Transcript
gone up to town, he invited me to dine with him so he may be supposed to have done the civil & is in that glorious minority consisting of himself, Gregory*8 Alison*9 & Syme*10, who have shown me any signs of attention out of the whole body of Professors.
I am very much indebted to Mr Halkett*11 for his letters here, as I have through them made some very nice acquaintances indeed. His brother*12 and his wife are exceedingly nice people as are their daughter*13 & son in law Mr*14 and Mrs Leith. I have seen a great many people who ask about you but cannot tell you the names of many [e]xcept Mr Ramsay*15 the clergyman of St John's[,] Ld. Cockburn*16, Mr Alison & some others.
The garden is looking tolerable though we continue to have most wretched weather. All this week we have had violent Westerley wind[?mss damaged] with showers[?mss damaged] & such
20 Abercrombie Place Edinburgh
June 8 1845
My dear Father*1
I suppose that it is time to congratulate you on your DCL*2 of Oxford which was only rather long of coming like the F.R.S.*3 here; & like it is perhaps better late than never. I have really nothing particular to write to you about as there is no news stirring here about anything but a prince of Holland who has brought a frigate into the wash. Saturday I had a long walk with Capt[ai]n Trotter who I like very much indeed[.] [H]e is one of the Trotter's of Dreghorn*4, his father*5 (I suspect) being the man who gained some notoriety for being secretary to Lord Melville*6 when the latter was tried for various public offences. [B]e that as it may the son is a very different man.
I told mother that Christian*7 had
gone up to town, he invited me to dine with him so he may be supposed to have done the civil & is in that glorious minority consisting of himself, Gregory*8 Alison*9 & Syme*10, who have shown me any signs of attention out of the whole body of Professors.
I am very much indebted to Mr Halkett*11 for his letters here, as I have through them made some very nice acquaintances indeed. His brother*12 and his wife are exceedingly nice people as are their daughter*13 & son in law Mr*14 and Mrs Leith. I have seen a great many people who ask about you but cannot tell you the names of many [e]xcept Mr Ramsay*15 the clergyman of St John's[,] Ld. Cockburn*16, Mr Alison & some others.
The garden is looking tolerable though we continue to have most wretched weather. All this week we have had violent Westerley wind[?mss damaged] with showers[?mss damaged] & such
clouds of sand that my eyes are very sore indeed: -- this is really much worse than the the E. Wind and is no joke at all. It is a detestable climate. There has been a second Horticultural show here, but it took place in the evening, when I could not go. There was however nothing particular there at all.
[unsigned]
1. Sir William Jackson Hooker (1841--1865). Joseph Dalton Hooker's Father. Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University from 1820 to 1841 and the first Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew from 1841 until his death in 1865, upon which his son Joseph succeeded him as Director.
2. DCL Doctor of Civil Law degree.
3. F.R.S. Fellow of the Royal Society.
4. Dreghorn Castle, Colinton Parish, Edinburghshire. In 1796, Alexander Trotter and his family took over and stayed for 66 years.
5. Alexander Trotter was Secretary to Lord Melville, Ministry of the Royal Navy. As pay master Alexander Trotter of Dreghorn deposited cheques for thousands of pounds in his personal account at his cousin's Coutt's bank. Before he returned the capital he had made considerable profits from its investment, which he shared with Lord Melville.
6. Lord Melville, Henry Dundas (1742-1811). Scottish advocate and Tory politician. He was the first Secretary of State for War. In 1806, was the last person to be impeached in the United Kingdom, for misappropriation of public money. Although acquitted he never held public office again.
7. Christian Gottfried Nees von Essenbeck (1776--1858). Physician and botanist.
8. Professor William Gregory (1803--1858). Scottish physician and chemist. Teacher in the Medical Faculty at Edinburgh University.
9. William Pulteney Alison (1790--1859). Scottish physician, social reformer and philanthropist, professor of medicine at Edinburgh University. President of the Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh (1833), president of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (1836--38), and vice-president of the British Medical Association.
10. James Syme (1799--1870). Pioneering Scottish surgeon, teacher in the Medical Faculty at Edinburgh University. In 1833 he succeeded Professor James Russell as Professor of Clinical Surgery in Edinburgh University.
11. John Halkett (1768--1852). Governor of Bahamas 1801 and Tobago 1803--1805.
12. General Sir Alexander Halkett (1773--1886). Brother of Mr John Halkett.
13. Mary Anna Halkett daughter of General Sir Alexander Halkett. Married Alexander Leith 1843.
14. Alexander Leith, son of General Sir Alexander Leith 1817--1886 and Maria Thorp. Married Mary Anna Halkett 1843.
15. Reverend Edward Bannerman Ramsay (1793--1872). Clergyman of Scottish Episcopal Church and Dean of Edinburgh. Minister at St John's from 1830 until his death.
16. Henry Thomas Cockburn of Bonaly, Lord Cockburn (1779--1854). Lawyer, judge and literary figure, Solicitor General for Scotland 1830-1834. His mother was connected by marriage to Lord Melville, he was educated at University of Edinburgh.
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