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via City of N. York          Liverpool 8 April 1862
                                              Tuesday afternoon
Dear Ann
                  I have not written to you for nearly
a week and have in the interim recd 3 letters
from you – dated 19/21, 21/22, & 25 ulto & the
last of these reached me today.---
     I have just been paying £101 – for 2 Hhds of
fine Sherry, each containing 55 gallons & one
costing £56 10/ –. the other 44 10/ –.
    They are on board the sailing ship "Harvest Queen"
one of C.H. Marshall’s packets to sail 12th: inst.
     If Matthew likes, he can take one of these
Hhds for his own use, & he can have either
the dearer or the cheaper hhd, just as he
pleases.  – Old Sherry wine or good [underscored] Sherry,
such as this, is good for old people [underscored], such
as we are getting to be.
    If Matthew decline this offer & you, for
your own convenience, would rather not
have to make room in the house for both Hhds
— then Mr. Gardner, or any other friend, who
would like it, may take the cheaper [underscored] Hhd.
at cost & expenses.
    I purchased the same day a pipe of
Port Wine. ("Sanderman’s" Wine, vintage
of ’58) from another party – Christopher H
Bushell & Co. , (Mr. Bushell was a clerk of
old Mr. Knowles in Slater St) – It is a
rich Wine – I hope it may not be too sweet


for your palate. – It is to be bottled in bond,
(the corks to be entirely covered with wax)
& it will be ready for shipment in about a
month & then be shipped to Maury Bros on
board one of C.H Marshall’s packets.  There
will be about 57 doz.:, & it will be packed
in cases of 3 dozen. - & will cost about
23/ – or 24/ – only p[er] doz:.
     Thus the Port is a far cheaper commod
=ity than the Sherry.
    I intend the sherry to be drawn off into
demijohns, & stored away up stairs;
but I fear it will put you & your aids
to a great deal of trouble.
   If Matthew would like to have any of this
Port Wine also, he can take as much as he
pleases, not exceeding one half of the whole
quantity.
    If Mrs. King would like to have any of
either kind of this Wine (Matthew de=
=clining both) she is welcome to take
what I offer to Matthew; & I would ra=
-ther that this option were offered to her
before Mr. Gardner or any third party.
     Fontaine was to commence operations
today with Fawcett Preston & Co:, and as
I remarked to him, it will be trading in


the footsteps of Peter the Great. – He is to go
to work after today at 6 a:m: [underscored] - & to be
employed all the time that the men are
employed in the works.  He is to begin
in the muddling room, cutting & carving
in wood the models for the castings.
Having to provide his own tools, he
applied to me yesterday for money to
buy them.  The foreman, who was to
accompany him to-day to make the
selection of the tools, told him that they
would cost £3 to £4; so I gave him £4.
     He seems to like the occupation that
lies before him, & I hope he will stick to
it steadily, & persevere until he thus makes
himself independent. – At any rate I
am glad that he is to be occupied instead
                                               if
of having nothing to do, even ˄ he is con=
=tinue, for a while, dependent on me
for his support. – Nothing has been prom-
=ised to him as yet, except work – i.e.
no agreement as to compensation [underscored] has been
entered into; & I suppose this will depend on
his own aptitude & prowess. –
    William is a gentleman at large, & he
must be at some loss, I should think, how
to kill time.  He has paid me 2 visits


today. –
     When they both dined with the Addi=
=sons on Thursday last, I perceived that
after T [underscored] Margaret was wishing them
to take their leave before 9½ p.m., as
that is the hour at which the servants
are assembled every evening for family
prayers; & immediately afterwards, she
retires to her bed-room. – I therefore
did my best to induce our nephews
to "make themselves scarce"; but it
was to no purpose: – They would [underscored] stay
until past 10, & seemed all the more
determined to do so because I so
strongly urged them to leave at the
earlier hour. – I rated them well
when I saw each of them separately
the following day.
     I suppose Fontaine has presented him=
=self, as I suggested, at 23 Hamilton
Square; in as much as Tom Bold spoke
to me today (when I met him at Little
=dale's cotton room) & remarked that F-
had got into a good berth, & that it
would be a good thing for him.
    I wish Tobin were similarly engaged at the


