#dec 1839

[thecunnydiaries]

25th Wednesday

Fine. Christmas Day we had preserved Meat & vegetables issued extra: Spliced the Main brace. The Captain had all the officers to Dine with him and every thing went very pleasantly Considering a Ship at Sea. I forgot to mention Divine Service.

Campbell's Notes: Preserved meat, Chiefly furnished by John Gillon and Co., preserved according to Donkin's invention. Ross, Voyage, I., p. xix. Donkin, Hall and Gamble, had been supplying the Navy with preserved meat since trials of their method of preservation were carried out in 1813. They had been used by Ross, 1818 and Parry, 1818 and 1819–20 in the Arctic, both of whom reported favourably on them. Parry states ‘The ships were completely furnished with provisions and stores for a period of two years;in addition to which, a large supply of fresh meats and soups, preserved in tin cases, by Messrs. Donkin and Gamble … was put on board.’ James Clark Ross served as a Midshipman on both these expeditions. Parry. Journal. p.iv, and Laing, The Introduction of canned food into the Royal Navy 1811–52, Mariners Mirror, 50, 1964, pp. 146–8.

[clove-pinks]

Inspired by @radiojamming sharing their photographs of Franklin Expedition signatures from the ships' muster books, I went through the digitised Le Vesconte Family Archives, held in the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, and grabbed screen shots of Henry T.D. Le Vesconte's signatures from assorted letters.

While none of them quite match the amount of swirls and flourishes that Le Vesconte used for his Very Special Muster Book Signature, I think it’s fascinating to see how his signature can vary over the years! It's also an open question of what, exactly, he is signing before his surname. Le Vesconte descendent William Wills partially transcribed a few letters, and he believed that his great-granduncle signed his name "T.D. Le Vesconte."

Personally, I think he's squeezing in an "HTD," which is the monogram on his wax seal that can be seen on quite a few of these scanned letters. (The H is unlike how he would write that letter normally, but I think he's trying to interweave it with the TD.)

From a letter to his father dated February 1, 1843—a typical cross-writing disaster. Did he only wrote "D" before "Le Vesconte"? Dundy truthers rejoice!

Your affectionate Son

[squiggle initials] Le Vesconte

From a letter to his father dated Bombay/HM Brig Clio Tuesday July 18 1843. You can see how much he loves a dramatic flourish with the T in Le Vesconte, and a loop or swirl on the final E.

Letter to his father dated [HMS] Calliope Rio Janeiro [sic] January 20 1839. It's a huge cross-written missive that just goes on and on and on; I think he forgot how to sign his own name at the end of this ordeal.

Letter to his father dated Clio off Nankin Aug. 15 1843. Noteworthy as he appears to sign his name "HTDLeV" at the margin of the page, after an abbreviated "Your affec. Son."

Finally, a letter addressed to his mother in this collection, dated HMS Erebus Woolwich April 16 1845. Very long cross on the T, and a flourish from the terminal E. It's signatures like this one that make me think he's signing all three of his first initials.

From a letter to his father, dated HMS Erebus May 2 1845. There is an HTD in there, right?? Anybody with me on this one??

From a letter to his mother dated May 15 Greenhithe [1845], with a short message for his older sister Rose at the end. A RARE "Henry"!! When he doesn't have a Le Vesconte to embellish, the Y in Henry will suffice.

Baby (23-year-old) Henry Le Vesconte's signature in a letter to father dated HMS Excellent Portsmouth Harbour Dec. 24 1836. I have transcribed this one, it's a great letter all around.

Your affec. Son HTDLeV. [?]

From a letter to his father dated Portsmouth October 17th 1844.

At the post image limit, I will close with "brother Henry" from a late 1844/early 1845 letter to his older sister Rose. He's obviously closer to her than to his other siblings (who may not have had much time to get to know him, since he was only 15 years old when he left home for good as a first class volunteer). Here's a rough transcription of this letter!

[ginandoldlace]

Sketch sent to Prince William Henry, showing the approved plan for the effectual raising of His Majesty's Ship the Royal George, signed by creator William Tracey. Dated 12 Dec 1782.

HMS Royal George was a ship of the line of the Royal Navy. A first-rate with 100 guns on three decks, she was the largest warship in the world at the time of her launch on 18 February 1756.

