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Benjamin Flower-Eliza Gould Correspondence
Benjamin Flower-Eliza Gould Correspondence
1794-1808
1794-1808
Introduction
I first became aware of the letters of Benjamin Flower and Eliza Gould in the summer of 2000 while working on an article about Robert Hall, the celebrated Baptist minister at Cambridge (1791-1806) who had once been Flower’s pastor and friend. When I learned that The National Library of Wales owned the Flower Correspondence, I immediately took a train to Aberystwyth, hoping to find new information on Hall. In that regard, I was not disappointed, as the following letters will reveal. The more I read of these letters, however, I realized that they warranted far more attention than my narrow interest in Robert Hall. By the time I had finished the first eight letters (all written by Eliza), I had fallen under her spell: here was a young woman brimming with passionate ideals but trapped within social and economic confines that were bent on turning her visions of political reform and romantic love into withering dreams. Just when all seemed hopeless, she meets the man of her dreams in a most unlikely setting-Newgate prison. Their letters thereafter read like a novel, complete with heroes and villains and a plot full of fortunate mistakes, happy coincidences, and, for a ten-year period, a blissful marriage.
My purpose in transcribing (and publishing in 2008) these letters was to recreate the lives of Benjamin Flower and Eliza Gould, much of which could only be derived from information provided in their correspondence. I also wanted to place these letters within their historical context, both in relation to gender issues, epistolary tradition, and questions of politics and religious Nonconformity pertinent to the 1790s and the first decade of the nineteenth century. Wherever possible, I allowed Flower to comment upon these matters and other contemporary events through his editorials in the Cambridge Intelligencer and several of his published works, on political and religious topics that emerge in these letters. I hope readers will indulge themselves in a remarkable love story beautifully expressed in letters of a high literary quality. The letters may be of interest to anyone attracted to the local history of various places in Devon, Cambridgeshire, Essex, and London, as well as contemporary political and religious issues that permeate the Flower-Gould correspondence.
Selected letters (with limited notes) from the Flower-Gould correspondence can be found on this site under Benjamin Flower and Eliza Gould Flower in Nonconformist Letters (links are provided as well to these letters in the Chronological Calendar). Complete texts with full notes and background can be found in Timothy Whelan, Politics, Religion, and Romance: The Letters of Benjamin Fower and Eliza Gould Flower, 1794-1808 (Aberystwyth: National Library of Wales, 2008).
[Letters that are linked are available on this site except for the first three, which can be found on Nonconformist and Dissenting Women's Studies, 1650-1850]
Part One: Letters from Devon and Bedfordshire, April 1794-March 1799 (Letters 1- 8)
Eliza, now 24, has just opened her school for young girls in South Molton. Shortly before this, she has met John Feltham, to whom she will become engaged within a year. She will experience tremendous persecution in South Molton as a result of her distribution of Benjamin Flower’s Cambridge Intelligencer, causing her to close her school by summer 1795. After living for several months with her friends, the Quartleys, near Wellington, Eliza will return home to Bampton to assist her bankrupt father in satisfying his creditors so that he can be freed and return to his family. In the fall of 1797, she will remove to London to live with Feltham’s friends, the Ortons, during which time her relations with Feltham will become increasingly strained. She will leave the Ortons by late 1797, moving in with her new London friends, the Gurneys. In late summer 1798 she will accept a governess position with the Squire family of Kempston, Bedfordshire, where she will remain for one year, returning to London to live once again with the Gurneys. Shortly before she leaves Kempston, however, she will break off her engagement with Feltham for good.
Eliza Gould at South Molton to John Feltham at Mr. Northcote’s, Honiton, June 1794.
Eliza Gould at South Molton to John Feltham at Mr. Northcote’s, Honiton, Easter Sunday, 5 April 1795.
Eliza Gould, Southmolton, to Benjamin Flower, Bridge Street, Cambridge, Tuesday, 19 May 1795.
[Eliza Gould,] “To the Editor of the Cambridge Intelligencer,” signed “Eliza,” 20 June 1795.
Eliza Gould, Bampton, Devon, to Benjamin Flower, Bridge Street, Cambridge, Tuesday, 2 February 1796.
Eliza Gould, Kempston, to Rebecca Gurney, Richmond Place, Walworth, Surrey, Monday, 19 November 1798.
