room: he was so gracious as to have a good deal of conversation with me, particularly about Handel’s music; and ordered those pieces to be played which he found I gave a preference to. (letter 39)

Four years later, as Mary Delany attends a family night in the royal lodgings, the king reiterated his attention: ‘In the next room is the band of music, who play from eight o clock till ten. Th e King generally directs them what pieces of music to play, chiefl y Handel’s’ (letter 118). Th e Handel festival or commemoration of 1784 was a series of concerts of Handel’s music given in Westminster Abbey and at the Pantheon Th eatre. Th e

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celebrations organized, at the king’s request, provide another form of commun­ ion between Mary Delany and him:

I cannot enter into a long detail of the commemoration of Handel, performed in Westminster Abbey: the eff ect was wonderful, and I had the courage (having a very easy opportunity of going into the Abbey) of hearing it four times. (letter 67)

Th e issue was all the more topical as Charles Burney, Frances’s father, was sup­ posed to organize and write a brief account of the commemoration festival but fell out of the king’s favour and aff airs66 which, in Mary Delany’s words, was only settled in December 1784 (letter 80). Handel was also the king’s personal choice, as noted by Mary Delany, for a con­ cert organized on the occasion of the Prince of Wales’s birthday in 1787:

At seven o’clock, and aft er the Drawing-room was over, and all compliments paid and received on the day, the company were conducted into the music-room, where there was a very fi ne concert, chiefl y of Mr. Handel’s music, and most exquisitely performed. (letter 207)

As a collector of Handel’s works, the king writes to Mary Delany to thank her for establishing a relationship between him and her nephew John Dewes, owner of the Handel collection of his deceased uncle Bernard Granville (1699–1775), and ‘obtaining an exact catalogue of Mr. Granvilles collection of Mr. Handels music’ (letter 75, letter 89). That exchange includes the queen’s letter 74:

I have the pleasure of returning dear Mrs. Delany the catalogue of Mr. Granvilles collection of musick, with a note from the King which will suffi ciently prove how much he is satisfied with the manner in which she has executed his commission.

Th e queen’s activities mentioned in the letters rather unexpectedly include spin­ ning, which she was taught by Mary Delany on one occasion at Bulstrode in December 1781:

Th e Queen, etc. came about twelve o’clock, and caught me at my spinning-wheel, (the work I am now reduced to,) and made me spin on, and give her a lesson aft er­ wards; and I must say did it tolerably well for a Queen. She staid till three o’clock: and now I suppose our royal visits are over for this year. (letter 39)

A month later, Mary Delany writes a poem which must have been meant to accompany the present of a spinning wheel off ered to the queen:

To the Queen with a Spinning Wheel Go Happy Wheel! amuse Her leisure Hour Whose Grace and Aff ability refi ned Add lustre to Her Dignity and Power, And fi ll with love, and Awe, the grateful Mind (letter 42)

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In 1790, Frances Burney notes that Princess Augusta is spinning while her mother is knotting.67 Th e activity may have been introduced into the royal household by Mary Delany. Th e queen also exchanges a number of books with Mary Delany. Letters 37 and 38 report her desire to know the full title of a book about the history of Eng­ land she may want to read. In 1784, books provide her with the main centre of interest of the conversation she has with Mary Delany:

Her Majesty talked to me a great deal about books, and especially about those on religion, and recommended to me an explanation of the four Evangelists, translated from the German; and the next morning she sent me a present of the work in three volumes. (letter 67)

Mary Delany and the queen exchange books by William Gilpin: Observations on the River Wye and Several Parts of South Wales (letter 116) and his Lives of the Reformers (letter 135) or by other authors, although not always identifi able:

I was last night at the Lodge, and received the enclosed from Her Majesty, which she desired me to send to you, and that you would read it and give your opinion whether you think it would be proper to have it translated into English. It is but a small abstract of a book which Her Majesty has not at present in her possession, but if you can make any judgment of the whole by this small part, she will get the book and send it you. (letter 208)

Finally the queen pays a particular interest to Mary Delany’s Flora Delanica, ask­ ing to see her collection at Bulstrode in 1779:

Th e King desired me to show the Queen one of my books of plants:68 she seated herself in the gallery; a table and the book lay before her. – I kept my distance till she called me to ask some questions about the mosaic paper work; and as I stood before her Majesty, the King set a chair behind me. (letter 6)

Mary Delany was extremely fl attered by that scene, as she later explained to Mary Hamilton: ‘How I am fl attered with her Majesty’s gracious approbation of my – works! Aft er such an honour I must not give them any degrading epi­ thet’ (letter 18). Aft erwards, several letters addressed to Mary Hamilton, later Dickenson, ask for the advice of Mary Delany’s addressee on some of her fl ower collages (letters 24, 25, 35, 82). While testifying to the open-mindedness of the royal couple in most fi elds, the letters also demonstrate the place occupied by Mary Delany at court in the 1780s.

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Mary Delany’s Presence Mary Delany’s presence at court provides a very interesting example of social ascension in eighteenth-century England. Contrary to most courtiers, she was not an aristocrat but managed to reach that highest position by her talent and connections. Th is may partly be explained, as she suggests herself at the beginning of her fi rst autobiographical letter, by the fact that she could have been of aristocratic line­ age since her great-grandfather, Sir Bevil Granville, was killed in the year 1643, as he was ‘fi ghting for his king and country’, with ‘the patent for the Earldom of Bath in his pocket, with a letter from King Charles I acknowledging his services. Th is letter is still in the family’ (Llanover 1, p. 1). Th ose lines, while expressing Mary Delany’s attachment to the royalty, also explain why she insists that her nephew, John Dewes, takes the name of Granville:

I have always thought, that it was laudable, and proper, that names of respectable families should be kept up; especially by a direct descendant of so worthy and so great a man, as Sir Bevil Granville, (who died for his King and country), and not let his name sink in oblivion. I some time ago mentioned this; you apprehended it was not particularly my brother’s desire you should take his name, but such reasons have started since as I am sure would have convinced my brother Granville, that it ought to be done. (letter 113)

Th e name is obtained within a month (see letters 114 and 117). However, Mary Delany’s talent did not only reside in her fl ower collages and a few other artistic and literary abilities. She also had an extreme sense of propriety and a notion of etiquette, which made her adapt to the most complex situations. Having herself written a short ‘Essay on Propriety’,69 she twice uses a similar expression for the Duchess of Portland and for the queen at Bulstrode in the same letter: she notes their ‘sweetness of manners, and knowledge of propriety’, ‘the dignity and sweetness of her manners, the perfect propriety of everything she says or does’ (letter 6). Soon aft erwards, she admires the queen for the same reason: ‘So much propriety, so excellent a heart, such true religious principles, gave a lustre to her royalty that crown and sceptre alone cannot bestow’ (letter 12). At the time when Mary Delany is at Windsor and occasionally asks her great-niece Georgina Mary Anna Port to be her secretary, Frances Boscawen writes to her: ‘I do not doubt her savoir faire, and propriety upon all occasions, for is she not your niece?’ (letter 108), which clearly shows that Mary Delany was perceived as a woman of propriety by her friends. Occasionally, she rejoyces at the propriety of some people she meets: Sarah Siddons when asked to read theatre at court (letter 89), the sons of Sarah Sandford in their diff erent activities (letter 198).

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A direct consequence or illustration of her propriety is the position she occupies at court. She naturally stands or sits back: ‘I stood at the back of the chair’, ‘I kept my distance till she called me to ask some questions’ (letter 6), except when off ered a more prominent place:

When we were all seated, (for the Queen is so gracious she will always make me sit down,) the Duchess of Portland sat next to the Queen, and I sat next to Princess Royal. On the other side of me was a chair, and His Majesty did me the honour to sit by me. (letter 39)

Another direct consequence is that Mary Delany’s letters are never critical of the royal family, even when she alludes to sensible topics such as the match con­ tracted by Prince George with Maria Fitherbert on 15 December 1785:

London is very barren of news at present. Th e Prince of Wales’s match engrosses most of the conversations; it is generally believed some ceremony has passed be­ tween them to satisfi e the lady’s scruples, but a marriage it can’t be as there is an Act of Parliament in the way. (letter 130)

Whilst otherwise laudative, here her discourse, retranscribed by her nephew, remains informative and somewhat detached, referring to the legal dimension of the case rather than to her personal intake of the situation. Although the prince had determined to marry her, the Royal Marriages Act of 1772 prohibited mar­ riage without the consent of the king, which was neither requested nor granted. And yet, Mary Delany’s position at court enabled her to support or promote a few relatives and friends whom she enabled to benefi t from royal favours. It was the case, as stated earlier, with her nephew John Dewes who obtained the name Granville, with her great-niece Georgina Mary Anna Port who was as welcome as her great-aunt at court, with William Gilpin and even most famously with Frances Burney. William Gilpin’s letter dated 9 November 1785 reveals how favours or patronage could be obtained from the royal couple:

You have highly gratifyed me, by telling me the Queen has approved my book.70 I can now with some confi dence present it to her. How much I rejoice, dear madam, in their Majesties behaviour to you! I hear of it from all hands, and you are the instrument of discovering virtues in them, which people could not believe dwelt in kings and queens. Kings and queens have oft en done generous things: but to show this kindness, attention and concern, seems to indicate feelings which one would have thought could have fallen in their way! (letter 116).

On the one hand, Mary Delany’s introduction of William Gilpin’s book to the queen allows him to address the queen directly and present his book himself. On the other hand, the laudatory sentences he writes about the royal couple may be perceived as words to be repeated to the queen by Mary Delany, his referring to her ‘kindness, attention and concern’ also sounding like wishful thinking for his

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own personal interests. He visits her at Windsor, although he had not visited her before (letters 143–4, 152). In the case of William Gilpin, Mary Delany was somewhat incented into providing him with access to their Majesties. Th e case of Frances Burney is diff erent. Th e present letters, including several previously unpublished items (letters 68, 69, 81, 96, 111, 139,150, 152, 192, 196), show that it was Mary Delany’s desire to obtain a position at court for her. As a friend of Charles Burney’s, mentioned in Mary Delany’s fi rst two letters to Frances (letters 68 and 69), Mary Delany participates in establishing links between Frances and her great-niece Georgina Mary Anna while connecting Charles Burney with the king: letter 76, written by Mary Delany’s secretary to Charles Burney, explains:

She [Mary Delany] takes the liberty of inclosing a letter to his amiable daughter which she will be very much obliged to him if he will convey it to her – the fi rst opportunity – Mrs Delany had sent the inclosed list to the King for His Majestys perusal – and received His Commands this morning to forward it to Dr Burney.