Royal George sank on 29 August 1782 whilst anchored at Spithead off Portsmouth. The ship was intentionally rolled so maintenance could be performed on the hull, but the roll became unstable and out of control; the ship took on water and sank. More than 800 people died, making it one of the most deadly maritime disasters in British territorial waters.

Several attempts were made to raise the vessel, both for salvage and because she was a major hazard to navigation in the Solent. In 1782, Charles Spalding recovered fifteen 12-pounder guns using a diving bell of his own design. From 1834 to 1836, Charles and John Deane recovered more guns using a diving helmet they had invented. In 1839 Charles Pasley of the Royal Engineers commenced operations to break up the wreck using barrels of gunpowder. Pasley's team recovered more guns and other items between 1839 and 1842. In 1840, they destroyed the remaining structure of the wreck in an explosion which shattered windows several miles away in Portsmouth and Gosport.

[strangestcase]

Within the story world, Hyde is a mental creation of Jekyll’s that uncontradictorily inhabits a different body that interacts with other characters. Hyde shares this extraordinary position with many characters in nineteenth-century novellas that represent deviant desire and resultant psychological turmoil. [...] Most significantly, this same strange case of an individual projecting deviant desire to form a material character occurs in a novella Stevenson acknowledged he had read before writing Jekyll and Hyde during a conversation about the story’s literary precursors: Edgar Allen Poe’s 1839 novella William Wilson (Dec. 1885 letter to Andrew Lang). In Poe’s story the eponymous hero projects a double who shares his name and appearance when he engages in debauchery. As in Jekyll and Hyde, other characters interact with his incarnate projection. [...] Given this literary lineage, Hyde’s status as a mentally created yet embodied figure only seems like a contradiction when we hold the story to the standard of the real instead of appreciating Stevenson’s status as controlling author. An 1886 Punch parody put this issue humorously: when “Stutterson” goes to see “Mr. Hydeandseek” and asks to see his face, Hydeandseek queries, “Don’t you recognize me?” Stutterson replies, “Mr. R. L. Stevenson says I mustn’t. . . , for, if I did, I should spoil the last chapter.”

-Jessica Cook, The Unitary Self in Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

[gotta-clue]

Whale Weekly - Dec. 5

Chapter read: Dec. 8

I’m not even sure what I want to say about this chapter, aside from the fact it has sent me on a very fun adventure to learn about the history of the word whale.

There is an amazing Reddit thread about the Hakluyt quote that I recommend everyone read. 

The extended quote (which Melville likely read himself in “A new dictionary of the English language,” which was published in 1839) illuminates just why differentiating whale from the Old Norse val is significant. Val is a verb, meaning to choose. Could be some fun meaning in there if you’d like to sus it out, but frankly I don’t feel like it. 

Something else that really entertained me is the modern definition of the term whale as a verb. In Merriam Webster, to whale can mean...

Lash, thrash,

to strike or hit vigorously, or

to defeat soundly.

And I found that to be quite extraordinary. I doubt that using the word whale in this way came about because of “Moby Dick.” Merriam Webster notes that the first recorded use of the term in this way was in 1790. However, I find the connection between this violent interpretation of the word whale and the violent depiction of a whale in this text to be a delight, especially with many in the US thinking of whales as gentle giants.

Whales are a great big contradiction! They are burdened with cultural impositions they didn’t ask for, with some European writers assigning them roles as horrific, murderous monsters well before Owen Chase’s account of the attack on the Essex was ever published (I found this article about the literary history of whales to be quite a fun read if anyone else is interested). Yet today they are--and I’m sorry, but I can’t think of a better word for it right now--wubbified to hell and back.

Even "whale-adjacent” creatures that don’t deserve it--looking at you, dolphins.

Again, I could probably shit out a terrible undergrad paper on the transformation of whales in US media to serve various narratives of the time, but I really don’t want to. It’s just... yknow.

[millingroundireland]

What and where was the Mills family home in Warren County?

This was originally the fourth chapter in my family history on the Mills family, but it is has broken apart from the original version on WordPress, so as to improve readability.

In Joseph B. Mills’s obituaries it says that their family home was in Pottersville, New York. However, as the censuses show, the family moved from Chester to Glens Falls to Bolton and back to Chester. Pottersville is not in any of these censuses. So, the question remains why Pottersville was noted as the location of the Mills family home. Is that because the writers of the obit did not want to convey this complexity? Or is it that someone told them faulty information?

