Assorted George Letters

Writer: Lord Palmerston

Date: 1st April 1837

Recipient: Josiah George

                           Stan Ct. 1st April 1837

Dear Sir,
           I should be much obliged to
you if you would inform me whether
you know anything of a Miss Cotton, an
Elderly Lady, who generally resides at
Southampton, and who is now in London
and whether a Miss George who resides
with Miss Cotton and her sister, is a
relation of yours; also whether you
know anything of a Reverend Mr. Carpenter
who lives in Clarendon Square London
& of a Miss Hiscock the widow of a
Parson who was in Business in the
Isle of wight, & who now lives in
Belgrave Street, New Road, London.

I should also be much obliged to
you, if you would not mention to any
Body, that I have made these Inquiries
of you. My motive for addressing them to
you being, that I have been told that
Miss George is a Relative of yours, &
that I conclude, that if that is so, you
would be able to give me the information
which I wish to obtain. The only one of
the Persons, I have named, that
I have seen, is Mr Carpenter.
                   Dear Sir,
                       Yrs faithfully
                         Palmerston
Mr Josiah George

Notes:

Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC (1784–1865) served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and twice as Prime Minister. He was in government office almost continuously from 1807 until his death in 1865, beginning his parliamentary career as a Tory, switching to the Whigs in 1830, and concluding it as the first Prime Minister of the newly-formed Liberal Party from 1859. He was Foreign Secretary when he wrote the letter above.

Palmerston's country estate was Broadlands, on the edge of Romsey, and he would thus have known Josiah George personally.

A quick search reveals no information on the Misses Cotton, Miss George or on the Rev. Mr. Carpenter.

Further reading:
Wikipedia article on Palmerston

Previous | Next

Letters Index