At the same period, Frances is invited to visit Mary Delany (letter 80). She spends some time at her place again in August 1785, just before her moving to her Windsor lodgings:

I have had in the house with me, ever since my nephews were obliged to leave me, Miss Burney, the author of Evelina and Cecilia which, excellent as they are, are her meanest praise. Her admirable understanding, her tender affection, and sweetness of manners, make her valuable to all those who have the happiness to know her; and it has been no small satisfaction to me to have had such a companion, during my confi nement, for my dear girl.

In letter 122, written by Frances Boscawen in December 1785, Frances Burney is said to have visited her old friend at Windsor. Th e information is confi rmed in Mary Delany’s diary, an entry of which, dated 1 December reading ‘Miss Burney writing’71 and in her next letter: ‘Miss Burney72 is still with me, but leaves me the beginning of January’ and in Frances Burney’s ‘Windsor journal’ (3 December 1785) in which her long-anticipated and dreaded fi rst encounter with the royal couple takes place on 16 December 1785, is narrated at length.73 Aft er spend­ ing another three weeks with Mary Delany in January 1786 (letter 127), she is again invited to Windsor on 1 March 1786 (letter 139). Th ose repeated invita­ tions and consequent proximity with the royal family lead to the appointment of Frances Burney as Joint Keeper of the Robes to Queen Charlotte, as fi rst men­ tioned by Mary Delany in a letter to Frances Hamilton:

An event has taken place lately which gives me great satisfaction: I am sure you are acquainted with the novel entitled Cecilia, much admired for its good sense, variety of character, delicacy of sentiment, etc. etc.: there is nothing good, and amiable,

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and agreeable mentioned in the book that is not possessed by the author of it, Miss Burney: I have been acquainted with her now three years: her extreme diffi dence of herself, notwithstanding her great genius, and the applause she has met with, adds lustre to all her excellencies, and all improve on acquaintance. In the course of this last year, she has been so good as to pass a few weeks with me at Windsor, which gave the Queen an opportunity of seeing and talking with her, which Her Majesty was so gracious to admit of. One of the principal ladies that attend the Queen’s person as dresser is going to retire into her own country, being in too bad a state of health to continue her honourable and delightful employment, for such it must be near such a queen; and Miss Burney is to be the happy successor, chosen by the Queen without any particular recommendation from any body. I believe she comes into waiting next week.

Whether Mary Delany’s addition that Frances Burney was appointed ‘without any particular recommendation from any body’ was intentionally ironical or not, it is obvious that the old lady was at the origin of the process. She must have been all the more involved in it as she gained some personal advantage from the appointment, as stated in September 1786:

Th e amiable and worthy Miss Burney is established much to her satisfaction much approved of by everybody, especially by those she wishes most to please. I certainly am very happy in her being placed so near me which gives me an opportunity of seeing her oft en, though her visits are generally short and she has so many absent friends to consider that all her spare time is scarcely suffi cient to satisfy their diff er­ ent remarks. Never any body was better calculated for the post she is now in as no part of the confi nement is disagreeable to her. (letter 166)

Still, in a following letter to Mary Hamilton-Dickenson, she questions her role in the process again:

Miss Burney is very happy in her situation; much admired; in great esteem with every body round her, which will still increase as she is more known. It is doing me too much honour to say, that I placed her there; but, as I believe I told you before, it was her own merits, and the Queen’s great penetration that preferred her. (letter 189).

If Mary Delany insists that the queen chose Frances Burney herself, she met her at Mary Delany’s place, had heard of her several times before from Mary Delany’s mouth and of course trusted anybody of Mary Delany’s entourage since she and her husband had off ered her a position at court. Th e following excerpt shows how symbiotic the links between her and Frances Burney were.

Th e Queen has had the goodness to command me to come to the Lodge, whenever it is quite easy to me to do it, without sending particularly for me, lest it should em­ barrass me to refuse that honour; so that most evenings, at half-an-hour past seven, I go to Miss Burney’s apartment, and when the royal family return from the Terrace, the King, or one of the Princesses (generally the youngest, Princess Amelia, just four

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years old) come into the room, take me by the hand, and lead me into the drawing- room, where there is a chair ready for me by the Queen’s left hand. (letter 207)

While she went to the Lodge, her great-niece would stay with Frances Burney, and had the ‘opportunity of being in very good company there’ (letter 107). Mary Delany’s position at court was defi nitely not supposed to be benefi cial to her only. Aft er Mary Delany’s death, a codicil added in 1786 to her will reveals that one of her pictures, by Michael Angelo Caravaggio, was bequeathed to the king, as a testimony of the gratitude she felt for his unbounded goodness.74 Anne Hunter celebrated her in a poem entitled: ‘Upon the Marks of Royal Bounty which She received at a very Advanced Age, aft er the Death of Her Friend the Duchess of Portland, in 1786’, the last stanza of which reads:

Warm, noble, and refi n’d; How exquisite the grateful sense Of heav’n-born, pure benevolence Upon the feeling mind! Happy who thus have pow’r to give, Who thus with honour may receive, What just esteem bestows; While from the starry realms above Th e powers benefi cent approve Th e source from whence it fl ows.75

Notes 1. ‘From Mrs Walsingham to Mrs Delany. On Her 80th Birth Day’, see Llanover 5, pp. 527–8. ‘A Petition from Mrs Delany’s Citron-Tree, to Her Grace the Dutchess Dowager of Portland’:

Delanys Hand, whose touch can O could my Sister Plants, and give Flow’rs New Grace and Bloom, – she Before the Good Delany stand, bade me live – I rooted, nor wish’d more to stir; And share the magic of her hand! And who would not, to live with She’d give to others as to me, Her? – Rear’d by her Smiles, I daily grew, A kind of Immortality. (v. 96–100) And spread my Beauty to her View. (v. 44–51)

Also see ‘Advice to a Little Girl, the Author’s Daughter, on Her Being Honored with some Instruction by Mrs Delany in Cutting out Paper’, quoted in Llanover 5, p. 345. See G. Keate, Th e Poetical Works of George Keate (London: J. Dodsley, 1781), pp. 262,

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276. E. Darwin, Th e Botanic Garden, a Poem. In Two Parts. Part I Containing the Economy of Vegetation; Part II Th e Loves of the Plants (London: J. Johnson, 1799), part II, Canto II, v. 151, 155. Unpublished poem: National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, NLW MS 19979A, file 1: ‘Th e Lady and the Martin’. 2. George Ballard had to convince Mary Delany to accept it, as their exchanges show. See Llanover 2, pp. 587, 594, 606; Llanover 3, pp. 168, 178, 184, 200. 3. ‘Sensibility. An Epistle’, see Llanover 5, p. 361. Mary Barber also mentioned her in ‘To a Lady in the Spleen Whom the Author Was Desir’d to Amuse’, Poems on Several Occasions (London: C. Rivington, 1735), pp. 5–12. 4. See F. Burney, Diary and Letters. Th e index to that edition holds more than 180 refer­ ences to Mary Delany, but several other occurrences were omitted. 5. Burney, Diary and Letters, 3, pp. 68, 368. 6. E. Burke, quoted in Llanover 4, p. 12. 7. See H. C. Shelley, Th e Life and Letters of Edward Young (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1914), p. 171. 8. R. Hayden, Mrs Delany and Her Flower Collages (London: British Museum, 1992); M. Peacock, Th e Paper Garden: Mrs Delany Begins Her Life’s Work at 72 (Carlton North, Victoria: Scribe Publications, 2010). 9. A. Day, Letters fr om Georgian Ireland: Th e Correspondence of Mary Delany, 1731–68 (Belfast: Friar’s Bush Press, 1991) and K. Cahill, Mrs. Delany’s Menus, Medicines and Manners (Dublin: New Island, 2005). 10. Also see C. Gearey, Royal Friendships (London: Digby Long, 1898), pp. 213–362. 11. P. Delany, ‘Mrs Delany: A Character’, published in R. B. Johnson, Mrs Delany at Court and among the Wits (London: Stanley Paul, 1925), pp. xxvii–xxxii. 12. ‘I shall complete, with the help of these letters, a history of her whole life. Its early part was entirely left out, and its latter, of course, has never been related’ (Burney, Diary and Letters, 3, p. 69). 13. A. and R. Spottiswoode (eds), Letters fr om Mrs Delany to Mrs Frances Hamilton, fr om the Year 1779, to the Year 1788 (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown, 1820), ‘Biographical Sketch’, pp. ix–xxiii. 14. S. Dewes, Mrs Delany (London: Rich and Cowan, 1940). Dewes also wrote novels, and his work is a sort of ‘literary biography’, as defi ned by F. Regard, in La Biographie littéraire en Angleterre (XVIIe–XXe siècles) (Saint-Étienne: Publications de l’Université de Saint- Étienne, 1999). 15. See more particularly: A. Dobson, ‘Dear Mrs Delany’, Side-Walk Stories (London: Ox­ ford University Press, 1923), pp. 110–29; ‘Mrs Delany’, Frasers Magazine (1862), pp. 448–57; R. Granville, Th e History of the Granville Family (Exeter: W. Pollard and Co., 1895), pp. 447–53; J. Hanly and P. Deevy, ‘Imitating Nature, Mrs Mary Delany or Aspa­ sia (1700–1788)’, in Stars, Shells and Bluebells, Women Scientists and Pioneers (Dublin: WITS, 1997), pp. 16–27; G. Paston, Mrs Delany (Mary Granville): A Memoir (London: Grant Richards, 1900); W. S. Scott, ‘Mary Delany’, in G. Townshend Mayer (ed.), Th e Blue Stocking Ladies (London: J. Green and Co., 1947), pp. 19–44; ‘Mrs Delany’, West- minster Review (1862), pp. 374–99; G. Townshend Mayer, ‘Mrs Delany: Queen Char­ lotte’s Friend’, in Women of Letters (London: R. Bentley and Son, 1894), pp. 163–205; C. E. Vulliamy, Aspasia, the Life and Letters of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany (1700–1788) (Edinburgh: J. and J. Gray, 1935). 16. Wales, Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales, NLW MS 9929B: J. Ballinger, ‘A Great Lady and a Scrap Book’, 31 pages.