I did some further research on this question. The 1850 mortality schedule for Bolton lists a “Thomas Mills,” 12 people with the last name of Mills are in the obituaries of Glens Falls, NY, one Mills family headed by a William F. Mills living in Bolton, NY in 1850 and in 1865. There were also wills for four Millses in Warren County listed on sampubco.com. This does include the thousands upon thousands of results for those with the Mills surname in the 1855, 1875, 1892, and 1905 New York State censuses. Also I discovered, in 1840, in Chester, a "Thomas Mills," an "Edward Mills" and a "John R. Mills.” Additionally, within Family Search’s “New York Probate Records, 1629-1971.” there were records for John Mills (file 1527), Thomas Mills (file 1864), and a Joseph B. Mills (file 3084). It turned out that the John Mills was another fellow, that the Joseph B. Mills was the same as the one I have already written about, and that the Thomas Mills has a will, lists wife named Margaret, daughters named Phebe, Ann, Mary, Rachel, and Margaret along with a number of sons named Joseph, Edward L, and Thomas J, among others.

Still, this didn’t answer why they would have put down Pottersville, New York. According to the brief history on the website of the town of Chester, after the civil war, “the town had grown to two main settlements, Chestertown and Pottersville,” with a number of smaller ones, as “roads had been built and stage coaches brought in the mail and visitors.” Another website, celebrating the 200th anniversary of Warren County added that by the 1830s the town of Chester “had grown into two main settlements, Chestertown and Pottersville, with several smaller ones” with the first post office in Pottersville, “the second largest village, was established Dec. 5, 1839.” So, it is possible the family home was within the settlement of Pottersville but was still within the jurisdiction of Chester explaining how they lived in Chester for all those years.

© 2018-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[lennart11412]

1Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one is with you?”

2So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed my young men to such and such a place. 3Now therefore, what have you on hand? Give me five loaves of bread in my hand, or whatever can be found.”

4And the priest answered David and said, “There is no [a]common bread on hand; but there is holy[b] bread, if the young men have at least kept themselves from women.”

5Then David answered the priest, and said to him, “Truly, women have been kept from us about three days since I came out. And [c]the vessels of the young men are holy, and the bread is in effect common, even though it was consecrated in the vessel this day.”

6So the priest gave him holy bread; for there was no bread there but the showbread which had been taken from before the Lord, in order to put hot bread in its place on the day when it was taken away.

7Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the Lord. And his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chief of the herdsmen who belonged to Saul.

8And David said to Ahimelech, “Is there not here on hand a spear or a sword? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king’s business required haste.”

9So the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, there it is, wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it. For there is no other except that one here.”

And David said, “There is none like it; give it to me.”

1 Bread of heaven, on thee we feed, for thy flesh is food indeed; ever may our souls be fed with this true and living bread, day by day with strength supplied through the life of him who died.

2 Vine of heaven, thy blood supplies this blest cup of sacrifice; Lord, thy wounds our healing give; to thy cross we look and live: Jesus, may we ever be grafted, rooted, built on thee.

Conder, Josiah, fourth son of Thomas Conder, engraver and bookseller, and grandson of the Rev. John Conder, D.D., first Theological Tutor of Homerton College, was born in Falcon Street (City); London, Sept. 17, 1789, and died Dec. 27, 1855. As author, editor and publisher he was widely known. For some years he was the proprietor and editor of the Eclectic Review, and also editor of the Patriot newspaper. His prose works were numerous, and include:— The Modern Traveller, 1830; Italy, 1831; Dictionary of Ancient and Modern Geography, 1834; Life of Bunyan, 1835; Protestant Nonconformity, 1818-19; The Law of the Sabbath, 1830; Epistle to the Hebrews (a translation), 1834; Literary History of the New Testament, 1845, Harmony of History with Prophecy, 1849, and others. His poetical works are:— (1) The Withered Oak,1805; this appeared in the Athenceum. (2) The Reverie, 1811. (3) Star in the East, 1824. (4) Sacred Poems, Domestic Poems, and Miscellaneous Poems, 1824. (5) The Choir and the Oratory; or, Praise and Prayer, 1837. Preface dated Nov. 8, 1836. (6) Hymns of Praise, Prayer, and Devout Meditation, 1856. This last work was in the press at the time of his death, and was revised and published by his son, the Rev. E. R. Conder, M.A. He also contributed many pieces to the magazines and to the Associated Minstrels, 1810, under the signature of " C." In 1838, selections from The Choir and Oratory were published with music by Edgar Sanderson, as Harmonia Sacra. A second volume was added in 1839. To Dr. Collyer’s (q.v.) Hymns, &c, he contributed 3 pieces signed "C"; and to Dr. Leifchild's Original Hymns, 1843, 8 hymns.

