Shrewsbury
August 15th. | 1832
My dear Charles—
We received your last letter to Catherine with one for Mr. Owen dated
Rio June: on Saturday last and very great pleasure it gave us to have another happy
account of yourself. Tho' you complain so much of the difficulty of writing we should
not have found it out as we could not have had a nicer or more chatty letter than your
last.— I think you have found out the way at last of making that idle old Dag
write to you by sending him commissions to execute: he has sunk into such a Lethargy in
London that it requires three letters from us before we can rouse him to send
us a line in return.— I can't conceive why he has buried himself alive this
lovely summer in the dirt of London for he has been talking of coming down &
going abroad the last three months yet nothing comes of it.—
Mr. & Mrs. Hensleigh are at Maer & coming
to see us early in September & I expect that by some chance Erasmus
will then appear among us, for there is certainly great attraction in that
quarter.— Your account of the fatal effects of Snipe Shooting is very
melancholy especially poor little Musters death who was such a merry little animal: I
suppose they must have died on Ship board? How fortunate it was you did not join that
party which I think you regretted at the time. I hope my dear Charley this will be a
warning to you to be exceedingly careful of not over tiring yourself lest you
should bring on these fevers Papa sends his most affectionate love to you & bids
me again repeat what we have all said continually how much we hope we may depend upon on
your not allowing any false shame to prevent your returning whenever you feel inclined
it would make us all so happy to have you back again. I am very much pleased to find the
quiet Parsonage has still such charms in your eyes. it is so delightful to look
forward & fancy you settled there.—and in spite of this marrying year
I am sure you will find some nice little wife left for you.— Robert Wedgwood
has been here & went on yesterday to the Hill from thence he proceeds to pay
Mr. & Mrs. Edward Holland a visit &
inspect his own future abode at Dumelton (which it is
now called) He has taken to farming & keeps more than 40 Ducks
& Fowls, also rents the Maer Pool from Uncle Jos. which I
shd. think a doubtful speculation, as I believe he is to give
20 pounds a year for it.— Papa has not been as well as usual lately,
he has had the Lumbago & altogether finds the least exertion too much for him:
we are persuading him as much as possible to give up going out to see Patients,
& then he wd. avoid any hurry or fatigue. The Hot house
is a great pleasure & before yr letter came he had sent for a
Banana—we eat our first Pine from the Hothouse on Monday last Uncle John being
with us who pronounced it very good. Joseph's head is quite turned by this first
production.— Papa desires me to tell you that the Bill for yr money at the
Bank had not been presented on the 9th of this Month, but Papa has given
directions to have it honored: & he gives consent to the commissions you have
sent to ask Erasmus to get.—
Caroline and I set out the day after tomorrow into Derbyshire to pay our long promised
visit at Osmaston. I can hardly beleive it is two years since William & Julia
were here. I hope all the Sick Sisters will be pretty well as I shall like to get
acquainted with them especially Frances Jane. William has not been well enough to do his
duty lately so I hope he may be at home.— Caroline would like to meet Bessy
Galton to see how the flirtation prospers, but it would put me in a rage to see them
together so I hope she won't be there.— Mrs. Fox is our
particular horror, such a turn for Mechanics alarms us. I have just got ``Babbage on
Machinery'' & shall certainly study it very
diligently as a preparation.— Catherine & I went to Ness
yes<terday> to join a party on the Hill. Owens of
course the chief attraction. Woodhouse seems so altered & odd with little Caddy
& Francis as props of that once gay house.— Poor Owen is very unwell
in London with the Jaundice,—& Sarah has quite lost the Owen
constitution she is composing a long letter to you which she has just written to ask me
how to direct.— Fanny has been very busy lately canvassing
Denbighshire with Mr Biddulph & very successfully.
Ld. Kenyons son has no chance against them.—
I daresay Caroline told you in her last letter what a pleasant day we spent at Major
Bayleys & how very much he talked about his friend Charles. I have not seen Tom
Eyton for an age but whenever I do will certainly urge him to go after you.—
The Cholera has at last reached Shrewsbury but there have not been 20 cases
yet & I hope it may soon die away,—Catty I think is more alarmed about
it thay anyone else in the household.— The present pet of the house is a young
Cuckoo which was taken by some boys out of a Larks nest. I am afraid it will never live
to say Cuckoo next Spring.—
We went to a Bowmeeting at Pradoe on the 10th
of this Month, & we all did nothing but stare at the unfortunate little Bride of
Sir Rowland Hill's who made her first public appearance there. She looks very childish
but rather pretty & pleasant looking. She was the great heiress Miss Clegg whose
marriage had been kept secret more than a year by that old beldame Mrs
Hill who of course contrived it.— After all our plans being settled to go to
Osmaston we had a letter yesterday to tell us poor William was again so unwell they
cd. not receive us I suppose it is Consumption they fear as his Chest
is affected— He had got yr letter & was very much pleased by yr
writing to him. What an unfortunate & sickly family the poor Foxes
are.— This is a very dull epistle dear Charles but it is merely to tell you we
are all well. pray let no opportunity pass without writing it is such a comfort
& pleasure to hear from you my dearest C. & will you in future just
mention the dates of our letters: So far not one has missed either way which is very
comfortable.
God bless you & with all our affectionate Loves Believe me Ever
Yrs. | Susan E Darwin
I know I have put H.M.S. wrong in this direction but in future I will do it
right if you will pardon me this time.—
