My Friends and Acquaintance
Laman Blanchard III
Samuel Laman Blanchard to Peter George Patmore, 6 August 1843
“My dear Patmore,—We are
delighted with your kind note, which, though we could not any of us start off
to take advantage of it, was the more welcome for coming in a season of
trouble,—one of my little boys having had his face cut to pieces by the
bursting of a soda-water bottle. It has ![]()
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made my wife ten
thousand times more nervous than ever; but the eye is safe and untouched, and
she will get better again presently. I fear, however, most kind and tempting as
your invitation is, and grateful as we feel to Mrs.
Patmore and you, that there is little chance for my wife at
present, as we are almost going to Hastings in a week,
where I shall not stay above a day or two, and may consequently run down to you
speedily, for four-and-twenty hours, giving you notice, in order to secure you
at home. I have nothing to say to-day about Sidney, except that you are very kind to him,
and that he is very lucky. Your note and its explicit directions are as good as
any guide book extant, and to miss one’s way is impossible.
“Our friendliest regards to Mrs. Patmore, and my especial remembrances to C. P.
“Yours ever,
“Laman Blanchard.
“I have been writing night and day about the
subscription for the children of my poor old friend Elton; it is most successful.”
Sidney Laman Blanchard (1827 c.-1883)
The eldest son of Laman Blanchard; he worked as a journalist in London and India and was
afterwards a barrister. He contributed to
Temple Bar.
Edward William Elton (1794-1843)
English actor, originally Elt; after a provincial career he performed at Covent Garden
and Drury Lane in the 1830s; he drowned in a steamboat accident.
Peter George Patmore [Tims] (1786-1855)
English writer and friend of Charles Lamb and Leigh Hunt; an early contributor to
Blackwood's, he was John Scott's second in the fatal duel, editor of
the
Court Journal, and father of the poet Coventry Patmore.