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17. Columbia University, Butler Library, New York, George Hibbitt Papers, boxes 1–3. A full biography of Mary Delany is still wanted as already regretted by M. Gostelow, ‘A Talented Lady of the Eighteenth Century’, Antique Dealer and Collectors Guide (1975), p. 67. 18. S. Austin, ‘Mary Delany’, Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and Ameri­ can Authors, 3 vols (Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippingcott, 1900), vol. 1, p. 491; J. C. F. Hoefer (ed.), ‘Mary Delany’, in Nouvelle Biographie Générale (Paris, 1855), p. 418; A. Kippis, ‘Delany, Mary’, in Biographia Britannica; or, Th e Lives of the Most Eminent Per­ sons Who Have Flourished in Great-Britain and Ireland fr om the Earliest Ages to the Pre­ sent Time (London: J. Nichols, 1793), pp. 88–93 [by G. Keate (1727–97) and Court Dewes (1741–93)]; P. Larousse (ed.), Grand Dictionnaire universel du dix-neuvième siè­ cle, 15 vols (Paris, 1870) vol. 6, p. 334 (col. 2); L. Stephen (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography, 63 vols (London, 1888) vol. 15, p. 593. 19. No letter being conserved, the information available for that fi rst period is taken from the Autobiography and P. Delany, ‘Mrs Delany: A Character’, published in R. B. Johnson, Mrs Delany at Court and among the Wits (London: Stanley Paul, 1925). For a recent study of her autobiographical letters, see E. Chiavetta, ‘Angles of Refraction: Th e Letters of Mary Delany’, Journal of Early Modern Studies, 3 (2014), pp. 199–216. 20. ‘As much as the vanity of my heart suff ered by leaving the court, assembly, play, &c., the country grew pleasant to me as soon as the weather permitted me to consider its beauties’ (Autobiography, letter 3). 21. From that stage onwards, the information is taken from her Autobiography and from the letters written and received by Mary Pendarves. 22. Whether she actually made the trip or mentioned it metaphorically remains uncertain. 23. Th e Autobiography stops in 1733. Th e following elements are taken from the letters she sent and received. 24. Newport Reference Library, Wales, 2M416.6; 012 DEL. Mrs Delany’s Letters, 10 vols. 25. Th e origins mentioned above are those of the letters selected in the present volume. Oth­ er Delany manuscripts are held in other archival centres. See A. Kerhervé, Mary Delany. Une épistolière anglaise du XVIIIe siècle (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2004). 26. With the exception of the letters written by the Duchess of Portland. 27. See Newport, 2, pp. 44, 45, 62, 75; Newport, 3, p. 38; Newport, 6, p. 82; Newport, 7, pp. 3, 4, 16, 22, 23; Newport, 10, p. 5D. 28. On 19 cm wide, 22 cm high pages. 29. Th e 230 letters presented amount to about 81000 words. 30. Abbreviations were advised against by Jonathan Swift in Tatler, 230 (28 September 1710), by D. Defoe in Th e Complete English Tradesman, in Familiar Letters Th e Com­ plete English Tradesman (p. 25), as well as in many other letter-writing manuals: Th e Complete Letter-Writer; or, Polite English Secretary from 1756, Th e Entertaining Corre­ spondent (1759), Th e Court Letter-Writer (1773) and J. Gignoux’s Epistolary Correspond­ ence Made Pleasant and Familiar (1759). Mary Delany herself wrote: ‘Remember when you write to persons for whom you have a particular respect, that abbreviations are not respectful; and I must beg you to be more attentive when you write’ (Newport, 6, p. 37). 31. Lady Llanover’s editorial notes include a ‘table of nicknames’, see National Library of Wales, NLW MS 19979A, fi le 1. It was printed in R. B. Johnson, pp. xlii–xliv. 32. 137 wax seals are kept in Newport. 33. ‘What I shall seal this with, is Garrick’s head’ (Llanover 5, p. 90). Also see Llanover 6, pp. 36, 380, 452.

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34. Only three autograph letters were examined. See Newport, 7, p. 550 (22/06/1742). 35. Newport, 3, pp. 25, 64, 68; Newport, 7, p. 23. 36. Its diameter is 2 cm. 37. Th e Court Letter Writer; or, Th e Complete English Secretary for Town and Country (Lon­ don: S. Bladon, 1773) reads: ‘Th e letter must be sealed with the best Dutch sealing-wax, which ought to be black, if the family to whom the letter is addressed are in mourning’ (p. 53). 38. Llanover 3, p. 240 (‘I propose sealing every letter with a new seal of the Duchess’); Llano­ ver 3, p. 257 (‘I have not been able, for a fortnight past, to send you any of the Duchess’s fine seals’). 39. Following the 1820 edition of those letters, they were reproduced in such works as Monthly Magazine as early as in 1820 and T. Williams, Th e Memoirs of his Late Majesty George III (London: W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, n.d.). 40. M. Delany, Th e Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville Mrs Delany, with Interesting Reminiscences of King George III and Queen Charlotte, 6 vols, ed. Lady Llano­ ver (London: R. Bentley, 1861–2). Th e Westminster Review (1862) article released soon aft er that edition notes that its weight was 6.3 kg and its full length was 3,674 pages’ (p. 374). 41. Aft erwards, a few allegedly original letters were published by George Paston in 1900 (Paston, pp. 71, 72, 125, 201, 202, 208, 209) but one can doubt the authenticity of the documents quoted. 42. Letter 102, dated 3 September 1785, is written by the Queen who invites Mary Delany to take up her lodgings on the next Tuesday, i.e. 6 September 1785. Also see Th e Diary and Letters of Madame D’Arblay, 1842, vol. 5, pp. 346–7 (24 August 1785). 43. See more particularly letter 102. 44. See letter 95: ‘Th e Duke’s own expression has been that, ever he should see his mother in Mrs. Delany, and shall always think himself fulfi lling his late mother’s wishes when he obeys her commands, or contributes any thing to her satisfaction’. 45. Th e beginning of his political relationships with George III, as explained in the ODNB article, started on mistrust in 1783: ‘Although Portland, in his later ministerial career, developed an excellent working relationship with the king, at this time their mutual mis­ trust was too great’. ‘But the failure of the Fox–North coalition had the perverse con­ sequence of enhancing Portland’s status and reputation’. See D. Wilkinson, ‘Bentinck, William Henry Cavendish Cavendish, third duke of Portland (1738–1809)’, ODNB, at www.oxforddnb.com /view/article/2162 [accessed 7 November 2014]. 46. A. Pimlott Baker, ‘Hamilton, Mary (1756–1816)’, ODNB, at www.oxforddnb.com/ view/article/48934 [accessed 24 June 2014]. 47. Georgina Mary Ann (1771–1850) married Benjamin Waddington (1749–1828). Th ey were the parents of Lady Augusta Hall, fi rst editor of the correspondence. 48. T. Keymer, ‘Chapone, Sarah (1699–1764)’, ODNB, at www.oxforddnb.com /view/arti­ cle/39723 [accessed 7 September 2014]. 49. G. F. R. Barker, ‘North, Francis, fi rst earl of Guilford (1704–1790)’, rev. Matthew Kil­ burn, ODNB, at www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20302 [accessed 7 September 2014]. 50. Lady Louisa Stuart (1757–1851) was the daughter of John Stuart, third Earl of Bute and Mary Wortley-Montagu, Baroness Mount Stuart of Wortley. 51. Lady Henrietta Cavendish-Bentinck (1737–1827) was the daughter of William Bentinck, second Duke of Portland and Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley. She married

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George Harry Grey, fi ft h Earl of Stamford, in 1763. 52. Elizabeth Cavendish (1735–1825), the eldest daughter of William Bentinck, second duke of Portland, and his wife, Margaret Cavendish Harley. 53. For more detail on Mary Delany’s Windsor residence, see O. Hedley, ‘Mrs Delany’s Windsor Home’, Berkshire Archeological Journal, 59 (1961), pp. 51–5. However the house diff ers from the one envisaged by A. Dobson, in Burney, Diary and Letters, 2, p. 290. 54. J. Loughlin, Th e British Monarchy and Ireland: 1800 to the Present (Cambridge: Cam­ bridge University Press, 2007), p. 15. 55. On that point, see R. Hayden, Mrs Delany and Her Flower Collages, p. 90. 56. See F. Fraser, Princesses: Th e Six Daughters of George III (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005). 57. National Gallery, ‘Queen Charlotte’ (1789), by Sir T. Lawrence. 58. See p. 285. Also see A. Kerhervé, Mary Delany, pp. 426–7. 59. Lady Llanover, in 1862, comments the passage in the following words: ‘Her Majesty, the Queen commended the cooking, and said that the orange-pudding was so excellent that she desired the receipt might be sent to the royal cooks, which was done; but as they never succeeded in making it equally well, it was at last sent up for the Queen’s dinner by Mrs Delany from her house ready made. Th is orange-pudding was aft erwards named “Queen Charlotte’s orange-pudding”, and the receipt is in the possession of the Editor under that name’. (Llanover 6, pp. 472–3). 60. ‘George III and His Family at Windsor’ (Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool). 61. See T. F. Henderson, ‘Augustus Frederick, Prince, duke of Sussex (1773–1843)’, ODNB, at www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/900 [accessed 3 November 2014]: ‘As a young man, he suff ered severely from asthma; too delicate to join the army or navy, at one stage he considered entering the church’. 62. For other sources see S. Poole, Th e Politics of Regicide in England, 1760–1850 (Manches­ ter University Press, 2000), pp. 69–89 (‘Th e Madness of Margaret Nicholson’). 63. Burney, Diary and Letters, vol. 3, p. 51. 64. On that point, see H. Davenport, Faithfull Handmaid, p. 19. 65. See A. Kerhervé, William Writes to William, p. 138. 66. See R. H. Lonsdale, Dr. Charles Burney: A Literary Biography (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965), pp. 297–9. 67. Burney, Diary and Letters, vol. 5, p. 78. 68. At the end of her life, Mary Delany had completed ten volumes of collages of plants, also known as the Flora Delanica as she called it herself (NP, 6, p. 54), now held in the British Museum. Sir Joseph Banks declared that these collages were ‘the only imitations of na­ ture that he had ever seen from which he could venture to describe botanically any plant without the least fear of committing an error’ (Llanover 6, p. 95). For a full list of the collages, see R. Hayden, Mrs. Delany and her Flower Collages (London: British Museum, 1992), pp. 172–87. Also see M. Peacock, Th e Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life’s Work at 72 (Carlton North: Scribe Publications, 2010). 69. ‘Bulshode, 3rd August 1777 (In my 78th year.) […] I only meant to recommend to your intimate acquaintance a Lady who will guard you against the want of it, and likewise from those errors that otherwise might expose you to what is much more irksome than advice, regret and reproach. Th is friend I present to your regard, is never presuming, pert, or conceited, but humble, modest, and unaff ected, attentive to everything that can improve her understanding or polish her manners. She never takes the place she ought

