Mary Steele, [Yeovil,] to her half-sister, Martha Steele, Abingdon, [Wednesday] 7 September 1796.

My Dear Sister

   I am not insensible to the kindness that dictated your Letter tho I have till now delay’d to acknowledge it – the Approbation of those we love must ever be soothing to a heart of a Sensibility – I sincerely thank you for ye kind Wishes for my happiness – the blessing of Heaven my Dear Sister in all Situations can alone give that Content for which so many wretched thousands sigh in vain tho surrounded with Affluence & Pleasure. Conscious of having sought this I trust it will not be withheld – the more I know of Mr D the more reason I have to be Satisfied with my determination however deficient he may be in these Accomplishments which the frivolous & the gay deem of the highest value. He possesses Virtues which when known must command respect & which will I hope ensure to him the Esteem of those dear to me.  Every trace of that Enthusiasm which once beclouded his Mind is vanish’d & while I am grateful for his uncommon Affection I can respect his Understanding – After what has pass’d this acknowledgement is due. 

   I know not whether I must Condole or congratulate you for I am told you have lost one lover & gain’d another – perhaps the Exchange may be a good one at least in external Suitability – I shall feel some Curiosity to hear about it.  Pray has Mr Primrose visit’d Caldecot? It was reported some time ago at Andover that he had.

   I am very anxious about our Dear Sister may the same kind Hand sustain & preserve her as in times past.  I imagine it cannot be very long before the Stranger arrives – I have staid longer here than I intended – but a visit from Mr D & his Sister has retarded my return they proceeded on their Journey yesterday – Mrs Howe is greatly pleas’d with her which gratifies me.  I never saw I think a person so much improvd as she is.  I really think I shall like her very much.

   I have at last fix’d my return for next Monday when I intend going to Checklady & I shall spend a Day there – My health & Spirits have been greatly benefited by my Sojourning here but I doubt when I get home they will return to their former State – My Anxiety about Lucy I can truly say is greater than about myself important & interesting as my present situation is.   I have not as yet been able to form any plan for my future movements. Pray give my Love to our Dr Sister I ought to have been writing to her now had I not neglected answering yrs so long – hope to do it soon. Mrs Howe’s health I have the pleasure to say is evidently improv’d.  Oh that it may continue so.   Present my kind regards to all as due – I daily think of the Sweet Smiles of my lovely Mary.  I want to see her sadly – pray give my Love to her – Adieu My Dear Sister.  May the Almighty bless & preserve you all

                                 yrs aff

                                             M Steele

Wednesday morn

Mrs Howe desires her respects

I forgot to tell you that sometime ago when I was at Sarum Brownjohn the Habit maker gave me a small Bill for you dated 93 or 94 I forgot which I did not pay it till I had spoken to you about it.

Text: Timothy Whelan, ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 1720-1840, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 3, pp. 342-43 (annotated version); STE 5/12/vi, Steele Collection, Angus Library, Regent's Park College, Oxford. Postmark location illegible, dated 8 September 1796. Address: Miss Martha Steele / Jos:h Tomkins’s Esqr. / Caldecot House / Abingdon / Berks. Reference to Mrs. Howe in the letter makes it clear that Mary is at Yeovil, about to return to Broughton.By this date Mary Steele has apparently decided, despite some reservations, to marry Thomas Dunscombe in January 1797 after a friendship of fifteen years. Reference to his former ‘enthusiasm’ is unclear, but her words suggest that a degree of distrust existed among other members of her family concerning the qualities of Revd Dunscombe.

References above include Caldecott House, the home of Joseph Tomkins, Sr., which was a spacious manor house with extensive grounds, built in 1732 and demolished in 1972. In its final years, the house served as one of the many orphanages established by Dr. Thomas Barnardo; the Revd John Thaine Froude (1753-1826), vicar at Chicklade and brother to Mary and Sarah Froude, all cousins of Mary Steele. His wife was the former Elizabeth Brickenden (1758-1832) of Wincanton. Both John Thaine Froude and his son, John Brickenden Froude (1786-1865), attended Oxford; the father matriculated at Oriel College in 1770; the son at Corpus Christi in November 1803; also Mary Steele Tomkins (1793-1861), Mary Steele's niece.