William Andrews, Shaw, near Newbury, to Philip Whitaker, Bratton, [Thursday], 5 June 1817.

Shaw June 5 1817

My dear Sir

   As we all wish to see my uncle once more at Shaw I have taken upon me to write to you to say if it be not sorely against his will & is agreeable to you & my Cousin we shall be glad to see him & to continue with him while my brother goes to Bath next; when he will convey him to Bradford or Trowbridge which ever is most convenient to you to meet him. My reasons for troubling you on the subject instead of writing immediately to himself are, as he has never made known his situation & circumstances to me as it respects his pecuniary enbarrassment I from motives of delicacy have hitherto appear’d ignorant of it. And secondly that I conceive it would be a painful task to him to be under necessity of asking you for the means of his conveyance. Therefore if you will have the goodness to give him a Pound note & such advice as you may deem essential to the preservation of his Health & our mutual as well as his own personal comfort while with us I will be oblig’d to you & will repay you when we have the pleasure of seeing you  A line as soon as convenient to you of the result of the invitation & when if accepted we may expect to see him that I may meet him at the Coach will oblige. I also hope to hear a good account of my Cousin’s health & of the Children.

   My Brother & Sisters join her in love to yourself & my Cousin & believe me

                     Yours most sincerely

                                 William Andrews

P.S. I beg to observe I think you had better conceal having heard any thing from me on this Subject lest he should be induced from that consideration to do violence to his own feelings in complement to us; which we by no means wish goodness to but the bare question to him whether he should like to come & spend a month or five weeks with us, his answer will be more likely to be dictated by his own genuine feelings & desires than by any other consideration.

Text: Reeves Collection, Box 14.6.(d.).  Address: Mr Philip Whitaker | Bratton Farm |near Westbury | Wilts. Postmark: Newbury.  William Andrews and his sister, Harriet, along with at least one other brother (mentioned in the above letter), were cousins of Maria Grace Saffery and Anne Whitaker. William and Harriet both died in 1830, aged 64 and 61. Harriet appears to have never married, living with her brother. James Andrews, father of Maria and Anne. As this letter makes clear, in his later years he lived near his two daughters most likely because of some financial decline. He was about 71 years of age at this time. In September 1817 visited Shaw, accompanied by Anne Whitaker and her son, George, at that time six years of age.