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not, or is at a loss to know what belongs to her. She never gives her opinion but from a desire of further information. All her votarys so truly respect, and are so sensible of her value, that they never forsake her. Her name is propriety. To defi ne her exactly is diffi cult, and the pleasure and honor of her company must be diligently sought for; and never for one moment neglected, for if once lost she is very rarely regain’d. […] Th e friend at your elbow (lady Propriety) is the best Frisseur in the world, and the most reasonable. She understands every part of dress to admiration. She will never suff er you to wear your hat with one edge to touch your nose, and the other perpendicularly in the air with streamers dangling like a poor mad woman I remember who lived in a hollow tree and a toad was her companion’ (Newport, 5, p. 46). 70. Th e fi rst work published by the Rev. W. Gilpin, on ‘Picturesque Beauty’, appeared in 1782. It was entitled Observations on the River Wye and several parts of South Wales. In 1787 Gilpin published Observations on several parts of England, particularly the Moun­ tains and Lakes of Cumberland and Westmoreland. Th is work remained in manuscript 15 years. His friends were anxious that he should publish by subscription, and the Dowager Duchess of Portland sent him a donation of 100 £. However, he would not accept of her Grace’s kindness, as he was ‘still afraid of an engagement with the public’. 71. See p. 285. 72. At this period (the previous month) Miss Burney recounts the delicate dilemma in which she had nearly been involved by her narrow escape of not seeing the King when he came to see Mrs. Delany alone. Lady Llanover believes the Queen wished Mrs. Delany to as­ certain Miss Burney’s powers as a reader, with a view to her being employed in that way occasionally if appointed as one. Llanover 6, p. 324. 73. See Burney, Diary and Letters, vol. 1, pp. 231–2. Lord Macaulay recounts it in the fol­ lowing words: ‘In December, 1785, Miss Burney was on a visit to Mrs. Delany at Wind­ sor. Th e dinner was over. Th e old lady was taking a nap. Her grandniece, a little girl of seven, was playing at some Christmas game with the visitors, when the door opened, and a stout gentleman entered unannounced, with a star on his breast, and “What? what? what?” in his mouth. A cry of “Th e king!” was set up. A general scampering followed. Miss Burney owns that she could not have been more terrifi ed if she had seen a ghost. But Mrs. Delany came forward to pay her duty to her royal friend, and the disturbance was quieted. Frances was then presented, and underwent a long examination and cross- examination about all that she had written, and all that she meant to write’. (Preface to Diary and Letters, vol. 1). 74. Llanover 6, p. 489. 75. See C. Grigson (ed.), Th e Life and Poems of Anne Hunter (Liverpool: Liverpool Univer­ sity Press, 2009), p. 44.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Sources

Archives

Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales

MS 9929B. John Ballinger. ‘A Great Lady and a Scrap Book’. Biographical essay. 31 pp. MS 15370D. Mary Delany’s will. MS 19979A, file 1: ‘Th e Lady and the Martin’. MS 19979A, fi le 1, ‘Table of nicknames’.

Cambridge, Massachusetts, Houghton Library

MS Eng 1365: Letter from Mary Delany to Elizabeth Montagu. MS Eng 508.1 and 508.2. Henry Hamilton papers, 1768–1933.

Farmington, Connecticut, Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University

Mary Delany, Correspondence. Mary Delany Letters to Fanny Burney. Mary Delany, Autograph Diary, 1785–86, 10 pp.

London, British Library

Add. 38219 fol. 39: Letter from Mary Delany to Lord Guilford.

Manchester, Rylands Collection, HAM/1/6/3/2

HAM/1/6/3/1–2: Mary Delany Letters to Mary Hamilton HAM/1/6/3/4: King George II letter to Mary Delany HAM/1/5/2/9: Mary Hamilton Papers

Newport (Wales), Newport Reference Library

2M416.6; 012 DEL. Mrs Delany’s Letters, 10 vols.

– xxxix –

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New Haven (CN), Beinecke Library

General Collection Manuscript. Miscellany Osborn Files 4229, 4240–86. 47 letters from Mary Delany to Lady Andover, dated 1765–79. Osborn Files 11012–25. 16 letters from Francis North to Mary Delany, dated between 1761 and 1786.

Oxford, Bodleian Library

MS Eng. b. 27(j) fols 33–61: thirteen letters written by William Gilpin to Mary Delany [14/011782, 04/03/1782, 30/04/1782, 13/05/1782, 13/06/1782, 23/08/1782, 13/01/1785, 09/11/1785, 25/01/1786, 24/04/1786, 08/05/1786, 03/07/1786, 18/07/1786]. MS North adds. c. 4, fol. 209. MS. North d. 6, fols 24–6. MS North d. 8 fols 149, 157, 159. MS North d. 9, fol. 22. MS North d. 9, fol. 39. MS North d. 10, fols 18, 31. MS North d. 11, fol. 74. MS. North d. 13, fols 89, 91. MS North d. 14, fols 191, 205, 209–10, 237. MS North d. 15, fols 111, 124, 147, 175, 187, 230, 233. MS North d. 16, fols 29, 35, 72–4, 96, 113, 124–5, 136, 146, 154. MS North d. 17, fols 83, 89, 96, 197, 213. MS North d. 18, fols 33, 142, 147. MS North d. 19, fols 29, 45, 107, 108, 110, 134, 148, 170. MS North d. 20, fols 21, 26, 28, 31, 72, 90. MS North d. 21, fols 73, 75, 129, 134, 136, 137, 142. MS North d. 22, fols 10, 12. MS North d. 24, 110, 147, 188. MS North d. 25, fols 98–101, 131. MS North d. 26, fols 3, 121.

New York Public Library

198091B Mary Delany letter to Lord Guilford

Printed Material

Anon., Th e Complete Letter-Writer: or; New and Polite English Secretary (London: S. Crow­ der, 1756). —, Th e Complete Letter Writer (London: B. Long, and T. Pridden, 1776).

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—, Th e Court Letter Writer; or, Th e Complete English Secretary for Town and Country (Lon­ don: S. Bladon, 1773). —, Th e Plot Investigated; Or; A Circumstantial Account of the Attempt of Margaret Nicholson to Assassinate the King (London: Macelew, 1786). Barber, M., Poems on Several Occasions (London: C. Rivington, 1735). Barbier, C. P., William Gilpin: His Drawings, Teaching, and Th eory of the Picturesque (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963). Benson, P., My Dearest Betsy, a Self-portrait of William Gilpin 1757–1848, Schoolmaster and Parson, fr om his Letters and Notebooks (London: Dennis Dobson, 1981). Bodham Donne, W. (ed.), Th e Correspondence of King George the Th ird with Lord North fr om 1768 to 1783 (London: John Murray, 1867). Brown, G., Th e New English Letter-writer; or, Whole Art of General Correspondence (London: Printed for Alex. Hogg, 1770). Burney, F., Th e Court Journals and Letters of Frances Burney, vol. 1 (1786), ed. P. Sabor (Ox­ ford: Clarendon Press, 2011). —, Th e Court Journals and Letters of Frances Burney, vol. 2 (1787), ed. S. Cooke (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2011). —, Th e Court Journals and Letters of Frances Burney, vol. 3 (1788), ed. L. Clark (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2014). —, Th e Diary and Letters of Madame d’Arblay (Frances Burney), notes by W. C. Ward, pref­ aced by Macaulay’s essay (London: Frederick Warne, 1892). Carter, E., Letters from Mrs Elizabeth Carter to Mrs Montagu (London: F. C. and J. Rivington, 1817). Cowper, W., Works: Life and Letters, ed. W. Hayley (London: Saunders and Otley, 1835). Debates, Parliamentary Register, 1774–80. Darwin, E., Th e Botanic Garden, a Poem. In Two Parts. Part I Containing the Economy of Veg­ etation; Part II Th e Loves of the Plants (London: J. Johnson, 1799). Defoe, D., Th e Complete English Tradesman, in Familiar Letters (London: Printed for Charles Rivington, 1726). Delany, M., Th e Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville Mrs Delany, with Inter­ esting Reminiscences of King George III and Queen Charlotte, 6 vols, ed. Lady Llanover, (London: R. Bentley, 1861–2). Gilpin, W., Observations on the River Wye and several parts of South Wales (London: Printed for R. Blamire, 1782). Granville, R., Th e History of the Granville Family (Exeter: W. Pollard and Co., 1895). Home, F., Clinical Experiments, Histories, and Dissections (London: J. Murray and William Creech, 1783). Journals of the House of Commons 1688–1834, Fourteenth Parliament of Great Britain: Sixth Session (25 November 1779–8 July 1780). Journals of the House of Commons 1688–1834, Sixteenth Parliament of Great Britain: Th ird session (24 January 1786–11 July 1786).

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Journals of the House of Lords, Fourteenth Parliament of Great Britain: Sixth session (25 No­ vember 1779–8 July 1780). Keate, G., Th e Poetical Works of George Keate (London: J. Dodsley, 1781). Montagu, E., Th e Letters of Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu (Boston, MA: Wells and Lilly, 1825). Montagu, Lady M. W., Th e Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (London: Rich­ ard Bentley, 1837). Richardson, S., Letters Written to and for Particular Friends (London: J. Osborn; J. and J. Rivington, 1746). Walpole, H. (ed.), Journal of the Reign of King George the Th ird, fr om 1771 to 1783, with notes by Dr [ J.] Doran (London: Richard Bentley, 1859). Walpole, H., Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, eds W. S. Lewis and J. W. Reed Jr (London: Oxford University Press, 1973).

Secondary Sources

Austin, S., ‘Mary Delany’, in Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors, three vols (Philadelphia, PA: J. B. Lippingcott, 1900), vol. 1, p. 491. Ballinger, J., ‘A Great Lady and a Scrap Book’. Aberystwyth: Th e National Library of Wales, NLW MS 9929B. Bartrum, G., Life of Mary Delany (1700–1788) (London: [?], 1992). Bower, P., ‘A Life in Letters: The Papers Used by Mary Delany (1700–1788) for her Corre­ spondence and Other Documents’, Quarterly, 66 (2008), pp. 1–24. Boysen, J., ‘Mrs Delany’s Fabulous Flowers’, International Wildlife, 19:4 (1989), pp. 44–5. Brooke, J., King George III (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1972). Cahill, K., Mrs. Delany’s Menus, Medicines and Manners (Dublin: New Island, 2005). Cannon, J., George III (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). Chiavetta, E., ‘Angles of Refraction: Th e Letters of Mary Delany’, Journal of Early Modern Studies, 3 (2014), pp. 199–216. Cokayne, G. E., Th e Complete Baronetage, 5 vols (no date (c. 1900); reprint Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983). Cokayne; G. E. with V. Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, G. H. White, D. Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden, eds, Th e Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new ed., 13 vols in 14 (1910–59; re­ print in 6 volumes, Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000). Collins, A., Peerage of England (London: F.C. and J. Rivington, 1812). Davenport, H., Faithful Handmaid. Fanny Burney at the Court of King George III (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 2000). Dewes, S., Mrs Delany (London: Rich and Cowan, before 1940). Dobson, A., ‘Dear Mrs Delany’, in Side-Walk Stories (London: Oxford University Press, 1923), pp. 110–29. Doody, M. A., Frances Burney: Th e Life in the Works (New Brunswick: Rutgers, 1988). Fraser, F., Princesses: Th e Six Daughters of George III (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005).

