Park Oct^r 16^th 1806
My dear Mary Ann & Elizabeth
It is now so long my dear girls since I
Wrote to you that I fear you will begin to think I have almost forgot=
=ten you, but rest assured that is not the case, my long absence from
the Park, has been the only reason which has hitherto obliged me to
defer that pleasure. We returned home about a month ago after an ab=
=sence of thirteen weeks, which was spent as pleasantly as possible, amongst
M^rs Philips friends, most of whom met us at {?Barnsley} 5 miles from Yar=
=mouth, & spent the same time there that we did M^r Phillips family
was in a house belonging to M^{rs Manning (Mrs Nicholsons father) which
he furnished ready for our receiption, & MrMr Mannings, we were within a short distance of each other, which rendered
It very pleasant, & about 1 ½ from the sea side, whither we frequently re=
=paired together, & enjoyed ourselves on the beach for several hours [deleted]
a day, the coast is not Cold or rocky, but at low water the sands are
very pleasant to walk upon, there are no shells to be found, but we used
to search for Cornelians of which we found a great number, & some very
beautiful ones – The county of Norfolk is exceedingly flat, which makes
it uninteresting, but the roads are remarkably good, much wheat is grown
there, & as we were there during the harvest we had the pleasure of seeing
a great quantity of it well housed I never saw so many gleaners as this
summer, sometimes upwards of sizty, woud assemble & beset a field, & as soon
[vertical left margin] Octr 22nd Miss Brooker & Miss {?Frances} B have been {^are} visiting Mrs John Phelps they return to Liverpool next week & will
Return this letter Mr Boardman’s Warehouses
[new page]
as the last waggon load of Corn was out, they rushed in & a larger field
was completely gleaned in less than a quarter of an hour; I have
seen this more than once – the [illeg] have {^a} custom in Norfolk of crying {?Lar}=
=giss, if any person goes into a field where they are reaping & gives them
away they immediately arrange themselves in a circle with the {?spirit}
man in the centre, & when he gives the word of command, they all together
shout Langess three times letting the word dwell upon their tongue as
long as they can, it is very well to hear it once but woud not be pleasant
if often repeated. Will you tell your father I have had the pleasure of
hearing his favourite preacher Mr Pendleberry Houghton, with whom I was
quite delighted upon in the Pulpit, he delivered an excellent sermon in a
manner that charmed all his hearers, but afterwards spending part of a
day with him I was much disappointed to find that his manners & convers=
=ation were so much less engaging than I expected. Yarmouth is a reason=
=ably pretty town, & the inhabitants very clean & healthy, as we are only 5 miles
Distant we frequently went thither, there are only two of the principal streets
in Yarmouth which communicate with each other, to all the others you are
obliged to pass from one street to another through narrow passages or mews as
they are called, which are not wide enough to admit a common cart, therefore
the inhabitants use a narrow cart of a peculiar construction called the
Yarmouth Cart {^of} which you see great numbers in every part of the town,
as they are the only vehicle they have to convey their goods upon the wall
of the town are nearly all destroyed, but the North & South gates are in
good preservations the baths are very clean and commodious & there is an excel=
=lent {^public} room adjoining them, called the bath room which commands a pleasant
view of the sea – I had one day the pleasure of seeing a ship launched at Yar=
=mouth with which I was much gratified, never having seen anything of the
{?sort} before, but I was still more gratified by seeing the sun rise out of the Sea,
[new page]
you know we used frequently to see the Sun sit in the sea in
Bootle together, but this grandeur of the rising sun surpasses the setting sun,
I had three companions & are now soon after three o’clock & were on the beach
before five, the morning was particularly favorable & we all enjoyed it very
much, although we were quizzed a little by some of our party for sallying
forth at so early an hour. In our route to Norfolk we went through
Peterborough to see its Cathedral, which is one of the most {?unusual} in Eng=
=lands the Architecture {deleted] is remarkably fine, & this Cathedral very
{?spacious}; in the garden adjoining it, we saw a land Tortoise which has
Lived there during the lives of C [illeg] it is not very large but coud
bear my weight upon its back without {^the least} apparent concern. On our
return home we came through Cambrdige, it is rather a circuitous route but
Mrrs} P were so obliging as to chuse it on my account to give me an opport=
=unity of seeing the University, unfortunately the weather was not only [damaged]
Arrived [damaged] which prevented my seeing as much of it as [damaged]
Should, however we saw Trinity College, St John College, Kings College, [damaged]
Hall, Trinity is the largest in the University, in the ante chapel is a marble
Monument of Sir Isaac Newton holding a Prism in his hand, if you should
ever go to Cambridge take particular notice of the roof in the chapel of
Kings College, it is entirely of solid marble, with the {?Rose} Crown & Harrow
carved in it from one end to the other, & yet it appears as light as if is was
entirely of wood, it must have be a master piece of art at the time it was
executed If I have not already tired you my dear girl I must tell you
one thing more which I saw on my travels & what afforded me as much
pleasure as any thing, it was the Monument erected to the memory of {?Cooper} in
{?Denham} Church, it is quite characteristic of the mind of that good man & poet
being a large marble book with {^the} word Bible carved in black on the back & a small
book besides it, with the word Task on the back & a wreath of laurel across the top,
[new page]
coud not have it in person, I have written you a long letter, which (if it does
not quite tire you) will I hope afford you some information & amusement, therefore
I hope it will not be long ere you favour me with an epistle, which I assure
you will meet a most welcome receiption; from you my dear Mary Ann it is
a very long time indeed since I heard, I hope you have not entirely forgotten me.
