![Letter from Mrs J. G. Lockhart [Charlotte Sophia Lockhart] to Mrs [J.] Marshall](/uploads/r/trinity-college-library/6/4/1/6418df14260097807065ada1ac7634f6208cbd2bd5af34613d763e84b54d850d/Add.ms.c.87_28_thumb.jpg)
One letter dated 24 Feb. 1849.
Note about James Duport pasted to the inside front cover. Notes headed 'G. E. H. Grigson Esq., Pelynt, Looe, Cornwall' tipped in at beginning of book: 'A commonplace book in a late 17th cent: hand or early 18th, by an undergrad: or fellow of Trinity College...', records extent and condition of book before listing contents. Note at the bottom [in the hand of A. F. Scholfield, Librarian?]: 'Bought for £1. ? Apr. 1927'.
pp. 1-15 (pp. 5-6 excised): 'Rules to be observed by young Pupils & Schollers in the University', concluding 'The End of Mr Duports Rules. Ann. dom. 1660'
pp. 16-18: 'Animadversions upon the Election of Fellowes in Trin: Coll. Ann dom: 1656.' English verses.
pp. 18-22: 'In electionem Socioru[m] Trin: Coll.Anno 1658.' Latin verses on the election of fellows to Trinity.
pp. 22[-23 or 24]: 'A Relation of a Quaker, that to the shame of his profession attempted to bugger a mare neere Colchester Anno 1658.' English verses. Most of the tile, from 'to the shame' to 'Anno', crossed out in later hand. Four verses only; the leaf containing the rest has been excised.
pp. 25-28: 'Verses made upon the election of Fellows T.C. 1659.' English verses.
pp. 31-33: 'The hunting of the Hare.' English verses.
pp. 33-49: 'Oratio M[agist]ri Linnet, habita in Collegio SStae & Individuae Trinit: cu[m] Primarij lectoris officiu[m] exorsus est.' Latin prose. Text of oration delivered by William Lynnet at Trinity at the beginning of his term as Head Lecturer, Oct. 1656.
pp. 50-73: 'Oratio habita in Collegio SStae Trin Cantab: circa annum 1654 die quinto Novembris in conspirationem Anglicanam. Authore M[agist]ro Ramsy ejusde[m] Collegii quonda[m] Socio.' Latin prose. Oration delivered by John Ramsey c 1654, ' about the Anglican [English] conspiracy of the fifth day of November [the Gunpowder Plot].
p. 74: Transcription of lines from Isaac Watt's 'How does the little busy bee...', published 1715, in childish hand.
'Walter Godfrey's' written in pencil on last page; there is a discussion in Preston & Oswald (2011) as to whether the original owner may have been Walter Godfrey, matriculated 1661 but did not graduate.
Belmont. - Death of Milnes' father [Richard Slater Milnes]; choice of subject for Cambridge Latin Declamation Prize; Milnes should have the highest English Declamation Prize; envies Milnes' trip to Edinburgh; hopes he will remain at Cambridge until Christmas; right choice of college.
(With a note by G. C. A. Jackson, dated 25 July 1950.)
—————
Transcript
Aids | towards answering the first question in the | Catechism.
When G. C. J. Arden
Goes out in the garden
To play with the slugs and the snails
Their lives are imperilled
By C. A. J. Gerald
Who treads on their backs and their tails.
Their tails and their backs on
Treads G. C. A. Jackson,
And each of them squirms and exclaims,
“Oh G. A. J. Christopher,
See how I twist over
Under your numerous names.”
[The accompanying note is as follows:]
Dr G. C. A. Jackson
85 North Avenue, Salisbury, S. Rhodesia
25.7.50
“Aids towards answering the first question in the Catechism”
Written some time after my christening {1} by | A. E. Ho[u]sman | my Godfather.
—————
The indentation of the verses has not been reproduced.
{1} Moses Jackson asked A. E. Housman to stand as Gerald’s godfather in 1900, the year of Gerald’s birth (Letters of Housman, ed. Burnett, vol. i, p. xxxviii), but it is unclear when the verses were written.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
31 Jan. 1936
My dear Gerald,
I ought to have thanked you before, and this letter will hardly catch you before you start on your holiday; but, next to walking, nothing tires me so much as writing, and I tend to fight shy of it. The nurses went into ecstasies over the sweets, and over admiration of your taste, for I told them that I had left the choice to you. Harrod’s provender was also good. The doctor told me to-day that he is not coming again for a week.
I had a letter the other day from Rupert, who seems to be profiting by the retirement of some competitors. I hope that you will enjoy your holiday and that it will freshen you up for the examination as desired.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] Gerald Jackson Esq. | St Thomas’s Hospital | London S.E.1 [Redirected to:] Hotel Trantheim | Engleberg | Switzerland [At the top:] Please forward
—————
The envelope, which bears a 2½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 9 p.m. on 31 January, and has been marked in pencil, ‘Written 3 months before his death on April 30th ’35’.