As a hymn-book editor he was also well known. In 1836 he edited The Congregational Hymn Book: a Supplement to Dr. Watts’s Psalms and Hymns (2nd ed. 1844). To this collection he contributed fifty-six of his own hymns, some of which had previously appeared in The Star in the East, &c. He also published in 1851 a revised edition of Dr. Watts's Psalms and Hymns, and in the game year a special paper on Dr. Watte as The Poet of the Sanctuary, which was read before the Congregational Union at Southampton. The value of his work as Editor of the Congregational Hymn Book is seen in the fact that eight out of every ten of the hymns in that collection are still in use either in Great Britain or America.

As a hymn writer Conder ranks with some of the best of the first half of the present century. His finest hymns are marked by much elevation of thought expressed in language combining both force and beauty. They generally excel in unity, and in some the gradual unfolding of the leading idea is masterly. The outcome of a deeply spiritual mind, they deal chiefly with the enduring elements of religion. Their variety in metre, in style, and in treatment saves them from the monotonous mannerism which mars the work of many hymn writers. Their theology, though decidedly Evangelical, is yet of a broad and liberal kind. Doubtless Conder's intercourse with many phases of theological thought as Editor of the Eclectic Review did much to produce this catholicity, which was strikingly shewn by his embodying many of the collects of the Book of Common Prayer, rendered into verse, in his Choir and Oratory. Of his versions of the Psalms the most popular are "How honoured, how dear" (84th), and "O be joyful in the Lord" (100th). His hymns in most extensive use are," Bread of heaven, on Thee I feed; " “Beyond, beyond that boundless sea;" "The Lord is King, lift up thy voice" (this last is one of his best); "Day by day the manna fell;" "How shall I follow him I serve;" "Heavenly Father, to whose eye" (all good specimens of his subdued and pathetic style); and "O shew me not my Saviour dying." This last is full of lyric feeling, and expresses the too often forgotten fact that the Church has a living though once crucified Lord. The popularity of Conder's hymns may be gathered from the fact that at the present time more of them are in common use in Great Britain and America than those of any other writer of the Congregational body, Watts and Doddridge alone excepted. [Rev. W. Garrett Horder]

Blått interiør (1883) National Museum

Harriet Backer

[ootymadeooty]

About Ooty Tea Factory

Ooty Tea Production line is arranged at the level of 1839 meters in the Nilgiri slopes, around 4 kilometers from the focal point of the city. The total tea factory ooty plant is laid out in the space of 1 section of land. There is a tea gallery, where we can know how the tea is handled utilizing the Cut, Wind, and Twist technique. Alongside this, we can gain proficiency with the set of experiences and the advancement of Tea.

We should begin with knowing the historical backdrop of tea, which we got to know when we visited the Tea Processing plant as everything was outlined.

Beginning of Tea:

Close to a long time back in old China, the narrative of Tea started with a gifted and researcher ruler. He used to drink bubbling water as a safeguard. One day while visiting a far objective, he halted in the halfway to take a rest and to hydrate he began bubbling it. A portion of the dried leaves from the close by shrub fell into the bubbling water and framed a tanish fluid.

As the Ruler was a researcher, he was interested to realize what is that. So he drank that beverage and he felt so reviving. What's more, that was the occasion, Tea was found. The Chinese word for Tea is Cha.

The tea seeds were shipped off Japan and became well known there. At the point when the Chinese and East India Organization began tea exchanging, Tea turned into the most famous among the Britishers and immediately turned into the public beverage of Britain. Tea was spread all over society.

There is an extremely old story throughout the entire existence of America and English known as the Bosten Casual get-together.