Give my kind love to your dear brothers & good sister Dorothy & my affectionate
Remembrances to your father Grandmother M^rs Shepperd M^{rs Whitwell & Mrs Raw=
=son, accept my good wishes my dear girls & believe me ever your sincere friend
H Roberts
[change hand] Park Octr 16th 1806
H Roberts to M A N
Ansd
[original hand] Miss Nicholson
Gateacre
To the care of Mr Samuel Boardman
King Street
Liverpool
of them, with a beautiful inscription underneath, which I regret I did not copy.
about a week after my return home, I call’d at Travis Mills in expectation of
seeing your Grandmother & one or both of you my young friends, for although I
had not heard of your visit there, I thought probably I ought to {?chuse} to meet you
as I understand you were expected at Mr Hatfields in the summer, but I was
much disappointed to find that so many of your family had been there, &
left them a fortnight before, I hope the next time any of you comes I shall be
more fortunate, for I long to have a little chat with {^you} as a [illeg] of which,}

Park Oct^r 16^th 1806
My dear Mary Ann & Elizabeth
It is now so long my dear girls since I
Wrote to you that I fear you will begin to think I have almost forgot=
=ten you, but rest assured that is not the case, my long absence from
the Park, has been the only reason which has hitherto obliged me to
defer that pleasure. We returned home about a month ago after an ab=
=sence of thirteen weeks, which was spent as pleasantly as possible, amongst
M^rs Philips friends, most of whom met us at {?Barnsley} 5 miles from Yar=
=mouth, & spent the same time there that we did M^r Phillips family
was in a house belonging to M^{rs Manning (Mrs Nicholsons father) which
he furnished ready for our receiption, & MrMr Mannings, we were within a short distance of each other, which rendered
It very pleasant, & about 1 ½ from the sea side, whither we frequently re=
=paired together, & enjoyed ourselves on the beach for several hours [deleted]
a day, the coast is not Cold or rocky, but at low water the sands are
very pleasant to walk upon, there are no shells to be found, but we used
to search for Cornelians of which we found a great number, & some very
beautiful ones – The county of Norfolk is exceedingly flat, which makes
it uninteresting, but the roads are remarkably good, much wheat is grown
there, & as we were there during the harvest we had the pleasure of seeing
a great quantity of it well housed I never saw so many gleaners as this
summer, sometimes upwards of sizty, woud assemble & beset a field, & as soon
[vertical left margin] Octr 22nd Miss Brooker & Miss {?Frances} B have been {^are} visiting Mrs John Phelps they return to Liverpool next week & will
Return this letter Mr Boardman’s Warehouses
[new page]
as the last waggon load of Corn was out, they rushed in & a larger field
was completely gleaned in less than a quarter of an hour; I have
seen this more than once – the [illeg] have {^a} custom in Norfolk of crying {?Lar}=
=giss, if any person goes into a field where they are reaping & gives them
away they immediately arrange themselves in a circle with the {?spirit}
man in the centre, & when he gives the word of command, they all together
shout Langess three times letting the word dwell upon their tongue as
long as they can, it is very well to hear it once but woud not be pleasant
if often repeated. Will you tell your father I have had the pleasure of
hearing his favourite preacher Mr Pendleberry Houghton, with whom I was
quite delighted upon in the Pulpit, he delivered an excellent sermon in a
manner that charmed all his hearers, but afterwards spending part of a
day with him I was much disappointed to find that his manners & convers=
=ation were so much less engaging than I expected. Yarmouth is a reason=
=ably pretty town, & the inhabitants very clean & healthy, as we are only 5 miles
Distant we frequently went thither, there are only two of the principal streets
in Yarmouth which communicate with each other, to all the others you are
obliged to pass from one street to another through narrow passages or mews as
they are called, which are not wide enough to admit a common cart, therefore
the inhabitants use a narrow cart of a peculiar construction called the