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Frushell, R. C., ‘Swift ’s 6 August 1735 Letter to Mary Delany: “All other days I eat my chicken alone like a king”’, Philosophical Quaterly, 74 (1995), pp. 415–41. Gearey, C., ‘Queen Charlotte and Mrs. Delany’, in Royal Friendships (London: Digby Long, 1898), pp. 213–362. Gostelow, M., ‘A Talented Lady of the Eighteenth Century’, Antique Dealer & Collectors Guide (1975), pp. 65–7. Granville, R., Th e History of the Granville Family (Exeter: W. Pollard and Co.), 1895. Grigson, C., Th e Life and Poems of Anne Hunter (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2009). Hall, M., ‘Invisible Nymphs’, Country Life (1991), pp. 30–1. Halsband, R., ‘Editing the Letters of Letter-Writers’, Studies in Bibliography, 11 (1958), pp. 25–37. Hayden, R., ‘A Wonderful-Pretty Rurality’, Irish Arts Review (1999), pp. 44–50. —, Mrs Delany and Her Flower Collages, 1980 (London: British Museum Press, 1992). Hedley, O., ‘Mrs Delany’s Windsor Home’, Berkshire Archeological Journal, 59 (1961), pp. 51–5. Hibbert, C., George III: A Personal History (New York: Basic Books, 1998). Hickman, P., ‘Plants Copied in Coloured Paper’, Country Life (1963), vol. 1, pp. 273–4. Hoefer, J. C. F. (ed.), ‘Mary Delany’, in Nouvelle Biographie générale (Paris, 1855), p. 418. Hughes, B. and T., ‘Mrs Delany’s Paper Flowers’, Country Life (1952), p. 221. Hunter, D., ‘Handel, Women and the War with Spain’, Handel Institute Newsletter, 10:2 (1999), pp. 1–2. Johnson, R. B., ‘Th e Flora of Mrs Delany’, Connaisseur, 78 (1927), pp. 220–7. —, Mrs Delany at Court and among the Wits (London: Stanley Paul, 1925). Kerhervé, A., ‘La Bibliothèque virtuelle d’une grande dame du XVIIIe siècle. Les Livres dans la correspondance de Mary Delany’, BSÉAA XVII—XVIII, 50 (2000), pp. 137–66. —, Mary Delany (1700–1788: une épistolière anglaise du XVIIIe siècle) (Paris: L’Harmattan, 2004). —, Polite letters: Th e Correspondence of Mary Delany (1700–1788) and Francis North, Lord Guilford (1704–1790) (Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009). Kippis, A., ‘Delany, Mary’, in Biographia Britannica; or, Th e Lives of the Most Eminent Persons Who Have Flourished in Great-Britain and Ireland fr om the Earliest Ages to the Present Time (London: J. Nichols, 1793), pp. 88–93. Le Harivel, A., ‘Delany, Mrs Mary (Formerly Mary Pendarves) (1700–88)’, in Illustrated Sum­ mary Catalogue of Drawings, Watercolours and Miniatures (Dublin: National Gallery of Ireland, 1983), pp. 88–99. Linney, V., ‘Th e Flora Delanica: Mary Delany and Women’s Art, Science and Friendship in Eighteenth-Century England’ (PhD dissertation, Toronto, 1999). ‘Th e Lives of Two Ladies [Mrs Delany and Mrs Th rale]’, Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, 91:558 (1862), pp. 401–23. Lonsdale, R. H., Dr. Charles Burney: A Literary Biography (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965).

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Loughlin, J., Th e British Monarchy and Ireland: 1800 to the Present (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 15. Malins, E., ‘Jonathan Swift , Mrs Delany and Friends’, in Lost Demesnes, Irish Landscape Gar­ dening (London: Barrie and Jenkins, 1976), pp. 31–52. Maxwell, C., ‘Mrs Delany’, in The Stranger in Ireland. (London: J. Cape, 1954), pp. 136–62. Mosley, C., Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edn (Cran: Burke’s Peerage, 1999). ‘Mrs Delany’, English Womens Journal (1869), pp. 31–7. ‘Mrs Delany’, Frasers Magazine (1862), pp. 448–57. ‘Mrs Delany’, Westminster Review (1862), pp. 374–99. ‘Mrs Delany (Mary Granville). Compiled by George Paston’, Academy, 58 (1900), p. 332. Myers, R. M., ‘Mrs Delany: An Eighteenth-Century Handelian’, Musical Quaterly, 32 (1946), pp. 12–36. Newton, S. M., ‘Mrs Delany and Her Handiwork’, Antiques (1969), pp. 101–5. Papperovitch, R., ‘Th e Social and Literary Life of the 18th Century as Refl ected in the Life and Correspondence of Mrs Delany and of Mrs Montagu’ (these, Liverpool, 1924). Paston, G., Mrs. Delany (Mary Granville) a Memoir, 1700–1788 (London: Grant Richards, 1900). Pine, L. G., Th e New Extinct Peerage 1884–1971: Containing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London: Heraldry Today, 1972). Poole, S., Th e Politics of Regicide in England, 1760–1850 (Manchester University Press, 2000). Raphael, S., ‘Cut out to be an Artist’, Country Life (1992), pp. 42–3. Regard, F., La Biographie littéraire en Angleterre (XVIIe–XXe siècles) (Saint-Étienne: Publica­ tions de l’Université de Saint-Étienne, 1999). Sarong, B., ‘Notes compiled on Mrs Delany’s Letters’, Newport: Newport Reference Library, 1984. Scott, W. S., ‘Mary Delany’, in Th e Blue Stocking Ladies (London: J. Green and Co., 1947), pp. 19–44. Shelley, H. C., Th e Life and Letters of Edward Young (Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Com­ pany, 1914). Stoughton, J., Windsor: A History and Description of the Castle and the Town (London: Ward, 1862). Townshend Mayer, G., ‘Mrs Delany: Queen Charlotte’s Friend’, in Women of Letters (London: R. Bentley and Son, 1894), pp. 163–205. Tynan, K. M., My Heart’s Delight (London: Smith, Elder and Co., 1914). Vulliamy, C. E., Aspasia, the Life and Letters of Mary Granville, Mrs Delany (1700–1788) (Edinburgh: J. and J. Gray, 1935). Weinglass, D. H., ‘An Uncollected Letter from Swift to Mary Pendarves’, Notes and Queries (1979), pp. 548–9. Weir, A., Britain’s Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy (London: Bodley Head, 1999). Wheeler, E. R., ‘Mary Delany’, in Famous Blue Stockings (London: Methuen, 1910), pp. 78– 104. Wright, C. J., George III (London: British Library, 2005).

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Th e editorial principles are grounded on Robert Halsband’s as expressed in ‘Editing the Letters of Letter-Writers’, Studies in Bibliography, 11 (1958), pp. 25–37. Th e transcription is literal, with minor changes when smooth read­ ing might be impeded. Most abbreviations are expanded, including systematic uses of the amper­ sand ‘C’ for ‘and’, and of ‘yt’ (‘that’), ‘yr’ (‘your’), ‘ym’ (‘them’), ‘ye’ (‘the’), ‘tho’ (‘though’) and ‘ m ’(‘mm’ within words), ‘etc.’ (‘etc.’), ‘aff ect.’ (‘aff ectionate’), ‘col.’ (‘Colonel’). Raised letters are lowered; capital letters are added, when necessary, for persons, places or at the beginning of sentences. Signatures are rendered as precisely as possible. Punctuation is adjusted when required, with frequent addi­ tion of full stops at the end of sentences. Exact spelling is retained, with very little use of [sic]. Square brackets otherwise indicate doubtful readings, occasioned by ink spots or poor paper quality. Th e general layout of the text (paragraphs) is retained. Th e passages which were crossed for permanent suppression were, when read­ able, reproduced in the notes. When a single word was crossed out and replaced by another, usually above the line, the latter was conserved.

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ABBREVIATIONS

Brimley Johnson R. B. Johnson, Mrs. Delany at Court and Among the Wits (London: Stanley Paul, 1925). Burke’s Peerage C. Mosley, Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage, 106th edn (Crans, Switzerland: Burke’s Peerage, 1999). CB G. E. Cokayne, Th e Complete Baronetage, 5 vols (no date (c. 1900); reprint (Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983). CJL1 Th e Court Journals and Letters of Frances Burney, vol. 1 (1786), ed. P. Sabor (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2011). CJL2 Th e Court Journals and Letters of Frances Burney, vol. 2 (1787), ed. S. Cooke (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2011). CJL3 Th e Court Journals and Letters of Frances Burney, vol. 3 (1788), ed. L. Clark (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2014). CP G. E. Cokayne; with V. Gibbs, H. A. Doubleday, G. H. White, D. Warrand and Lord Howard de Walden (eds), Th e Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant, new edn, 13 volumes in 14 (1910–59; reprint in 6 volumes, Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 2000). CR S. Richardson, Th e Correspondence of Samuel Richardson (London: Richard Phillips, 1804). Day A. Day, Letters fr om Georgian Ireland. Th e Correspondence of Mary Delany (1731–68) (Belfast: Th e Friar’s Bush Press, 1991). Dewes S. Dewes, Mrs. Delany (London: Rich and Cowan, before 1940). Hayden R. Hayden. Mrs. Delany and her Flower Collages (London: British Museum Press, 1992). Houghton Cambridge, Massachusetts, Houghton Library.

