Happy Valentine's Day

To celebrate we share with you some heartfelt words of love written in a letter in 1808.

The letter is written by Mary, Mrs William Balfour, 1788-1820, Captain William Balfour's first wife (and first cousin, daughter of William Manson). 

'It is extremely painful for me to communicate or correspond with you while my mind is in its present distress...'

She is writing to John Balfour, 3rd of Trenaby, William's uncle, begging him to help cancel her husband William's appointment to a ship in the south of England and wishes him to stay at home. 

Letter from Mary Balfour (nee Manson) to John Balfour page 1

She goes on to say: 

'To most married People the idea of being separated for a few months, appears trifling, but few, very few indeed, are so completely happy as we have been since our marriage. His affection has seemed to increase daily, and mine for him scarcely knows any bounds...as a husband he is exemplary, as a father no less so - think then what anguish must wring my heart when I bid him farewell, perhaps for ever! My feelings are too poignant for explanation - '  

Sadly she is unsuccessful!  

Letter from Mary Balfour (nee Manson) to John Balfour page 2

The letter is from the Balfour of Balfour and Trenabie papers, and is part of bundle D2/27/12. It was written on the 31st March 1808. This letter comes to you as part of our ongoing volunteer project to record every letter in every bundle in the 47 boxes of the D2 Balfour Collection by our six amazing volunteers. 

Seeds of Interest Sown

Posted on behalf of Balfour Blogger #2

Volunteering in the Orkney Archive, getting hooked by an invoice for seeds

In Autumn 2018, I started to help with the cataloguing of the Balfour papers. These are a collection deposited in the Orkney Library in 1962 and are legal papers, letters, financial records and estate records and material relating to the family of Balfour of Balfour [Shapinsay] and of Trenabie [Westray], 1547-1921. There are over 100 books - including letter books, account books, pay lists and muster rolls. There are also 54 boxes of bundles of letters, notes, invoices, receipts, etc. Each box has between 11 and 20 bundles of papers.

I am working on Box 24 which contains letters to John Balfour MP received in 1825 and invoices for a variety of years. Bundle 11 of Box 24 consists of invoices and receipts for the estate of Charlton Grove near Blackheath in Kent. These include, amongst other items, statutory Poor Rate Tax, building work, invoices for journeys to London, and the rent of the estate. My favourite in this bundle is D2/24/11/3/3a which is the invoice and receipt from 'Thomas Gibbs & Co., Nursery and Seedsmen to the Honorable[sic] Board of Agriculture', Corner of Half Moon Street, Piccadilly' for the year 1824. The total bill is for £16 and 5 shillings (£16 5/-). According to data from the Office for National Statistics, that is equivalent to about £1,444 in 2017 prices.

D2/24/11/3/3a page 1

The quantity and variety of the listing is astonishing. For example:

2 quarts of Magazan beans (cost 1 shilling). I had to look up what these are. It turns out they are the 'smallest and most delicate species of the Windsor bean.

Windsor beans, long pod beans, negro beans and liver coloured beans.

Varieties of peas include early Charlton, Prussian, blue imperial, and white Prussian

Included in the list is 2 quarts of Prickly Spinage[sic] and 2 quarts of round Spinage.

Then there is scorzonera which may refer to black salsify, especially as it is immediately next to salsify in the listing.

Onions (3 kinds including Deptford).

Herbs include knotted marjoram, sweet basil, curld[sic] parsley.

Cabbage varieties include early Battersea, early York and Cornish.

Broccoli, 7 varieties in all - white, Belvedere, early Cape, late Cape, sprouting, late Portsmouth and late Danish.

Apart from vegetables, there were '25 paper flower seeds' costing 12 shillings and sixpence (12/6), 12 pounds (lbs) of fine mixed grass seeds for lawn costing £1 and 16 shillings (£1 16/-); and a variety of sundries including 9 canvas bags (5/-) and 1 large hamper (2/6). The most expensive items are yew trees, 18 in all at a cost of £4 10/-.

D2/24/11/3/3a part of page 2

This is one year's invoice from Gibb's. There are several more from this company in Bundle 11. There is a large variety among the invoices. The building work is extensive, including the roof of a dairy. I could spend months on just this bundle, but I have 13 other bundles in this box. Of course, there are another 30 boxes to be completed, luckily not all by me.