Letters from his mother

Includes:

You can now see "all the mountains and Lowther Castle, from the Terace" at Brougham, now that the bank of wood is thinned, "a great improvement", 26 May 1828; Dalemain needs re-roofing, and a new farmhouse is needed at Soulby, do.; Sir Philip Musgrave ill and shrunken, do.; will Sir John Beckworth take Armathwaite Castle? (his Lady objects to it), do.; death of Mr Taylor from dropsy etc., do.; Carleton up for sale again - £45,000 offered by "a Mr Cooper" from London (his father was "Steward to the late Family at Hutton"), but declined, do.; new times of the Mail-Coach "through this Village", have upset the district - used to be 7 a.m. to, 10 a.m. from, Penrith; now 3 a.m. to, 9.30 p.m. from, and no deliveries en route - "terrible", 21 June 1827; Penrith shopping, do.; thoughts on the Vanes, do. - Sir Frederick's choosing to live apart "degrades his family" and is the result of "unequal marriage" - another such is the Duke of St Albans' marriage to Mrs Coutts, do.; to EH's visit to and report on HJ, do.; Mrs Atkinson in I.O.M. for sea-bathing - "went from Lancaster in a steam Packet" do.; Lady Fleming's visit - Mrs Crackenthorpe called (very tactlessly after her son's lawsuit), 20 July 1827; people's horses decked in blue, or yellow [Election colours], do.; how politics affects whom one visits now, do.; F Fleming now at Bootle, far better than Calderbridge for him, do.; Mrs Taylor now at Moresby, do.; death of Sir Philip Musgrave, from effects of the 1826 Carlisle Election on him, do.; a Dalemain christening party (damped by the news of Sir Philip's death), 13 Aug. 1827; tactless Lady Musgrave (vivid details), do.; all well at HJ, do.; house full at Lowther (visit) - names of those there, do.; Rydal as ever, though the Bishop of Chester and ladies living at Ivy Cottage - the Bishop's tour, visit to Calgarth, etc., do.; my visit there - found Charlotte taken ill in Church, do.; details of Lady Fleming's recent improvements to her six rooms upstairs, Library, etc. - new bookcases, furniture, chimney-piece, all approved of by the Bishop, but seldom used, 22 Sept. 1827 (dated from Kydal Hall); the Bishop's preachings, do.; the ball at Bowness - a "foreigner" lady with "most splendid Head of Diamonds" opened it with Mr Lutwidge, do.; the Swinburns have taken Bowness Rectory, do.; Sir Richard is steadier now, though far to go yet, do.; how Mr Harrison died (of fits, at Edinburgh, under care there, aged 55), do.; cousin Andrew gone to Yorkshire to his niece Miss Ward's marriage, do.; time he married, too, do.; Dallam burgled, but at least Mrs Wilson was spared seeing "the person" in her room, do.; Carleton sold for £55,000 to Mr Cooper of Hutton, 20 Nov. 1827; the Vanes, 20 Dec. 1827; "North Country" families at Brighton, do.; the Musgrave succession, do.; Dr Satterthwaite's will, do.; Lowther sale (700 books, 2 four-wheeled carriages, effects) 26 Dec., do.; the heavy Coach delayed six hours by its load of 60 barrels of oysters - no room therefore for Mr Brougham in it, do.; Mr Atkinson has written (as an old friend) to Governor Lushington about you, do.; at HJ Mr Bateman is attached to the place, repels poachers, says John, do.; Moorehouse's troubles [their farmer] about the poor - Joe, a Dacre apprentice, "took off" with his Uncle's widow to marry her in Scotland, then left her, disowned by Dacre on a legal defect in Joe's indentures - it now goes to the Sessions, do.; thoughts on the faults of the present system, do.; Lord Lonsdale's birthday - local celebrations, do.