Yarmouth Cart {^of} which you see great numbers in every part of the town,
as they are the only vehicle they have to convey their goods upon the wall
of the town are nearly all destroyed, but the North & South gates are in
good preservations the baths are very clean and commodious & there is an excel=
=lent {^public} room adjoining them, called the bath room which commands a pleasant
view of the sea – I had one day the pleasure of seeing a ship launched at Yar=
=mouth with which I was much gratified, never having seen anything of the
{?sort} before, but I was still more gratified by seeing the sun rise out of the Sea,
[new page]
you know we used frequently to see the Sun sit in the sea in
Bootle together, but this grandeur of the rising sun surpasses the setting sun,
I had three companions & are now soon after three o’clock & were on the beach
before five, the morning was particularly favorable & we all enjoyed it very
much, although we were quizzed a little by some of our party for sallying
forth at so early an hour. In our route to Norfolk we went through
Peterborough to see its Cathedral, which is one of the most {?unusual} in Eng=
=lands the Architecture {deleted] is remarkably fine, & this Cathedral very
{?spacious}; in the garden adjoining it, we saw a land Tortoise which has
Lived there during the lives of C [illeg] it is not very large but coud
bear my weight upon its back without {^the least} apparent concern. On our
return home we came through Cambrdige, it is rather a circuitous route but
Mrrs} P were so obliging as to chuse it on my account to give me an opport=
=unity of seeing the University, unfortunately the weather was not only [damaged]
Arrived [damaged] which prevented my seeing as much of it as [damaged]
Should, however we saw Trinity College, St John College, Kings College, [damaged]
Hall, Trinity is the largest in the University, in the ante chapel is a marble
Monument of Sir Isaac Newton holding a Prism in his hand, if you should
ever go to Cambridge take particular notice of the roof in the chapel of
Kings College, it is entirely of solid marble, with the {?Rose} Crown & Harrow
carved in it from one end to the other, & yet it appears as light as if is was
entirely of wood, it must have be a master piece of art at the time it was
executed If I have not already tired you my dear girl I must tell you
one thing more which I saw on my travels & what afforded me as much
pleasure as any thing, it was the Monument erected to the memory of {?Cooper} in
{?Denham} Church, it is quite characteristic of the mind of that good man & poet
being a large marble book with {^the} word Bible carved in black on the back & a small
book besides it, with the word Task on the back & a wreath of laurel across the top,
[new page]
coud not have it in person, I have written you a long letter, which (if it does
not quite tire you) will I hope afford you some information & amusement, therefore
I hope it will not be long ere you favour me with an epistle, which I assure
you will meet a most welcome receiption; from you my dear Mary Ann it is
a very long time indeed since I heard, I hope you have not entirely forgotten me.
Give my kind love to your dear brothers & good sister Dorothy & my affectionate
Remembrances to your father Grandmother M^rs Shepperd M^{rs Whitwell & Mrs Raw=
=son, accept my good wishes my dear girls & believe me ever your sincere friend
H Roberts
[change hand] Park Octr 16th 1806
H Roberts to M A N
Ansd
[original hand] Miss Nicholson
Gateacre
To the care of Mr Samuel Boardman
King Street
Liverpool
of them, with a beautiful inscription underneath, which I regret I did not copy.
about a week after my return home, I call’d at Travis Mills in expectation of
seeing your Grandmother & one or both of you my young friends, for although I
had not heard of your visit there, I thought probably I ought to {?chuse} to meet you
as I understand you were expected at Mr Hatfields in the summer, but I was
much disappointed to find that so many of your family had been there, &
left them a fortnight before, I hope the next time any of you comes I shall be
more fortunate, for I long to have a little chat with {^you} as a [illeg] of which,}