Celia Doddridge, Daventry, to Mercy Doddridge, Sr., at the home of the Revd. Thomas in Henley, Warwickshire, 9 March 1768. 

Dear Madam

            I am extremly obliged to you for [your] Last kind obligen Letter which gave me great pleasure & for which I return my most greatfull & sincear thanks I beg my kin[d]est Love to my Dear Sister & am very sorry to find she is so very endefrent still but am in great hop[e]s that North[ern] air will agree beatter with her & I am shure it will give me very great pleasur to meet my Dear Mamma & Sisters [noun shug Little Drilling agean?] wear: I hope we shell meet before it is very Long – but Plumpton who was hear last week tells me that the election will all ^be^ over in about a fortnight tho I bleve it is not yet known which will get it poor Mr Plumpton [h]as ben and is still very ill the Dr & Miss A [Ashworth] whent yesterday to see him but are not yet returnd I had a letter from my Cous [Mary Doddridge] to let me [k]now now that the pictuer was come1 the Dr is so good as to say he will wright for me to Mrs Waugh which I am very glad off he will allso be so kind as wright to his son abought the weels pray Madam have you hear[d] off [sic] Mr Orton lattly The Dr had a letter from Mrs Gentilman [Gentleman] last week in which ^he^ says that Mr Orton is puer will [pure well] & in very good spirits which I am very glad to hear

  I had a letter from my Sister last week & I hope that she [h]as had the pleasure of hearing from you madam before know [now] as she dos I think mencion that she hoped to hear from you very soon

         I had the pleasure of hearing from Mrs Hiron last week she & Mr H are very well & desird to be remembered to you Madam & my Dear Sister in the Kindest manner poor Mrs Grigg is still extremly ill much wors than when I left St Alban’s Mrs H dos not seem[s] to think she cannot Live Long and I am very sorry for Mr G as I think it will be an unspekabel lose to him

  I am much obliged to Mrs Jen [Jennings] for her kind remembrance of me & am very glad ^Mrs Roberts^ is beatter than I fear’d she was

  The Dr & Mrs Ashworth & the young Lady’s Desier their kindest Comp to my Dear Mamma & Sister Master Phillip still continues much beatter

    I think my self much obliged to you ^Madam^ that you will [be so] good as to wright to Mrs Elliston as I am shuer she will take it very kind

    I hope my Dear Mamma will be so good as to let me hear from her very soon as I shall whant much to know how my Dear Sister doos I hope the Dear Children & Mrs Humpreys & my brother weare will when you hea’d from them pray Madam be so good as to remember me to them when you writ

  I sopose you Madam offen sees Mrs Clark the Dr tell’s me that he is to go or is gon to Bister Master Hunt is to come hear some Days this week to be under the Drs Care I wish Mrs Hunt may come with him as I think the Jorney would be of servis to her as I hear she is in a very bad state of health.

    I beg my kindest love to my Dear Sister & am Dear Madam with the sincerest wishes for your & my Dear Mrs Humphrey’s health & Happyness

Your Dutyfull & Obliged Daughter

Celia Doddridge

 March 9. 68

Address: To | Mrs Doddridge at the | Rev’d Mr Thomas ^at^ Henly | in Arden near Birmingham | Warwickshire

Postmark: Daventry

Note on address page: Celia March 9 1768

Text: Crew MS 50, fol. 8, Wren Library, Trinity College, Cambridge. Mary Doddridge, Philip Doddridge's cousin, was still maintaining the residence in Northampton during the absence of Mercy and Celia Doddridge, though the references to Mary Humphreys seems to imply that Mercy Doddridge was either often in Tewkesbury or a frequent correspondent of her eldest daughter.