The Bosten Casual get-together:

Setting an illustration of disobedience to the English, the Bosten Casual get-together is extremely well known in American history. In Dec 1773, the boats taking tea freights were boarded away the Bosten shore. The local Americans crushed and toss the tea freights into the ocean as a demonstration of insubordination. Different ports followed something similar. That is the manner by which each American surrendered Tea and changed to Espresso even at this point.

Beginning of Tea in India:

Before the business creation of Tea in India, tea was at that point filling ridiculously in Assam wildernesses, which was distinguished by East India Organization workers, Robert Bruce and his sibling Charles Bruce. However, since the organization was at that point exchanging with China, they were not keen on burning through cash on Indian tea.

Later the organization lost its exchanging syndication from China, and they became keen on developing tea in India. In the year 1833, everything was changed. In Assam, Charles Bruce alongside his collaborators cleared an immense region for tea development. They figured out how to get a mysterious prerequisite of top notch tea development from the Chinese, the best tea develops under the shade of encompassing trees, so the new seeds were established in the holes between the generally developed tea plants.

[sandyhookhistory]

Good morning, everyone! We have another #HarborDefenseHappyBirthday , and it's a local one for Fort Hancock! We'd like to wish a Happy 208th Birthday to Major General Henry W. Halleck, who was born on Monday, January 16th, 1815 in Westernville, NY. Henry's military career began with his graduation from West Point in 1839, ranking 3rd of 31 classmates. He initially worked on improving and modernizing the defenses around New York Harbor, writing a report for the US Senate on the subject. He remained a consumate, well-versed, and scholarly Soldier for his entire career. Those virtues, sadly, weren't suited for tactical field command during the Civil War. He had an abrasive relationship with subordinates such as Ulysses S. Grant, and was removed from field command and put in charge of the entire Union Army by 1862-64 in Washington DC. When Grant replaced him, Halleck's talents were unleashed insofar as ensuring the Union Army remained well-fed and equipped for the duration of the war. While looked upon with some skepticism by historians, Halleck was a capable officer who excelled when his talents were properly and effectively applied. He died on active duty on Jan. 9th, 1872, and was buried in Brooklyn, NY. He would be honored with a Battery at Ft Hancock in General Order No. 43, on April 4th 1900. It was a three-gun, 10-inch disappearing battery built out on the tip of the Hook. Started in 1896, completed in 1899, and transferred in 1900. Pics 5 and 6 show identical guns and carriages; 5 shows Battery Granger here at Ft Hancock being loaded; 6 shows Battery Hitchcock at Fort Strong, MA, about to fire. Of note, Battery Halleck was joined on each side by six additional 12-inch guns... ALL of which were named Battery Halleck! Experience proved it was impossible for one officer to control all 9 guns, so with G.O.194, Dec. 27, 1904, the fortification was split into 4 distinct batteries - Alexander, Halleck, Bloomfield, and Richardson. (Pic 4) It is colloquially referred to as "9-Gun Battery" (at Fort Hancock, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cner5pmgv9A/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[packedwithpackards]

Examining the sources of the Plymouth Colony Pages [Part 36]

James N. Arnold, Vital Record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896 (Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1897).

This book has four results for the Packard surname:

"Lydia and Charles Packard, both of Rehoboth, married by David Perry, Jr., Esq., May 21, 1795"- p 128 "LEACH Peleg S., aged 33, his 2d marriage, born and of North Bridgewater, sou of Oliver and Mercy, and Eliza A. Packard, born North Bridgewater, of Rehoboth, daughter of Israel and Jane W., married by Rev. Thomas T. Richmond Dec. 3, 1863. Int. Dec. 29, 1863"- p 224 "PACKARD Charles and Lvdia Drown, both of Rehoboth, mar- ried by David Perry, Jr. Esq., May 21, 1795"- p 274 "[Packard] Eliza A., born New Bedford, of Rehoboth, daughter of Israel and Jane W., and Peleg S. Leach, aged 33, his 2d marriage, born and of North Bridgewater, son of Oliver and Mercy, mar- ried by Rev. Thomas T. Richmond Dec. 3, 1863. Int. Dec. 29, 1863, (sic).- p 274

James N. Arnold, Vital Record of Rhode Island 1636-1850, 21 Vols. (Providence, RI: Narragansett Historical Publishing Co., 1891-1912).

This book lists Packards including those who died there.