Part Two: Newgate Letters, August 1799-October 1799 (Letters 9-44)
Shortly after returning from Kempston to live once again with the Gurneys in Walworth, she learns that Benjamin Flower is serving a six-month sentence in Newgate prison for libeling the Bishop of Llandaff in one of his editorials in the Intelligencer. Moved by his plight and curious to meet the man with whom she had once corresponded and whose controversial paper had led to her removal from South Molton in 1795, she accompanies the Gurneys on 16 July 1799 to Newgate to visit Flower. The two political radicals are attracted to each other from the beginning. Her visits grow more frequent, and within a month of their first meeting they begin an almost daily correspondence. Within two months they will become engaged. Concerned by her poor health, largely a result of her experience at Kempston, her doctor will prescribe a trip to the West Country to see her family and friends; in early October she will depart on what will be a two-month excursion. During her trip, she will meet with Mr. Haskins, Feltham’s former benefactor, who will now become, much to her surprise, her own benefactor too.
Benjamin Flower at Newgate to Eliza Gould at the Gurneys, Walworth, Tuesday, 20 August 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Newgate to Eliza Gould, at Mr. Gurney’s, Keene’s Row, Walworth, 27 August 1799
Benjamin Flower at Newgate to Eliza Gould at Mr. Gurney’s, Keene’s Row, Walworth, Wednesday, 4 September 1799.
Eliza Gould at Mr. Gurney’s, Keene’s Row, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower at Newgate, care of Mr. Kirby, Old Bailey, Saturday, 7 September 1799.
Eliza Gould at the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower at Newgate, c/o Mr. Kirby, Old Bailey, Wednesday, 11 September 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Newgate to Eliza Gould at the Gurneys, Walworth, Wednesday, 11 September 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Newgate to Eliza Gould at Mr. Gurney’s, Keene’s Row, Walworth, Saturday, 14 September 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Newgate to Eliza Gould at the Gurneys, Walworth, 15 September 1799.
Benjamin Flower, Newgate, to Eliza Gould, the Gurneys, Walworth, Wednesday, 18 September 1799.
Benjamin Flower, Newgate to Eliza Gould, [the Gurneys, Walworth], Saturday, 21 September 1799.
Eliza Gould at the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower at Mr. Kirby’s, Old Bailey, Newgate Prison, Saturday, 21 September 1799.
Benjamin Flower, Newgate, to Eliza Gould [at the Gurneys, Walworth], Sunday, 22 September 1799.
Eliza Gould, the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower, Newgate, Monday, 23 September 1799.
Eliza Gould at Newbury to Benjamin Flower at Mr. Kirby’s, Old Bailey, in Newgate Prison, London, undated [Thursday, 3 October 1799].
Benjamin Flower, Newgate, to Eliza Gould, Bath, Thursday, 3 October 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Newgate to Eliza Gould [“to be left at the Post Office”] at Bristol, Wednesday, 9 October 1799.
Part Three: Cambridge-West Country Letters, October 1799-December 1799 (Letters 45-74)
Part Three: Cambridge-West Country Letters, October 1799-December 1799 (Letters 45-74)
While Eliza is still enjoying her excursion to the West Country, Benjamin is released from Newgate. He will return to the house he shares in Cambridge with Mrs. Jennings and his work with the Intelligencer, writing three to four times a week to Eliza. He will cherish every letter from her, often reading them aloud to his friends. They will write about their daily concerns and their mutual friends in Devon and London; on a darker note, they also discuss Eliza’s fragile state of health, prompting him to warn her about exerting herself too much, even when writing letters. Above all, their letters reveal their growing feelings for each other and their eagerness for their coming wedding and their move into a new house in Bridge Street. They finally agree on a wedding date of 1 January 1800. After her return to London at the end of November, Eliza will embark on another short excursion, this time to Bedford to see her friends and revive the Sunday school she had started the year before in Kempston. Concerning his wedding day, Benjamin wrote to Eliza that he would cherish as “the most important day of our lives.” On Saturday, 4 January, Flower inserted the following notice in the Cambridge Intelligencer under Cambridge news: “On Wednesday last was married at St. Mary’s, Newington, Surrey, by Doctor Warner, Mr. Benjamin Flower, Printer of this paper, to Miss Gould, eldest daughter of John Gould, Dodbrook, Devonshire.”
Benjamin Flower (at an inn at Ware, on his way to Cambridge) to Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, near Kingsbridge, Devonshire, Friday, 18 October 1799.
Eliza Gould at Wellington to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Sunday, 20 October 1799.
Eliza Gould at Wellington to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Tuesday, 22 October 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, near Kingsbridge, Devonshire, Thursday, 24 October 1799.