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LL/Llanover M. Delany, Th e Autobiography and Correspondence of Mary Granville Mrs. Delany, with interesting Reminiscences of King George III and Queen Charlotte, ed. Lady Llanover (London: R. Bentley, 1861–2). LWL Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University, Mary Delany, Cor­ respondence. NEP L. G. Pine, Th e New Extinct Peerage 1884–1971: Contain­ ing Extinct, Abeyant, Dormant and Suspended Peerages With Genealogies and Arms (London: Heraldry Today, 1972). NLW Aberystwyth, National Library of Wales. NO Nottingham, University of Nottingham Library. NP/Newport Newport, Newport Reference Library. Delany MSS. ODNB Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004. Paston G. Paston, Mrs. Delany (Mary Granville): A Memoir, 1700– 1788 (London: Grant Richards, 1900). PE A. Collins, Peerage of England (London: F. C. and J. Riving- ton, 1812). Rousseau J.-J. Rousseau, Correspondance générale, ed. T. Dufour (Paris: Armand Colin, 1924). Spottiswoode A. and R. Spottiswoode, Letters fr om Mary Delany (Widow of Doctor Patrick Delany) to Mrs. Frances Hamilton fr om the Year 1779, to the Year 1788; Comprising Many Unpublished and Interesting Anecdotes of their Late Majesties and the Royal Family (London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1821). Vulliamy C. E. Vulliamy, Aspasia, the Life and Letters of Mary Granville, Mrs. Delany (1700–1788) (Edinbrugh: J. and J. Gray, 1935). Walpole Horace Walpole’s Correspondence, ed. W. S. Lewis and J. W. Reed Jr (London: Oxford University Press, 1973). Yale Yale University, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Osborn Files.

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1 30/06/1776 To Mary Howard, Lady Andover 2 10/10/1776 To Mary Howard, Lady Andover 3 24/09/1777 To Lord Guilford 4 14/08/1778 To Mary Howard, Lady Andover 5 10/11/1778 To Mary Howard, Lady Andover 6 28/06/1779 To Hon. Mrs. Dorothea Hamilton 7 28/07/1779 To Lord Guilford 8 10/10/1779 To GMA Port 9 29/10/1779 To Mary Port 10 31/10/1779 To Anne Viney 11 10/11/1779 To Lord Guilford 12 17/11/1779 To Hon. Mrs. Frances Hamilton 13 01/01/1780 To Mary Howard, Lady Andover 14 19/02/1780 To Mary Howard, Lady Andover 15 29/09/1780 To Mary Hamilton 16 13/11/1780 To Mary Hamilton 17 10/12/1780 To Mary Hamilton 18 27/12/1780 To Mary Hamilton 19 29/12/1780 To Mary Hamilton 20 05/01/1781 To Mary Hamilton 21 11/01/1781 To Mary Hamilton 22 02/02/1781 To Mary Hamilton 23 07/02/1781 To Henry Hamilton 24 14/03/1781 To Mary Hamilton 25 19/03/1781 To Mary Hamilton 26 24/03/1781 To Mary Hamilton

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27 08/04/1781 To Mary Hamilton 28 11/04/1781 To Mary Hamilton 29 18/04/1781 To Mary Hamilton 30 30/04/1781 To Mary Hamilton 31 15/05/1781 To Mary Hamilton 32 20/05/1781 To Mary Hamilton 33 22/05/1781 To Mary Hamilton 34 18/06/1781 To Mary Hamilton 35 Undated To Mary Hamilton 36 09/11/1781 Mary Hamilton to Mary Delany 37 14/11/1781 Mary Hamilton to Mary Delany 38 14/11/1781 To Mary Hamilton 39 09/12/1781 To Mary Hamilton 40 15/12/1781 Queen Charlotte to Mary Delany 41 18/01/1782 To Mary Hamilton 42 26/01/1782 To Mary Hamilton 43 27/04/1782 To Mary Hamilton 44 01/05/1782 To Mary Hamilton 45 11/05/1782 To Mary Hamilton 46 27/05/1782 To Mary Hamilton 47 04/06/1782 To Mary Hamilton 48 23/07/1782 To Mary Hamilton 49 17/12/1782 To Frances Hamilton 50 21/12/1782 To Mary Hamilton 51 21/01/1783 To Mary Hamilton 52 10/05/1783 To Mary Hamilton 53 10/06/1783 To Mary Hamilton 54 11/09/1783 To Lord Guilford 55 29/09/1783 To Lord Guilford 56 10/10/1783 To Frances Hamilton 57 17/11/1783 Lord Guilford to Mary Delany 58 21/11/1783 To Lord Guilford 59 01/01/1784 To Mary Hamilton 60 02/01/1784 To Mary Hamilton 61 05/01/1784 To Mary Hamilton

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62 07/01/1784 To Mary Hamilton 63 16/01/1784 Court Dewes to Mary Hamilton 64 05/02/1784 To Mary Hamilton 65 13/02/1784 To Mary Hamilton 66 09/05/1784 To Mary Hamilton 67 22/06/1784 To Frances Hamilton 68 23/06/1784 To Frances Burney 69 11/07/1784 To Frances Burney 70 25/07/1784 To Mary Hamilton 71 17/08/1784 To Mary Hamilton 72 18/08/1784 To Mary Hamilton 73 23/08/1784 To Mary Hamilton 74 07/11/1784 Queen Charlotte to Mary Delany 75 07/11/1784 King George to Mary Delany 76 07/11/1784 To Charles Burney 77 12/11/1784 To Lord Guilford 78 25/11/1784 To Henry Hamilton 79 23/12/1784 To Mary Hamilton 80 Dec. 1784 To Frances Burney 81 13/01/1785 William Gilpin to Mary Delany 82 16/01/1785 To Mary Hamilton 83 22/01/1785 To Mary Hamilton 84 10/02/1785 To Mary Hamilton 85 11/02/1785 To Mary Hamilton 86 11/02/1785 King George to Mary Delany 87 09/03/1785 To Mary Hamilton 88 04/04/1785 To Mary Hamilton 89 19/05/1785 To Frances Hamilton 90 22/06/1785 To Mary Dickenson 91 22/06/1785 William Sandford to Frances Hamilton 92 11/07/1785 To Mrs Sandford 93 14/07/1785 To Mary Dickenson 94 21/07/1785 Anne Murray to Mary Dickenson 95 24/07/1785 William Sandford to Frances Hamilton 96 26/07/1785 To Frances Burney

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97 14/08/1785 Th e Hon. Mrs Walsingham to Mary Delany 98 15/08/1785 Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 99 19/08/1785 Georgina Mary Anna Port to Mary Port 100 20/08/1785 Th e Countess of Bute to Mary Delany 101 31/08/1785 To Frances Hamilton 102 03/09/1785 Queen Charlotte to Mary Delany 103 09/09/1785 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 104 15/09/1785 Th e Countess of Stamford to Mary Delany 105 15/09/1785 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 106 20/09/1785 To Mrs. Frances Hamilton 107 24/09/1785 Th e Right Hon. Fredrick Montagu to Mary Delany 108 25/09/1785 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 109 14/10/1785 Lord Guilford to Mary Delany 110 18/10/1785 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 111 23/10/1785 To Frances Burney 112 26/10/1785 Th e Hon. Anne Murray to Georgina Mary Anna Port 113 Undated To the Rev. John Dewes 114 29/10/1785 Court Dewes to the Rev. John Dewes 115 30/10/1785 Th e Earl of Guilford to Court Dewes 116 09/11/1785 William Gilpin to Mary Delany 117 09/11/1785 To Mr. Granville (Rev. John Dewes) 118 09/11/1785 Mrs. Frances Hamilton 119 11/11/1785 Th e Countess of Stamford to Mary Delany 120 29/11/1785 Lord Guilford to Mary Delany 121 05/12/1785 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 122 11/12/1785 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 123 21/12/1785 To Mary Port 124 24/12/1785 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 125 30/12/1785 Lord Guilford to Mary Delany 126 1786 To Mary Dickenson 127 01/01/1786 To Mary Dickenson 128 04/01/1786 Queen Charlotte to Mary Delany 129 04/01/1786 Lord Guilford to Mary Delany 130 04/01/1786 Th e Countess of Bute to Mary Delany 131 07/01/1786 Th e Countess of Bute to Mary Delany

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132 10/01/1786 Th e Countess of Stamford to Mary Delany 133 13/01/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 134 14/01/1786 Th e Viscountess Weymouth to Mary Delany 135 19/01/1786 Georgina Mary Anna Port’s to Mary Port 136 January 1786 To Lord Guilford 137 19/01/1786 Lord Guilford to Mary Delany 138 18/02/1786 Court Dewes, Esq., to Mrs. Granville 139 1/03/1786 To Frances Burney 140 07/03/1786 To Lord Guilford 141 04/04/1786 Queen Charlotte to Lady Weymouth 142 13/04/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 143 24/04/1786 Th e Rev. William Gilpin to Mary Delany 144 08/05/1786 Th e Rev. William Gilpin to Mary Delany 145 19/05/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 146 23/05/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 147 27/05/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 148 29/05/1786 To Mary Dickenson 149 03/07/1786 To Frances Hamilton 150 02/07/1786 To Frances Burney 151 03/07/1786 Th e Rev. William Gilpin to Mary Delany 152 10/07/1786 To Frances Burney 153 1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 154 08/07/1786 Th e Rev. William Gilpin to Mary Delany 155 11/07/1786 Hester Chapone to Mary Delany 156 12/07/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 157 23/07/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 158 04/08/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 159 August 1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 160 05/08/1786 Lord Guilford to Mary Delany 161 25/08/1786 Joseph Warton to Mary Delany 162 29/08/1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 163 09/09/1786 Th e Viscountess Weymouth to Mary Delany 164 10/09/1786 Georgina Mary Anna Port to John Port 165 11/09/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 166 21/09/1786 To Mary Dickenson

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167 24/09/1786 Th e Countess of Stamford to Mary Delany 168 24/09/1786 To Mrs. Frances Hamilton 169 03/10/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 170 11/10/1786 Th e Countess of Bute to Mary Delany 171 13/10/1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 172 October 1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 173 28/10/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 174 29/10/1786 To Mr Daniel Sandford 175 31/10/1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 176 04/11/1786 Mrs. Astley to Georgina Mary Anna Port 177 11/11/1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 178 14/11/1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 179 23/11/1786 Th e Hon. Mrs. Fox to Georgina Mary Anna Port 180 November 1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 181 28/11/1786 Th e Hon. Horace Walpole to Mary Delany 182 28/11/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 183 30/11/1786 To the Hon. Horace Walpole 184 30/11/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 185 01/12/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 186 08/12/1786 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 187 09/12/1786 Th e Countess of Stamford to Mary Delany 188 23/12/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 189 25/12/1786 To Mrs. Frances Hamilton 190 28/12/1786 Georgina Mary Anna Port to John Port 191 28/12/1786 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 192 22/01/1787 To Frances Burney 193 20/03/1787 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 194 31/03/1787 To Mary Dickenson 195 03/04/1787 To Mrs. Frances Hamilton 196 9/04/1787 To Frances Burney 197 26/04/1787 To Mr Daniel Sandford 198 17/05/1787 To Mrs. Frances Hamilton 199 20/05/1787 To Mr Daniel Sandford 200 10/06/1787 Mrs. Mee to Mrs. Anne Viney 201 14/06/1787 Mrs. Granville to Mrs. Anne Viney

