COLLECTION NAME:
Mary Hamilton Papers
Record
Image Number:
HAM21.pdf
Reference Number:
HAM/2/1
Link to Catalogue:
Series Title:
Manuscript Diaries
Parent Work Title:
Diary of Mary Hamilton
Creator:
Hamilton, Mary, 1756-1816
Creator Role:
Author
Date Created:
1776
Description:
The diary covers 1st August 1776-October 1776 and details a visit to Spa, Germany that Hamilton went as guests of Lord and Lady Dartrey. An inscription on the first page of the diary dated 30 July 1776, notes that Hamilton had left her 'Dear Mama to accompany Lord & Lady Dartrey to Spa'. The diary begins at Dover where Hamilton writes of waiting for a 'fair wind' before they can board for France. The diary records Hamilton's journey to Dover, describing the scenery and some of the places she visited on her way. She also notes that whilst at Dover she met Mrs Carter who had come from her home in Deal and writes of other people waiting to go to Calais that she met including Lord Pomfret. The diary is full of details of Hamilton and her companions journey to Spa. They describe the different people, the dress, the accommodation, the food and the towns and the cities that they stayed in. In Calais they visited the Convent of the Domincans and met an English Lady at the Abbey who showed them the types of works carried out by the nuns there such as making purses. She later writes of visiting the convent of St Clara where the nuns only eat eggs, milk and cheese and who exist by begging, noting that there are two 'Holy fathers' who go around the community collecting for the support of the nuns. Hamilton also includes stories relating to the convents themselves. The diary is also full of Hamilton's views on the artwork she sees on her travels such as a number of Reuben paintings that she saw at a church in Ghent. She writes of the fashions, hairstyles and of the society of the differing places that she visited. The diary also contains news of Hamilton's family and of her companions. Hamilton writes that Lord Dartrey prefers that she and Lady Dartrey play cards at the end of the day rather than write letters. She also writes on her Uncle, Lord Cathcart wishing his daughter to marry a man much older than her [Lady Stormont, later Lady Mansfield] and that her cousin took an instant dislike to the man. She also notes that her Uncle and Aunt, Sir William and Lady Hamilton are on their way to Paris to talk to her cousin. Hamilton writes on literature and on Elizabeth Carter's book of Poems that her guardian Lord Napier had sent her. In Spa, Hamilton writes of how she spends her time, the people she meets there, the walks she took and the dances and entertainments that she attended. She writes of her meeting Sir John and Lady Webb and notes that Lady Webb had married Sir John when she was just 13. She also met Princess Dashkova [Catherine Dashkova (1743-1810), confidante of Catherine the Great of Russia, educator and author]. Hamilton describes spending time with the Princess and noted that she was very 'obliging' but complained about her health and nerves and said that she was not able to sing or play in public because of this. Hamilton writes of the balls she and Lady Dartrey attended including details of the types of dances they danced and the partners they danced with. She attended a concert in aid of a charity and was ashamed to admit that she laughed very much through it and that Lady Webb behaved no better. A 'miserable little man' in the middle of a large room played a flute 'in tones so weak, or delicate, if you chuse, that no sound reached the ears except now & then a tone that resembled the squeak of a pig'. The last few pages of the diary includes a transcript of a poem 'written by a lady' and given to Hamilton by Princess Dashkova, and two pages of drawings of the various people that Hamilton met or saw whilst she was at Spa. The diary is written in part as diary letters to her mother and in part as journal entries. Also included in the diary are letters from Lady Dartrey to Mrs Dickenson in which she updates her with news of her daughter.
Language Code:
eng-GB
Language:
English
Subject:
Great Britain--Social life and customs
Category of Material:
Archives
Sub-Category:
Diaries
Technique Used:
Handwriting
Medium:
Ink
Support:
Paper
Time Period Covered:
18th Century CE
Places Covered:
Germany
Places Covered:
France: Hauts-de-France: Calais
Places Covered:
Belgium: Brussels
Places Covered:
England: Kent: Dover
People Covered:
Hamilton, Catherine, Lady, 1738-1782
People Covered:
Hamilton, William, Sir, 1730-1803
People Covered:
Hamilton, Mary, 1756-1816
Current Repository:
The University of Manchester Library, U.K.
Rights Holder - Image:
The University of Manchester Library
Rights Holder - Work:
Copyright restrictions may apply
Date Captured (yyyy-mm-dd):
2011-12-01
Image Creation Technique:
Digital capture by The University of Manchester Library
Access Rights:
Date Image Added (yyyy-mm):
2012-09
Metadata Language:
eng-GB
Collection Code:
Mary Hamilton Papers
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