Eliza Gould at Totness, Devonshire, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Sunday, 27 October 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, Monday, 28 October 1799.
Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, Devonshire, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Wednesday, 30 October 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, Saturday, 2 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, Devonshire, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Monday, 4 November 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, Tuesday, 5 November 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, Wednesday, 6 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Sherford, Devonshire, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Wednesday, 6 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Sherford, near Dodbrook, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Friday, 8 November 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Flower at Dodbrook, Sunday, 10 November 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Miss Eliza Gurney at Walworth, Sunday, 10 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Dodbrook to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Monday, 11 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Dodbrook to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Wednesday, 13 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Dodbrook to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Monday, 18 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Dodbrook to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Monday evening, 18 November 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, Monday, 18 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Dodbrook to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Wednesday, 20 November 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Dodbrook, Thursday, 21 November 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Mrs. Quartley’s, near Wellington, Tuesday, 26 November 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould [sent to Bath], Saturday, 30 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Wellington to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Saturday, 30 November 1799.
Eliza Gould at Bedford to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, incomplete and undated [Sunday, 15 December 1799].
Eliza Gould at Bedford to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Wednesday, 18 December 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at Mr. Gurney’s, Keene’s Row, Walworth, London, Friday, 20 December 1799.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Gould at the Gurneys, Walworth, Sunday, 22 December 1799
Part Four: Cambridge Letters, October 1800-March 1804 (Letters 75-100)
The Flowers have settled into their new house in Cambridge, where Benjamin operates his printshop, bookshop, and newspaper. Eliza quickly becomes his partner, managing all aspects of the business when he is gone. His work requires him to make frequent trips to London, and she travels there as well at times to visit her friends, the Gurneys and the Haweses. Eliza’s youngest sister, Mary, will live with them during most of their time in Cambridge, assisting Eliza around the house and in the shop. Eliza will devote much of her free time to her work with the Cambridge Benevolent Society, which she will establish in September 1801. When they are apart, Benjamin and Eliza always correspond, their letters revealing a deep level of emotional commitment as well as intellectual compatibility. They talk about business, friends, politics, religion, and family matters, most frequently involving problems with Benjamin’s sister and brother-in-law, the Claytons-problems that have troubled him since the early 1780s. He will become disenchanted with his paper by late 1802, ceasing publication in July 1803. Their first child, Eliza, will be born in the spring of 1803, and by December of that year the Flowers will decide to leave Cambridge.
Benjamin Flower at William Flower’s, London, to Eliza Flower at Cambridge, Saturday, 25 October 1800.
Eliza Flower at Cambridge to Benjamin Flower at William Flower’s, No. 47 Cannon Street, London, Saturday and Sunday, 25 and 26 October 1800.
Eliza Flower at Cambridge to Benjamin Flower at William Flower’s, 47 Cannon Street, London, Tuesday, 28 October 1800.
Eliza Flower at Hertford and London to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Saturday-Monday, 11-13 July 1801.
Eliza Flower at the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, undated [postmarked Thursday, 16 July 1801].
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Flower at Mr. Gurney’s, Keene’s Row, Walworth, near London, 16 July 1801.
Eliza Gould at the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, undated [Friday, 17 July 1801].
Eliza Flower, Cambridge, to William Hollick, Whittlesford, near Cambridge, Thursday, 16 October 1801.
Eliza Flower at Cambridge to Benjamin Flower c/o Mesr Crosby & Co, Stationers Court, London, Sunday, 29 November 1801.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Flower at Mr. Coplands, Saxthorpe Hall, near Aylsham, Norfolk, Monday, 20 September 1802.
Eliza Flower at the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower, Cambridge, Saturday, 20 November 1802.
Eliza Flower at the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower, Cambridge, Friday, 10 December 1802.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Flower at the Gurneys, Keene’s Row, Walworth, Thursday, 16 December 1802.
Eliza Flower, at the Creaks in Cornhill and then at the Gurneys in Walworth, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Saturday, 18 December 1802.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Flower at Mr. Gurney’s, Keene’s Row, Walworth, Sunday, 19 December 1802.
Eliza Gould at the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Wednesday, undated [postmarked 22 December 1802].
Eliza Flower at the Gurneys, Walworth, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Friday, 24 December 1802.
Eliza Flower at the Creaks, 69 Cornhill, London,, to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, Wednesday, 29 December1802.
Eliza Flower at Cambridge to Benjamin Flower at the Rev. Robert Aspland’s, Newport, Isle of Wight, Friday, 7 October 1803.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Flower at Robert Aspland’s, Newport, Isle of Wight, Tuesday, 13 December 1803.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to W. Jeffries, the Bank, Bridgwater, Somerset, Tuesday, 21 February 1804.
