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| Archive Reference / Library Class No. | D8760/F/FSJ/1/10/3 |
| Former Reference | D3311/30/3 |
| Title | Part of letter from Mary Anne Kay to her uncle Sir John Franklin |
| Date | [Apr 1826] |
| Description | Last sheet of letter, in the handwriting of Mary Anne Kay. Refers to Miss Appleton having changed her name to McLachlan, but her remaining quite as she was. Contains factual items about a wide range of individuals and events, mostly remote from the Kay and Franklin families, as if taken from newspapers. There is mention of William having made a portrait of "dear little Eleanor" [Sir John's daughter] for Dr Thomson. A reference to Captain King and Captain Pringle Stokes being about to leave to survey the coast of Patagonia implies a date in or about April 1826. |
| Extent | 1 sheet |
| Level | Item |
| Repository | Derbyshire Record Office |
| Full Catalogue List | Click here to view a full list for this collection |
| Sender | Mary Anne Kay |
| Sender Location | No address |
| Recipient | John Franklin |
| Recipient Location | No address |
| Archive Creator | Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) |
| Gell family of Hopton Hall, Wirksworth |
| Transcript or Index | To Captn Franklin R.N.
Commander of the
Land Arctic Expedition
M. Kay
I suppose of course Mama has told you of Miss Appleton having changed her name for that of Mrs Lachlan _ but she is at present quite Miss Appleton as she [was?]. Mr Phillips has been to Rome for two or three months & is just returned in consequence of his having been made Professor of Painting in the room of the late Mr Fuseli _ All his family are quite well. William made a portrait of dear little Eleanor for Dr. Thomson. Mrs. J. is in very bad health indeed & is going out of Town very soon. We saw a Son of Admiral Walker’s there the other day who said he knew you. Tunbridge Wells Church is just where it was as they have not even purchased the ground yet & Dr J. says he’s very glad Papa has had nothing to do with it. Mr Elliot son [sic] died about the latter end of Septbr tho’ they had been long fearing it his death was sudden at last. Nothing has yet been heard ^of or^ from the Enterprize Steam Vessel ^which sailed in July^ since she left the Cape. She had arrived there without accident but had lost the premium having been longer on her passage than many Vessels have been known to sail _ The delay appears to have arisen from want of coals in a great measure. You know Mr. Johnson the Commander promised to dine with some friends in England on Xmas day & has not yet made his appearance _ Captain P.P. King is about to leave England in the adventure & in company [paper torn] the Beagle ^Beagle^ commanded by Captn. Pringle Stokes, on a Survey of the Streight Magellan ^Magellan^ & Le Maire and the S.W. Coast of Patagonia as far north as Chile. He has had two more sons since you left. His children are all the most intelligent & best behaved of any I ever knew. Mr Ridelle has again been kind enough to put me in possession of some information he thought you would be glad to know. In the first place I must tell you of Ramages [sic] reflecting telescope which is at present set up at the Royal Observatory. It is smaller than Herschells [sic] being only 15 inches in diameter & 25 feet long but then one person can manage it. The speculum is also better than any of Hershells _ Mr. Pond says he considers it a perfect instrument as he has seen the most difficult objects with it & under the most disadvantageous circumstances. They observed the circulation of Saturn by the Moon [with?] on ^the afternoon of^ Thursday the 16th [?June?]. [Struve?] has had a great Refracting Telescope secretly made for him by Franenhofer of 12 inches aperture & furnished with clockwork movement by which it follows the stars and the observer seems to look at the object before him as if it were on an immovable sky. Three gold medals have been voted by the Astronomical Society to Messrs Herschell, South, & Struve[?] for the success with which they have applied themselves to discover the relative motion of double & treble stars. Mr Herschell & Mr. South filled one whole & large part of the Transactions of the Royal Society. The annual Astronomical prize of the Institute of France has also been adjudged to their valuable memoir. At the Anniversary Dinner of the R. S. of London on Novbr last J? W. Peel announced his Majesty’s intention of granting the sum of 100 guineas annually to establish scientific prizes to be awarded every year for the most important discoveries & [?] A friend of Mr Riddle’s Mr Galloway, a north countryman has constructed a working model of a rotatory Steam Engine in which both and all other wise men who have seen it are convinced that he has completely overcome all the difficulties that have hitherto stood in the way of that very able object. I have heard that Miss Herschell has since her residence in Hanover has occupied herself in revising & reducing to a general catalogue in [?] all the twenty feet sweeps of her Brother the late Sir Willm. This as the Newspaper says is a work of immense labour & will be an extraordinary monument of the unextinguished ardour of a Lady of seventy five in the course of abstract science. They have since however said that her catalogue is not of [Saturn?] in general but only of Nebula. Mr Riddle desires me to tell you that the Book-Sellers of England & [all?] who to them belong are on the brink of destruction & that he wishes you great success in your perilous & interesting expedition and a happy meeting with your friends in England. I told you in my last of a Committee having been appointed for the king ... a Glass House has since been built & a
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