Vital Records of Roxbury Massachusetts to the End of the Year 1849, 2 Vols. (Salem, MA: The Essex Institute, 1925-1926).

There are varying Packards who were born in Roxbury:

Edwin, s. Otis and Julia. A., bp. Mar. ----, 1841. C.R.6. Emily, d. Otis and Julia A., bp. Oct. 19, 1844. C.R.6. Emily, d. Charles, laborer, and Nancy, June 10, 1847. Emma, d. Otis and Julia A., bp. Nov. 28, 1847. C.R.6. Horace Wheelock, s. Otis and Julia A., bp. Jan. 1, 1843. C.R.6. Julia Frances, d. Otis and Julia A., bp. July 21, 1839. C.R.6. William, s. Charles, machinist, and Nancy, June 1, 1845. ----, d. Otis, upholsterer, and Julia, Jan. 21, 1847.

There are no results in the index of this book online.

Note: This was originally posted on Apr. 27, 2018 on the main Packed with Packards WordPress blog (it can also be found on the Wayback Machine here). My research is still ongoing, so some conclusions in this piece may change in the future.

© 2018-2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

[iredreamer]

(Part 1) About Anne considering an affair: Angela Steidele mentions this in her biograpy. Apparently Anne was quite attracted to a Russian aristorcate while in Moscow and according to some summaries of her diary that Steidele qoutes she was wheiging pro and contra of an affair before she and Ann left Moscow to travel deeper into Russia. Of course Steidele never read these passages herself and...well we know how this journey ended so we'll never know how serious this thing was.

peneneth asked: (Part 2) If you want to read the original passages, the days that Steidele quotes for this are December 26th and 27th 1839 and January 24th 1840. Also your take on AL and AW relationship really feels spot on, even if it isn't very romantic in a modern sense.

thank you SO MUCH for the info. I decoded the coded parts of the days you told me and I’m gonna just leave them here because honestly I don’t know what to make of them. I also read other days, the ones before and after the days you told me, to try and understand the context of this whole thing but I guess one needs to read the whole month of December 1839 and January 1840 to really get what was going on.

December 26, 1839 > “??? I said if she [I think she’s talking about this aristocratic Russian] durst trust me I would do all I could – yes, she believed all I said – liked me from the first scarce knowing why used to fear should be offended at sending for me every night but could not help it – should not have done so in another case nor said I should I have gone every night to anyone else – a mutual profession of amitie [friendship] sometime she thought she would & then that she would not write her case for me to send to doctor B-. (...) Agreed that I am to go to her at one tomorrow.” [SH:7/ML/E/23/0161]

December 27, 1839 > “A- all in tears & low – said I left her so much said this on my telling her I was going to princess R- (?) a sort of scene & talk as usual on these occasions. She promised to try to exert herself but what melancholy miserable work it is (...) The emperor had behaved beautifully he & the empress & she being all together – he owned that much as he preferred the empress to all other women yet that had princess R- made any effort to win him he was homme & could not have answered for himself – but she had not & in short there was a scene & they all three cried – wept – & all was beautiful – but still, the empress had at times been jealous & then got over it. R- went to Odessa because the empress wanted her to promise if she could not go to remain at Saint Petersburg the eight months till the court returned – “no” R- would return home & stay there if she was not well enough to go to Odessa but she did go – she consulted nobody but her physician, as a friend did not even tell her sister at Saint P- for fear of  her writing to her parents & distressing them. The physician told her to go – saying it was kill or cure – but in such a case to go honour (??) reputation at stake – it was envy – all scandalized her but she believed the people here now did her justice – She had many offers but she knew it was that they wanted favour, all told R- such stories to prevent his marrying her, but she herself explained & he believed her perfect innocence, so much chagrin had been too much for her – poor thing, I expressed my own belief & admiration & she kissed me affectionately on coming away. (...) Meant to write but A- came – long talk till after twelve – what miserable work – how shall I endure it? I must manage her better or we cannot go on together. I feel as if it would be heaven to be without her.” [SH:7/ML/E/23/0161 & SH:7/ML/E/23/0162]

January 24, 1840 > “She [this aristocratic Russian, I guess] is a thorough woman of the worlds but good heaven capricious tempered! that is with ??? ??? pettishness at times but her beauty is in the wake, her eyes deadening & wrinkling round about & the Russian bend in her nose becoming more apparent but her teeth are good & smile lovely – she will think no more of me – she hopes to survive her husband – well she may, for he can leave her nothing, she will be as she said some time ago.” [SH:7/ML/E/23/0187]

From just these extracts AL doesn’t say anything that she’s not said before when talking about Ann Walker (i.e. that she did not know how long their union would last and that she wanted to be free) and it’s not clear what are AL’s intentions about this Russian woman. She fancies her but...mmm I’m still confused about this period and this “affair”.