5
Novelty Works: - or, if he must go to
China, that he would spend some years
first
˄ in New York, learning his duties in
the office of some house in the China
trade – just as everybody else does
before going to China.  As it is, he is mere
=ly carrying out a boyish dream.  Thus
I still hope his may not have left upon
this mad-cap expedition - & that he
may have decided to stay in N. York until
he has learnt all that is needful, which
would require at least 3 or 4 years, I suppose.
   9th: April – We had a very fine day yester
-day, but I had little benefit from it, being
mostly occupied in doors.  Today is fair but
cloudy. – I am taking more exercise now
that my head-quarters are at New Brighton
than I did when we were all in Welfield Place.
    We breakfast at ¼ before 9, & dine at 6.
      I commonly get ½ or ¾ of an hour’s stroll before
breakfast; & sometimes, for the sake of the exer=
=cise, I cross at the Seacombe Ferry. – One morn
=ing I walked thither after breakfast, over the
fields to Wallasea Church & along the high
road from thence past Mrs. Boode’s monu=
=ment thro’ Poulton. – I observed it was
in April ’26 that she was killed. – I went
past the spot where old Wm: Bird lived in


his picturesque but dirty cottage – “the Bird
in a Cage,”? as he described himself.  But
the dirty bird-cage has been demolished.
  I passed in front of Poulton Hall, where Mr.
Healing used to live before he bought his Brom
=boro' estate. – The enormous bee-hive on
the South side of the Pool, & the presence of
large ships, even at the head [underscored] of the Pool, &
the vast amount of smoke arising from
the foundries & other works, have wrought
a great change indeed, & certainly not
for the better in a rural point of view.
   But Bidstone Hill looks just as of yore,
when you went there to botanise, except
that all the signal poles have disappeared.
  Except on the borders of the Pool, I saw
but little change. – I extended my walk
so as to reach the shore, (or what used to be
the shore) by the road beside the farm
house of the Rothwells [underscored]. – The next day
I crossed to Seacombe at 4 p.m., & took
the road to Poulton & Wallasea, passing in
front of the house where the Websters
lived at Poulton, & walking thro’ Wallasea
village. – I took note of Mr. & Mrs. Wilson’s
house now inhabited by a Mr. Ripley,
& little Mr. Massey’s snug quarters.  – I can


-not learn what has become of Mr. Massey
or his sisters.
     This morng. I walked to Seacombe, to
embark for town in the 10 ¼ boat (fare
1d:) & by walking as fast as I could I
accomplished it in 40 minutes, but it was
hard work. – On board the boat, to my
surprise, I found Wm: Carson, who tells
me he has been living for 6 years past
in a house on the high-road between  Sea=
=combe & Poulton, about 5 minutes
walk beyond “Sodlers’ Wells.”? – I also
met with the Revd Alfred J. Tomlin, A.B. &
Surrogate, who lives at Hope Cottage, Victoria
Road (alias “Grosvenor Square”?) Seacombe:
& had quite a talk with him.  He tells me
that his sister Ellen died about a year ago,
that his sister Eliza lives in L’pool with
Mrs. Richards, that Mrs. O’Callaghan (I
think was [struckthrough] is her name) was  here last
summer, the first time for 30 years; that
Mr. Fischer is still living at Hong Kong
– & that finally that he (the Revd. A.J.) is
now the father of 3 children, & will be glad
to see me at his house; - & I have some
notion of taking him at his word. – I often
see his eldest bother, stalking about, &


looking idle, shabby, intemperate & miser
-able.  Indeed he looks so unpleasant
that I have not claimed his acquaint-
=ance.
      All is going on well with the Hamiltons
in Leicestershire, as Mary Bold’s note, I dare
say, will tell you. –
     Mr. Robt Heath wants me to pay him a
visit on my return from New Brighton; & I
rather think I shall go for 2 or 3 days.
    I am sorry to hear of Dr. Hawke’s having
sent in his resignation, but I hope as you do
that the majority of his congregation will be
found averse to parting with him.
     There was something I wished to tell you;
but I have quite forgotten what it is about.
     The English climate agrees with me; for
in spite of much exercise I am grown fatter
than I ever was before.
     I wish you were here in my stead, to pay
the 2 months visit to Mary Wakefield, &
to enjoy yourself with other old friends.
    If I could put on Fortunaters’ cap, I would
take flight to 4th St., & then hand it to you
for a flight in this direction; for I think the
change would be beneficial to you.  Why
cannot you embark after Tobin has sailed?
(if he is to sail?)   yours affectionately
                                        Ruston Maury