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202 17/06/1787 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 203 18/06/1787 To Mr Daniel Sandford 204 01/07/1787 Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 205 29/07/1787 To Mrs. Granville 206 05/08/1787 To Mrs. Granville 207 11/08/1787 To Mrs. Frances Hamilton 208 03/09/1787 To Mr Daniel Sandford 209 Undated Emelia Clayton to Georgina Mary Anna Port 210 13/09/1787 Mrs. Preston to Mrs. Frances Hamilton 211 October 1787 Mrs. Preston to Mrs. Frances Hamilton 212 25/10/1787 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 213 21/11/1787 To Lord Gulford 214 07/12/1787 To Mr Daniel Sandford 215 13/12/1787 Th e Hon. Frances Boscawen to Mary Delany 216 03/12/1788 Court Dewes to Georgina Mary Anna Port 217 05/01/1788 To Mrs. Granville 218 06/01/1788 Th e Hon. Mrs. Fox to Georgina Mary Anna Port 219 18/01/1788 To Mrs. Frances Hamilton 220 January 1788 To Mr Daniel Sandford 221 03/02/1788 To Mary Port 222 11/02/1788 To Mrs. Granville 223 04/03/1788 Mrs. Astley to Daniel Sandford 224 22/03/1788 To Mr Daniel Sandford 225 April 1788 Georgina Mary Anna Port to Mary Dickenson 226 /04/1788 Georgina Mary Anna Port to Mary Dickenson 227 08/04/1788 Georgina Mary Anna Port to Mary Dickenson 228 13/04/1788 Horace Walpole to Mary Dickenson 229 13/04/1788 Bernard Dewes to Mary Dickenson 230 17/04/1788 Georgina Mary Anna Port to Mrs. Frances Hamilton

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1776

1 Mary Delany to Mary Howard, Lady Andover Source: Lewis Walpole Library 98–100.

Bulstrode 1

30 June 1776

Th e Duchess of Portland2 says Lady Andover longs to hear fr om me; and I long to write, and make my gratefull acknowledgements for your ladyship most kind and pleasant letter dated the 17th. Th ough my dear Lady Andover does not exhibit her amiable fi gure to view at Bulstrode. Th e idea of such a compassion (though but in imagination) makes every grove, every winding path, every wild­ ness of sweets, every rural scene, still pleasanter. Th e aff ectionate remembrance of a dear friend if [illeg.] more real worth than all her fi ne accomplishments; yet ‘tis but slender diet; I don’t think I shall grow as fat upon it as the sheep upon her Graces Lawn, now nibbling under my window; and therefore wish, and pray for a more substantial meal when the happy opportunity off ers. Will Madame see what a good example does? Your Ladyship’s boast of having performed seven visits, had put our delightfull friend upon her metal;3 and yes­ terday her Grace launched out into the troubled sea of visiting; I knotting by her side; the variety of beautifull scenes, of hills and dales; and woods and hay; cot­ tages and nymphs, and swans; carts luxuriantly loaded with the sweet spoyls of these meadows; and all in Buckinghamshire! made the road to Amersham very pleasant: screams of admiration often interrupted the thread of our discourse; sometimes a plant that a Linneus of Bulstrode4 had long been in search of and other vegetable objects that never escaped the piercing eye of a certain female philosopher – but alas! – as all human joys are imperfect, notwithstanding expectation and every usefull implement for the purpose, not one moth, but­ terfl ie or beetle made its appearance the whole way and we fi nished our voyage about eight o’clock without a prize, save one sprig of Dwarf Elder,5 which we brought home in triumph. Last night it was resolved we should continue the

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good work began, and visit on till all the Debts of Honour were paid. I would fain slip my neck out of the collar as such a spectre as so ancient a Dame may well be spared; and I hear the gay and fi ne folks say – “Why does not she stay at home and say her prayers and read books?” but my inexorable Law Giver says nay. I hope I may now say she is very well. I am without the least hesitation to say she is most aff ectionate to her Dear Andover and was happy with her letter. As to my ingenuous friend Miss F. Howard6 (to whom I beg best compliments) indulge her not in her idle fancies: let her criticise her own works and be satisfi ed because they are not as excellent as her own ideas. It is a fate they will meet with from no body else: I am proud of having pitched upon your favourite fl ower. I believe you presided over my sorrows and fancy at the hour of operation, as I have succeeded better than I thought I could have done. I have the pleasure of hearing from every body that Lord Suff olk is very well; long may you enjoy each others’ excellencies. Lady Weymouth7 and Lady Stamford8 send very good weekly accounts of them­ selves and family, which gives satisfaction to all that know them. Lord Mansfi eld9 spent one day and night here he was as easy as cheerful, as agreeable, as if he had no spitefull, envious detractors to deal with; but he is too considerable, too great, to be hurt by such a swarm of midgees, that can be dispersed and defeated by his breath; but they are certainly tiring. I wish they could all be catched in the but­ terfl ie snappers, and meet the fate they deserve. Now, my dearest Lady Andover, I own honestly that I have tired you to death, and that you most heartily repent of the encouragement you have given to

Your ladyships most truly affectionate and obedient humble servant,

MDelany

1. Bulstrode Park is a large estate to the Northwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Ger­ rard’s Cross. It was the main residence of the second, third and fourth Dukes of Portland between 1709 and 1809. Bulstrode was known in court circles as ‘Th e Hive’ because of the intense activity it housed in the time of Margaret Cavendish-Bentinck, second Duchess of Portland. 2. Only daughter of the fi rst Earl of Oxford, Margaret Cavendish Harley (1714–85) mar­ ried William Bentinck, second Duke of Portland, in 1734. She is commonly remem­ bered as a collector of art and natural history specimens and a patron of arts. See Pat Rogers, ‘Bentinck, Margaret Cavendish [Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley], duchess of Portland (1715–1785)’, ODNB [www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/40752, accessed 27 July 2014]. She was also one of Mary Delany’s best friends. Judging from Mary Delany’s letters, they met in 1736. In 1738, they became more intimate and the duchess invited her friend to stay a few days in Bulstrode. Aft erwards, Mary Delany came to Bulstrode every year, except when she was living in Ireland, she sometimes spent several weeks there, meeting scientists and aristocrats, occasionally meeting the royal family. To her

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Mary Delany sent her autobiographical letters and dedicated her Flora Delanica. She is one of the most oft en mentioned persons in Mary Delany’s correspondence. See Bodle­ ian, Msd 13, fol. 91; Msd 14, fols 191, 209, 237; Msd 16, fols 146, 154; Msd 17, fols 83, 88, 197, 213; Msd 18, fols 33, 142; Msd 19, fols 29, 44, 133; Msd 20, fols 72, 90; Lilly, ‘Mrs. Delany on ye Duchess of Portland’; LWL, 7–8, 22–3, 37–8, 40, 50, 56; NLW MS15 370D, 4 letters (1732, 1750, 1772 and one undated); NLW, MS 15 370D, 2, ‘Portfolio of Letters of the Duchess of Portland and her Family’; NO, Pw E7, Pw G 165; Newport 2: 15, 21, 22, 28, 29, 30 (‘An Account of the Princess of Hess’s Wedding’), 35, 36, 38, 41, 43, 60, 63, 80; Newport 2: 32 (‘Th ere is a kind of sorrow that enlarges the mind ...’); Newport 3: 5; Newport 4: 13, 70; Newport 5: 16, 35, 42, 53, 54, 57, 59; Newport 6: 3, 4, 7, 83, 71, 76; Newport 7: 24, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 54; Newport 8: 55–9; Newport 10: 5E (‘Address to Portlandia’); Rousseau, XVI, 43, 101, 291, 330; XVII, 39, 129, 261; XVIII, 48; XIX, 142, 195; XX, 141, 183, 276, 309, 319; LL, I, 74, 557, 589, 595, 596, 597, 604, 605, 607, 613, 614; LL, II, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 25, 27, 31, 37, 39, 40, 45, 53, 57, 59, 60, 62, 65, 84, 85, 105, 111, 114, 130, 134, 137, 138, 139, 150, 157, 158, 167, 168,181, 183, 184, 201, 204, 221, 224, 227, 229, 230, 231, 234, 237, 238, 243, 246, 251, 252, 260, 261, 262, 270, 281, 282, 285, 288, 291, 295, 299, 301, 332, 391, 398, 420, 421, 444, 446, 470, 471, 497, 504, 513, 517, 518, 519, 521, 523, 528, 531, 532, 533, 534, 536, 537, 539, 551, 563, 620, 621; LL, III, 11, 13, 34, 60, 70, 73, 98, 133, 139, 184, 207, 226, 229, 235, 239, 242, 255, 259, 300, 319, 383, 397, 415, 424, 475, 495, 564, 612; LL, IV, 1, 9, 10, 24, 46, 53, 68, 74, 79, 89, 90, 91, 97, 99, 106, 115, 119, 128, 142, 238, 340, 357, 359, 419, 444, 481; LL, V, 3, 12, 14, 25, 73, 79, 89, 91, 97, 102, 110, 130, 155, 187, 190, 191, 218, 249, 253, 282, 294, 305, 324, 353, 363, 369, 372, 375, 377, 378, 379, 405, 407, 410, 418, 423, 433, 444, 448, 455, 459, 469, 470, 473, 477, 479, 480, 490, 522, 525, 531, 546, 578, 579; LL, VI, 28, 31, 33, 44, 45, 58, 59, 61, 62, 66, 69, 74, 76, 77, 82, 89, 92, 95, 100, 105, 107, 116, 117, 120, 127, 133, 135, 147, 148, 149, 154, 155, 170, 192, 194, 195, 198, 200, 201, 202, 206, 215, 216, 222, 224, 226, 254, 256, 262, 263, 264, 265, 271, 272; Autobiography: LL, I, 7, 295; Mary Delany’s will (National Library of Wales, MS 15370D – 4). Yet few letters remain of the exchanges between the two women: a few written to Mary Pendarves/Delany, see LL, IV, 128, 357, 444; LL, V, 253; LL, VI, 222, 224, 226 and at least thirty-one lost letters (LL, I, 607; LL, II, 65, 252, 398, 420, 513, 620; LL, III, 11, 34, 60, 133, 156, 184, 207, 226, 229, 397, 564, 612; LL, IV, 24, 64, 68, 340, 359; LL, V, 102, 253, 354; LL, VI, 27, 92, 224); still fewer written by Mary Pendarves/Delany: NO, Pw E7; Newport 3: 5; Newport 4: 70 and nine lost letters (LL, II, 31; LL, III, 139, 235; LL, IV, 90, 357, 444; LL, VI, 224, 226). For secondary sources on her, see Brimley Johnson, pp. 33, 102, 105, 113, 115, 117, 118, 122, 126, 127, 128, 130, 134, 159, 160, 181, 197, 198, 208, 212, 214, 216, 220, 223, 225, 226, 228, 231, 233, 234, 241, 242, 245, 253, 256, 258, 261. Day, pp. 6, 7, 21, 57, 62, 63, 85, 116, 156, 163, 180, 195, 249, 272, 278, 287–8, 288. Dewes, pp. 135–6, 161–2, 179–80, 217, 219, 228, 230–1, 234, 236, 238–9, 251, 256, 260, 263–4, 266, 270, 274, 277, 280, 281, 282, 285, 287, 288, 290, 292, 295, 297, 310. Paston, pp. 4, 85, 101, 107, 111, 118, 121, 145, 147, 159, 161, 168, 171, 179, 186, 190, 192, 197, 199, 219, 222, 224, 230, 235, 240, 250, 251, 252, 259, 265, 269. Vulliamy, pp. 25, 27, 81, 152, 159, 179, 181, 193, 197, 224, 237, 261, 264, 269. 3. mettle. 4. Mary Delany’s major work was entitled A British Flora aft er the Sexual System of Lin­ naeus; or, An English Translation of the Linnean Names of all the British Plants. It was largely encouraged by her friend and partly prepared in Bulstrode. Th e Duchess of