I think everyone knows by now that Angela Steidele borrowed a lot of stuff from other historians (and like you said she never read the diaries), I would love to know what are her sources for Anne Lister’s last years, maybe reading the actual books/papers from which she took this info can help understand what was going on.

Again, thank you so much for your asks <3

[thecunnydiaries]

3rd Tuesday

Fine. At 9 AM Neptune and his diabolical looking confederates made thier appearance and immediately commenced Shaving.

I had the good fortune to be the third that was called (and I had taken the precaution to have no thing on that could be spoiled. Which I Knowd they would, having had a former experiment crossing the Tropic of Cancer). I no sooner made my appearance than I was seised by two of Neptunes Constables and escorted to the Scene of Action. The Barbers Clerk instantly placed a plaster of Grease & filth across my Eyes and face and a wet Swab across my Shoulder. I was Sat down on the Barbers chair and underwent the process of Shaving by being lathered with a paint Brush - and Lather composed of all manner of Nuisance that could be collected in a Ship (not excepting Soil). The fire Engine was playing on the back of my neck the whole time with its utmost force. After being well scraped with a piece of an Iron hoop, I was tumbled backwards into a Sailfull of water which was placed on purpose and had a good Sousing handled by two Bears, after which I have the pleasure of Seeing nearly 30 others go through a Similar process. The Shaving closed at ½ past 10 AM and everything went off well: washed Decks, up wet clothes. At 12 o Clock, Spliced the Main brace. After Dinner turned the hands up to dance & Skylark: at 8 PM Saw the firey Car leaving the Erebus which passed close under our Stern and then sank to blaze no more. At 10 PM crossed the Equinoctial Line.

Campbell's Notes: The term dance and skylark means to make merry.

[womblegrinch]

Alfred Sisley (1839-1899) - Bords du Loing, effet du matin

Oil on canvas. Painted in 1896.

23.9 x 28.75 inches, 60.6 x 73.1 cm. Estimate: €600,000-800,000.

Sold Sotheby’s, Paris, 8 Dec 2021 for €653,800 incl B.P.

[antoine-roquentin]

These gangs were called “mummers” and “fantasticals” for their flamboyant costumes or “callithumpians” for the rough music they banged out on pots, pans and other makeshift instruments. Rampaging from house to house, the mobs might smash windows, tear down fences or wrench the handles off doors if homeowners wouldn’t let them in.                              

Once inside, they helped themselves to food, commandeered alcohol, spit tobacco on the carpets and wiped their greasy hands on the curtains. Not even the watchmen hired by local residents could deter them. When a bitter cold snap kept the callithumpians off the streets, the Philadelphia Press noted on Dec. 26, 1870, how quiet the city had been on Christmas Eve. So few young men had gotten drunk or been arrested, the newspaper marveled, that “a stranger passing through our city would not for a moment think that Christmas was so near at hand.”

In a different kind of home invasion, down the chimney to the rescue came Saint Nick. Santa Claus was popularized in the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” probably written by the New York patrician Clement Clarke Moore in 1822 and published a year later. As the holiday became about giving gifts to family and friends, rather than about seizing food and drink from strangers, the seasonal street gangs faded away. “’Twas the night before Christmas” when Santa Claus arrived with the same terrifying clatter as the callithumpians. He was “all tarnish’d with ashes and soot” and “look’d like a peddler just opening his pack.” However, Santa Claus burst into the household not to take, but to give—reassuring the poem’s narrator that “I had nothing to dread.” Santa wished the family, “ere he drove out of sight,” not an alcohol-drenched “Merry Christmas”—but a “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night.” “As soon as Santa Claus entered the picture,” says Prof. Nissenbaum, “people had to go shopping.”

