William Godwin: his Friends and Contemporaries
Ch. X. 1819-1824
Lady Caroline Lamb to William Godwin, [September? 1823]
“My Dear Sir,—I will, and
indeed have written, and would that I could be of use to you. Some
circumstances which I do not much wish to explain prevent me from offering my
own assistance in the manner I could wish. Believe me, however, I will warmly
press the matter to the few I know. In the meantime, will you in charity send
me another ream of that thick drawing paper, 100 more pens, and two dozen
sticks of wax. Not that I either write or do anything with it, but it goes as
quick as lightning. Pray tell me if Mrs
Shelley is your daughter: they say she is very interesting and
beautiful, and is returned from abroad.
“Write to the Marquis of
Lansdowne, Earl Fitzwilliam,
Lord Dacre, the Duke of Devonshire, without naming me: merely
send the circular letter, also to Mr
Mansfield, Upper Winpole St., the Dowager Lady Lansdowne, Mr
Lambton, Earl Grey, Lord Holland. None of these are friends of mine,
but I think from circumstances it will be well to write to them. There is also
Mr Rogers in St James’ Place.
Douglas Kinnaird too: he is a friend
of Lord Byron’s, and to him I have
already written; but in all these cases you must not name me, only send the
letters as from Mr Murray.—Believe me
sincerely yours,
“Will you send my small account due to your
secretary to Dr Roe, that I may
discharge it?”
Thomas Brand, twentieth lord Dacre (1774-1851)
Of The Hoo, Hertfordshire; the son of Thomas Brand; he was a Whig MP for Hertfordshire
(1807-19) and married as his second wife, the poet Barbarina, Lady Dacre, in 1819—the same
year he succeeded his mother in the title.
William Wentworth Fitzwilliam, second earl Fitzwilliam (1748-1833)
The nephew of the Marquis of Rockingham and lifelong friend of Charles James Fox and Lord
Carlisle; he was president of the Council (1806-07) and lieutenant of the West Riding from
1798 to 1819 when he was dismissed for his censure of the Peterloo massacre.
Henry Richard Fox, third baron Holland (1773-1840)
Whig politician and literary patron; Holland House was for many years the meeting place
for reform-minded politicians and writers. He also published translations from the Spanish
and Italian;
Memoirs of the Whig Party was published in 1852.
Charles Grey, second earl Grey (1764-1845)
Whig statesman and lover of the Duchess of Devonshire; the second son of the first earl
(d. 1807), he was prime minister (1831-34).
John Mansfield (1778-1839)
Of Birstall House, son of the banker of the same name (d. 1798); he was a banker and MP
for Leicester (1820-26) and sheriff of Leicester (1833).
John Murray II (1778-1843)
The second John Murray began the
Quarterly Review in 1809 and
published works by Scott, Byron, Austen, Crabbe, and other literary notables.
Lady Mary Petty [née Maddox] (d. 1833)
The daughter of Hinton Maddox; she married, first, Duke Gifford, and second, in 1805,
John Henry Petty, second Marquess of Lansdowne. Maria Edgeworth described her as
“perfectly natural, daring to be herself, gentle, sprightly, amiable, and
engaging.”
George Hamilton Roe (1795-1873)
Irish physician educated at Trinity College, Dublin; once a protégé of Lady Caroline
Lamb, he was a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.
Samuel Rogers (1763-1855)
English poet, banker, and aesthete, author of the ever-popular
Pleasures of Memory (1792),
Columbus (1810),
Jaqueline (1814), and
Italy (1822-28).
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley [née Godwin] (1797-1851)
English novelist, daughter of William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecaft, and the second wife
of Percy Bysshe Shelley. She is the author of
Frankenstein (1818)
and
The Last Man (1835) and the editor of Shelley's works
(1839-40).