Eliza Flower at Cambridge to Benjamin Flower at Mr. Creak’s, 69 Cornhill, London, Thursday, 22 March 1804.
Benjamin Flower, Cambridge, to Messrs. Cadell & Davies, Booksellers, Strand, London, 23 July 1804.
Part Five: Harlow Letters, October 1804-December 1808 (Letters 101-121)
In August 1804 the Flowers move to Harlow, Essex. Eliza is already pregnant with their second daughter, Sarah, who will be born in February 1805. Benjamin will open a print shop and reenter the public arena once again with his Political Review and Monthly Register. Eliza will continue her benevolent work and Benjamin his lay preaching in nearby towns. Within a year of moving to Harlow, both his mother and older brother will die, causing him considerable grief and complicating his already strained relations with the Claytons. He will finally take them to court in 1808 in an effort to clear his name and save his reputation. Problems will also develop over a loan from his wealthy cousin, Sarah Fuller, an issue not resolved with her heirs until 1812. The Flowers will dote on their two daughters, their letters revealing a deep level of attachment and some unorthodox parenting. Eliza’s youngest brother, John, after a brief stay in London and Harlow, will return to Devon to open a business, taking his sister, Mary, with him. Eliza will continue to show signs of consumption. In July 1806, she will make her final visit to Devon to see her relations. In August 1808, searching for a new doctor, she will visit London, probably for the last time.
Benjamin Flower at the Creaks, 69 Cornhill, London, to Eliza Flower at Harlow, Essex, Wednesday, 31 October 1804.
Eliza Flower at Harlow to Benjamin Flower at Cambridge, December 1804.
Eliza Flower at the Creaks, 69 Cornhill, to Benjamin Flower at Harlow, Saturday, 26 January 1805.
Benjamin Flower at Cambridge to Eliza Flower “Senr” at Harlow, Tuesday, 19 February 1805.
Eliza Flower at Harlow to Mrs. Gurney, c/o Mr. White, Esqre, Deal, Kent, Sunday, 15 September 1805.
Eliza Flower at Harlow to her brother John in London, undated, but sometime in 1805 [letter is incomplete.
Eliza Flower at Harlow to Benjamin Flower at Mr. Creak’s, 69 Cornhill, London, Monday, [14] October 1805.
Benjamin Flower at Harlow to Eliza Flower at Mr. Creak’s, 69 Cornhill, London, Wednesday, 6 November 1805.
Benjamin Flower at Harlow to Eliza Flower at the Creaks, 69 Cornhill, London, Sunday, 12 January 1806.
Benjamin Flower at Whittlesford, near Cambridge, to Eliza Flower at the Randalls, Cambridge, undated, but probably early 1806.
Eliza Flower at Whittlesford, near Cambridge, to Benjamin Flower at Harlow, undated [late June 1806].
Eliza Flower at Dodbrook to Benjamin Flower at Harlow, Sunday 6 July 1806.
Eliza Flower at Plymouth to Benjamin Flower at Harlow, Monday, 14 July 1806.
Eliza Flower at Harlow to Benjamin Flower at the Creaks, 69 Cornhill, London, undated [postmarked Friday, 30 January 1807].
Benjamin Flower at Harlow to Eliza Flower at the Creaks, 69 Cornhill, London, Tuesday, 16 June 1807.
Benjamin Flower at Harlow to Eliza Flower at the Creaks, 69 Cornhill, London, Thursday, 18 June 1807.
Eliza Flower at Harlow to Benjamin Flower at the Creaks, 69 Cornhill, London, Tuesday, 3 March 1808.
Eliza Flower [in London] to Benjamin Flower at Harlow, undated [probably Sunday, 28 August 1808].
Eliza Flower in London to Benjamin Flower at Harlow, undated [postmarked Thursday, 8 December 1808].
Eliza will die on 11 April 1810, after giving premature birth to a son (who also dies), a labor complicated by her consumptive condition. Benjamin will never remarry; instead, he will raise his daughters alone, educating them himself in their home. Eliza and Sarah will both become well known literary and musical figures in London. In 1819, Flower and his two daughters will remove to Dalston, in the parish of Hackney, London, where he will spend the final decade of his life in a pleasant retirement, writing occasionally for Unitarian periodicals. He is buried in the Flower vault in the Baptist cemetery, Harlow, alongside Eliza and their children.
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