Santa Claus was part of a broader movement to domesticate the holiday by creating a warm, comforting family event centered around giving gifts to children. Mayors, merchants and the middle class all wanted to get the violent Christmastime gangs off the streets. “There’s a general taming of the holiday that goes on throughout the 19th century,” says Penne Restad, author of “Christmas in America” and a retired historian at the University of Texas, Austin. The mass marketing of Christmas gifts, she says, was “a way of creating boundaries.” As the holiday became about giving gifts to family and friends, rather than about seizing food and drink from strangers, the seasonal street gangs faded away. The rise of department stores in the mid-19th century enabled even the poor to become consumers by giving—and receiving—gifts. Newspapers, eager to attract advertising, rhapsodized about the virtues of Christmas giving. “Who is there, who is not ground into the very dust by biting poverty, that would hesitate, at this hallowed season, to bestow a souvenir?” asked the New York Morning Herald in 1839. As department stores began keeping holiday evening hours, the streets had to be kept safe for a new kind of mob: Christmas shoppers.

the christmas spirit used to be about stealing the good shit from the rich and enjoying it for one night a year, and then capitalism came along and ruined it with santa bullshit

[swforester]

The grave of Asa Davis and his daughter Mary. He was 51 and Mary was 14. They died in Nov and Dec of 1839.

Baypath Cemetery 2/26/22

[ltwilliammowett]

Lieutenant James Walter Fairholme - Lieutenant (possibly the third) of HMS Erebus. The left is an official photograph the right one is the copy of a second rather private photograph

James Walter Fairholme was born in Kinnoul, Perth on January 10, 1821. This officer entered the Navy, 12 March, 1834, onboard of the Gannet, 16- guns as a Volunteer, shortly thereafter on the Madagascar, 46- guns on the West India station. In 1838 he was captured by Moors after being wrecked on the West Coast of Africa while engaged in anti-slavery duties. Mr. Fairholme returned to England, and in Dec. 1839 he took part in the Syrian Campaign on Ganges, 84- guns (James Fitzjames was Lieutenant in the same ship).

In 1841 he served in one of the three small steamers sent to explore the Niger. Fairholme was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant on January 31st, 1842 and shortly after was invalided home with a tropical fever. After serving on the Excellent and Superb, 40- guns, Commander Fitzjames recommended him to be appointed as Lieutenant in HMS Erebus during Sir John Franklin’s 1845 North West Passage expedition. He perished with the rest of Franklin’s crews.

So and now to the photos because these are really interesting:

The original Daguerreotypes were made by  Richard Beard and his franchises, who formed one of only two British patent holders of the process in 1845 when they were taken. The only question is who commissioned it and why. James Reid, Ice Master of Erebus, wrote about this to his wife. And the following passage stands out 

“Lady Franklin has ordered all the officers’ likenesses to be taken, and mine among the rest, with my uniform on. She keeps them all by herself.”

From this it can be understood that Lady Franklin wanted to have the photos. But it seems to have been the case that she had only kept the pictures and that these photos had been commissioned from a higher authority, at this point the admiralty could be questioned, but then why would Lady Franklin keep that or it was her husband who gave the order. 

But apart from that the second one is much more interesting because it seems to be a private one. Besides Fairholm only three more were made. And that by James Fitzjames, Henry Thomas Dundas Le Vecsonte, Charles Frederick Des Voeux. These photos were probably taken for the family and seemed to be paid for out of a pocket, so not everyone had a second one taken. If you consider that a photo according to Professor Potter a guinea in 1845 is the equivalent of nearly £95 today.

The private one of Fairholme is a special one as he wrote his father in 1845:

“I hope Elizabeth [James’ sister] got my photograph. Lady Franklin said she thought it made me look too old, but as I had Fitzjames’ coat on at the time, to save myself the trouble of getting my own, you will perceive that I am a Commander! and have anchors on the epaulettes so it will do capitally when that really is the case.”

So it seems that he used his photo in the uniform of Fitzjames to enthuse his adoptive sister about himself and was probably tempted to advertise for her. Only his death made everything impossible.

But it would be good to wait and hope that some more second photos might appear in some collection, because Fairholme’s is only a salt paper print, because the original was lost but it was kept together in the box where his dessert fork and his arctic medal he had received posthumously were.

But this might help to find out something more about the men and possibly to assign other people who don’t have a first picture anymore that was lost.