Literary Life of the Rev. William Harness
William Harness to George Mitford, 31 July 1808
“Harrow, 31st July, 1808.
“I was impudent enough to invite myself to your house, and you
were kind enough to say that I should be welcome; it was afterwards settled I should
come to the Races. I am too selfish to let such an opportunity slip, and fully intend to
bore ![]()
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you for some time at Grasely. I hope
Mrs. Mitford will not turn me out. Will you
then, my dear Sir, let me know when the Races are, and when I shall be least troublesome
to you; for as soon as you appoint I shall come down and harass Miss Mitford to death! My father and grandmother send their love and compliments to Mrs. and
Miss Mitford and yourself. I shall keep all my civil things till
we meet.
“Believe me,
“Yours sincerely,
John Harness (1755 c.-1818)
The father of Byron's childhood friend William Harness; he was a naval surgeon, friend of
Admiral Nelson, and physician to the Mediterranean Fleet (1796-98).
William Harness (1790-1869)
A Harrow friend and early correspondent of Byron. He later answered the poet in
The Wrath of Cain (1822) and published an edition of Shakespeare
(1825) and other literary projects. Harness was a longtime friend of Mary Russell
Mitford.
George Mitford (1760-1842)
The spendthrift father of Mary Russell Mitford; he was a sometimes physician who survived
on the inheritance of his wife and the earnings of his daughter.
Mary Mitford the elder [née Russell] (1750-1830)
Daughter of Dr. Richard Russell, vicar of Overton and Ash, and mother of the writer of
the same name; she married George Mitford in 1785.
Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855)
English poet, playwright, and essayist; author of
Our Village: Sketches
of Rural Character and Scenery (1824, etc.).
