Anna Seward (Part One) - letter to a favourite uncle, 28th May 1768
Anna Seward (1747 - 1809) by Tilly Kettle 1762
Richard Hall married a Seward called Eleanor. Her father Benjamin Seward was one of seven boys, and one of the brothers became Canon of Lichfield Cathedral. He had a daughter called Anna, who became a writer and is one of the early Sapphic poets. As such she will merit a post of her own. The object of her love was Honora Sneyd, a girl nine years her junior and with whom she lived for thirteen years. Here, for all the lovers of the Eighteenth Century style of writing, written just before Jane Austen appeared on the scene, is a charming letter and one in which you can sense that the two women were desperate for their relationship to be accepted by the family. The letter is written to Richard Hall's father-in-law Benjamin Seward (her uncle):
"I have the pleasure to tell my dearest uncle that my Father has not lately had any return of his complaint and I hope his journey to Harrogate will eradicate the seeds of that malady which was so near fatal to him. He is not yet gone and the time of his setting out is not fixed, but I fancy it will be soon.
Honora bids me assure you that she has never in the least taken ill your not mentioning her in your last two letters. Such accidental omisions might not surely make us suspect we are neglected thro' want of affection. I am sure I would never be hurt by them except I was labouring under some misfortune of mind or body which called for the kind enquiring solicitude of the friendly pen; then indeed it is wounding to be neglected, but my Honora in the full bloom of her youth and health, her May of Life, would never dream that you loved her the less for not naming her in two letters. She has a great regard for you. I hope and believe she will never be wanting in affectionate gratitude to any person so worthy of her esteem and who has behaved so kindly towards her as you have done.
My Father and Mother are at present very busy with the joiners and masonry; they are about to make my apartment which you remember consists of a Bedchamber and two little Dressing Rooms, very Elegant. The large one with a fire-place where I always sit in the Winter, the paper is to be painted a bright blue and adorned with some sweet prints which Mr Porter has sent me from Italy. The windows are to be cut down and new glass put in them. The little dressing room I make no use of in cold weather, as it has no fireplace, but I live in it during the summer months as its aspect is full northly and commands a rural prospect of the garden and meadows beyond - I call this room my Bowery as my toilette is always adorned with the lavish pride of Spring & Summer; the gayest, most beautiful furniture, procured without expense regarding the smell with fragrance, which the most costly perfumes can no more vie with than the colours of the pencil or the loom can equal the bloom of the rose or the varied splendour of the ranunculus and tulip. With common flowers our own garden supplies me and Saville, who is a florist, with those of a more curious kind."
Ranunculus Asiatica, or Persian buttercup
"But I have strayed from my subject which was to tell you that this room also is to be made very compleat, and my indulgent old Lady and Gentleman are mighty happy among the workmen. Assure yourself dear uncle that did your letters cost twice what they do, they would always be acceptable. We all desire to be remembered in the kindest manner to yourself, Cousin Sally, my Aunt Seward, and Mr Rawlins and his daughter. Pardon, my dearest Uncle, the imperfections of a hastey scribble and believe me with the utmost sincerity, your affectionate and obliged Niece,
Anna Seward, Litchfield 28 May 1768"
The reference towards the end to the cost of a letter is a reminder that postage charges were met by the recipient according to weight and size. Usually Richard records payment of a sixpence to receive a letter. They were sent folded up and with the ends tucked in (called an 'entire' ) because envelopes were not the norm at the time.
Poor Anna, madly in love with Honora. Honora came for a visit and stayed thirteen years and then Honora's parents grew tired of the arrangement and whisked her away. Worse, Honora then got herself married! The distraught Anna became even more devastated when Honora died seven years later, and her poems reflect her loss and sense of betrayal. More details are given in The Journal of a Georgian Gentleman and I will return to Anna, known as ‘the Swan of Lichfield’, in the second part of this blog.