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Portland had a real passion for botany and developed friendly relationships with the plantsman Philip Miller (1691–1771) and the botanical illustrator Georg Dionysius Ehret (1708–70) or John Lightfoot (1735–88), the naturalist, who was her librarian. Also see A. Kerhervé, ‘La duchesse de Portland, Mary Delany et Jean-Jacques Rousseau: regards croisés sur la botanique’, in A. Cossic (ed.), La Sociabilité en France et en Grande- Bretagne au Siècle des Lumières: l’émergence d’un nouveau modèle de société (Brest: France, 2009), pp. 139–79. 5. Sambucus ebulus is a herbaceous species of elder. A collage of ‘dwarf elder’ is present in Mary Delany’s Flora in the British Museum: ‘Sambucus Ebulus, Dwarf Elder 764. Bul­ strode 6.8.1768’ (vol. 8, p. 63). 6. Frances Howard was the daughter of William Howard, Lord Andover and Mary How­ ard, born Finch. See Burke’s Peerage, vol. 1, p. 163. She is repeatedly mentioned in the let­ ters exchanged between Mary Delany and Mary Howard, Viscountess Andover between 1765 and 1780. See LWL, 98, 106, 114; Newport 3: 30, 45; Newport 5: 30, 37; Newport 6: 4, 8, 17; Yale, 4240, 4241, 4243, 4245, 4249, 4250, 4251, 4252, 4254, 4255, 4256, 4257, 4258, 4259, 4260, 4261, 4266, 4271, 4272, 4275, 4277, 4278, 4279, 4280, 4281, 4284, 4286; LL, IV, 10, 46, 47, 51, 69, 103, 109, 113, 115, 118, 252; LL, V, 283, 376, 415, 418. 7. Elizabeth Cavendish (1735–1825), the eldest daughter of William Bentinck, second Duke of Portland, and his wife, Margaret Cavendish Harley married Th omas Th ynne, third Viscount Weymouth and first Marquess of Bath (1734–96) on 22 May 1759. See H. M. Scott, ‘Th ynne, Th omas, third Viscount Weymouth and fi rst Marquess of Bath (1734–1796)’, ODNB [www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/27425, accessed 27 July 2014]. Mary Delany’s correspondence provides quite a lot of information about her: ed­ ucated by Elizabeth Elstob from the age of fi ve years, she grew up with her sister, sharing her good mood as well as her activities (drawing, sculpture). She danced with the Polish prince Czartoryski at Court in 1757. In 1760, she went to Bath to spend a week there with Mary Delany whom she invited to stay with her at Longleat aft erwards. In 1761 she was too close to giving birth to attend the crowning ceremony. In 1766, she had two still-born boys. In 1775, she delivered her twelft h child – eight of whom survived, and had another daughter in 1781. Th e Weymouths regularly stayed at Bulstrode while Mary Delany was there. In 1776, 1778 and 1779, she went to Bulstrode with the royal couple and was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Charlotte. References in Mary Delany’s correspondence: LWL, 7, 70, 74, 98, 110; NLW MS 19979A, 1; Newport 3: 12, 20, 42, 50, 55, 58, 60, 67; Newport 4: 3, 5, 13, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 28, 31, 43; Newport 5: 22, 23, 25, 26, 40, 43, 52, 53, 54, 59, 60, 61, 62; Newport 6: 3, 7, 15, 17, 18, 19, 35; Newport 7: 8; Yale, 4244, 4255, 4256, 4257, 4259, 4260, 4263, 4264, 4265, 4266, 4269, 4271, 4282; LL, I, 563, 565, 574, 597, 617; LL, II, 131; LL, III, 73, 240, 254, 256, 258, 293, 320, 321, 471, 540, 557; LL, IV, 6, 23, 63, 68, 154, 166, 179, 194; LL, V, 92, 133, 138, 166, 168, 189, 191, 249, 336, 340, 341, 374, 375, 377, 378, 410, 412, 419, 454, 470, 471, 473, 477, 478, 479, 480, 531; LL, VI, 51, 57, 110, 112, 113, 136, 140, 163, 216, 221, 254, 269, 275, 278, 335, 344, 347, 384. Secondary sources: Brimley Johnson, p. 216. Dewes, pp. 234, 260, 264, 280, 296. Paston, pp. 80, 87, 103, 175, 185, 199, 202, 206, 226, 227, 235, 241, 242. 8. Lady Henrietta Cavendish-Bentinck (1737–1827) was the daughter of William Bentinck, second Duke of Portland and Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley. She married George Harry Grey, fi ft h Earl of Stamford, in 1763. See Burke’s Peerage, vol. 3, p. 3185. She was acquainted with Mary Delany from her youth. They met regularly from the

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1760s. Mary Delany fi rst called her Lady Stamford in 1769. References in Mary Delany’s correspondence: Newport 3: 19, 34, 42, 67, 75; Newport 4: 36; Newport 5: 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 33, 36, 48, 53; Newport 6: 2, 3, 4, 8, 15, 27, 35, 52, 53, 55, 71; Newport 7: 18; LL, I, 597, 617; LL, II, 85; Yale, 4256, 4257, 4259, 4260, 4263, 4264, 4265, 4266, 4267, 4268; LL, III, 240, 293, 320, 321, 471, 528, 540, 552; LL, IV, 6, 131, 154, 229; LL, V, 81, 92, 195, 290, 320, 407, 409, 410, 449, 514, 531, 584; LL, VI, 135, 275, 294, 311, 354, 355. Letters written to Mary Delany: LL, V, 290, 483; LL, VI, 56, 62, 268, 283, 293, 298, 310, 332, 389, 423, and four lost letters (NP, III, 18; LL, IV, 282); letters received from Mary Delany: at least fourteen lost letters (NP, IX, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20; LL, V, 290; LL, VI, 268, 423). 9. William Murray, fi rst Earl of Mansfi eld (1704/5–93) was the son of David Murray, fi ft h Viscount of Stormont and Marjory Scott. He married Lady Elizabeth Finch, daughter of Daniel Finch, seventh Earl of Winchilsea and Hon. Anne Hatton, in 1738. He was invested as a King’s Counsel in 1742, held the offi ce of Attorney-General between 1754 and 1756, of Lord Chief Justice between 1756 and 1758. He also held the offi ces of Chancellor of the Exchequer (1757, 1767), of Speaker of the House of Lords in 1760, 1770 and 1771. He was created fi rst Earl of Mansfi eld, co. Nottingham in 1776 and fi rst Earl of Mansfield, co. Middlesex in 1792. SeeBurke’s Peerage, vol. 2, p. 2599. In 1758, Mary Delany is pleased with one of his sentences as Lord Chief Justice. In 1776, she notes that Lord Mansfi eld opposes the publication of two treatises by Hume. In 1779, she has lunch at his place. In 1780, the Earl of Guilford praises one of Lord Mansfi eld’s speeches in the House of Commons. Lord Mansfi eld spends several days at Mary De­ lany’s place. From 1780, she no longer meets him, but hears from him and his family in Frances Boscawen’s letters. References in Mary Delany’s correspondence: LWL, 74, 98; Newport 6: 18, 35, 44, 63; Yale, 4269, 4274; LL, II, 8; LL, III, 168, 303, 349, 430, 431, 455, 490; LL, V, 27, 132, 265, 278, 393, 475, 487, 538, 564; LL, VI, 30, 56, 63, 229, 295, 297, 298, 319, 322, 335, 347, 352, 370, 385, 396, 432.

2 Mary Delany to Mary Howard, Lady Andover Source: Lewis Walpole Library 102–4.

10 October 1776

I should certainly not have waited for my Dear Lady Andovers letter on the sub­ ject of the shock received in this family had not the Duchess of Portland written herself which I thought would be more satisfactory to your Ladyship. It has been an unexpected and astonishing blow and the great tenderness and humanity of our Dear Friend have suffered greatly from it. He seemed to those who did not know him well the happiest of servants but he had a melancholly discontented mind and not good health which made him unable to support himself and no reason but insanity can be assigned. I thank God the Duchess of Portland is bet­ ter. She slept well the night before last was in better spirits yesterday and applied herself to her usual delightful employment. I know nothing of her today as she is not yet [shining] and I am going to Windsor to fetch Lady Dowager Tyrconel1 to spend a few days here. I shall say nothing of my self but that. My spirits rise

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and fall with those of my most precious friend and that I am at all times with the utmost esteem my Dearest Lady Andover

Most aff ectionate and obedient.

It was very fortunate that the [dash account] was committed at Whitehall and not here. Returned with Lady Tyrconel and found the Duchess pretty well. She says very well and bids me add her love to Lady Andover. Miss [G H] beg the acceptance of mine.

1. Frances Clift on, the daughter of Sir Robert Clift on and Lady Frances Coote, married George Carpenter, fi rst Earl of Tyrconnell, son of George Carpenter, second Baron Car­ penter of Killaghy and Elizabeth Petty, in March 1747 (CP, vol. 2, p. 108). She must have become Lady Dowager Tyrconnell, as misspelt by Mary Delany at her husband’s death in 1761, when the title of second Earl of Tyrconnell passed to her son George Carpenter (1750–1805).

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