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
17 Jan. 1936
My dear Gerald,
Acquainted as you are with Fortnum and Mason and familiar with the female medical soul you are just the man to execute the job. After a stay in the Evelyn Nursing Home, where they are always extraordinarily kind and attentive, I send the nurses a present of something to eat, such as strawberries in season, or boxes of chocolates. Will you expend the enclosed cheque for £2.0.0 in purchasing and having sent from them a selection of sweetmeats (crystallised fruits or anything which you think will be relished, and perhaps not exactly what is most commonly to be found in Cambridge—though do not be particular about that, as they are all fond of chocolate) addressed to the Deputy Matron and enclosing the enclosed letter from me?
Thanks for all your enquiries during my illness. I was obliged to neglect all correspondence and am only now beginning to write. I gave my first lecture this morning, and had no difficulty in the actual delivery, but crossing the court was a labour and indeed so is almost any physical action.
I think your idea of a holiday before the examination is very likely a good one.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
—————
{1} A line has been drawn below this amount to draw attention to it. Cf. Nos. 41 and 47.
(With an envelope, addressed by A. S. F. Gow.)
—————
Transcript
Evelyn Home | Trumpington Road | Cambridge
Monday Jan. 6
My dear Gerald,
To-day I am so much better that I can ansswer† civilly to letters like yours. Hitherto my in-digestion and nausea have been too disabling. I shall try to send you a cheque for £450, which if I mistake not is the regular ammount† and which I beg you to accept, if so, without demur, as I can quite sustatin† it. My head has sometimes got confused bentween† your family and my nephews.
I have not yet dared to eat anything you sent me from Fortnum & Mason, but I hope it is keeping all right. Brawn is a thing I am very fon† of at Xmas if it keeps properly.
Thanks for your visit.
A. E. Housman
This is sent by the kind offices of Mr. Gow of Trinity
[Direction on envelope:] Gerald Jackson esq | St Thomas’s Hospital | London | S.E.1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 8 p.m. on 7 January, and has been marked in pencil, ‘Address in Mr. Gow’s handwriting. Written from Evelyn Nursing Home Cambridge.’ The letter is written very uncertainly in pencil; the direction on the envelope is in ink.
† Sic.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
5 Dec. 1935
My dear Gerald,
I am two letters in your debt, and I do not quite know at what point your knowledge of my history breaks off. I am now in ground-floor rooms, B 2 Great Court, which are exceedingly comfortable, and the bathroom, which the College has equipped at its own expense, strikes the beholder dumb with admiration. I have no separate dining-room, but the study is larger than the old one, and so is the bedroom. The rooms are rather dark, and in hot weather there is likely to be some lack of air, as the wistaria interferes with opening the windows wide. The situation is very convenient for Hall, and I have a lecture room in the diagonally opposite corner of the court. My walking is weak and slow, and for getting to sleep I am using diminishing doses of a bromide, supplemented with champagne; but I still wake too early in the morning and pass a disagreeable hour or two. The clock does not annoy me at all.
I am glad to hear of your progress, and will hope for your success in the great examination. If you fail this time I shall nevertheless be sure that you have done your best. I must tell you again not to worry yourself about the expense, which I can quite well support; and I do not want you to go taking some geological post which is not good enough. As your mind runs so much on Fortnum & Mason perhaps you might send me a smoked ox tongue. Space here is rather cramped, and keeping potted fish cool might not be easy.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | St Thomas’s Hospital | London S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 11.30 p.m. on 5 December.
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
27 Sept. 1935
My dear Gerald,
At the end of last year I found that my balance at the bank was £20 more than it was at the end of the year before; so do not fret yourself with the idea that I am being reduced to poverty. It would be a great pity to break off your course without necessity. Only do not work yourself too hard.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Marked in pencil:] 27.9.35
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
17 Aug. 1935
My dear Gerald,
I hardly know whether it is more satisfactory that you came out top in the Kenya competition or annoying that you were cheated of your reward. It is not the first time in the history of England and Africa that the Colonial Office has been set at nought by unfaithful servants.
I am rather better than I have been, and hope to be amused by my tour in France. I am going to Dauphiné and Savoy, and leave here on the 26th.
I hope that you will enjoy your ten days with the Irish Guards, and be refreshed by them after all your hard work.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | St Thomas’s Hospital | London S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. Silver Jubilee stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 8 p.m. on 17 August.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
The Evelyn Nursing Home, Trumpington Road, Cambridge
25 June 1935
My dear Gerald,
I have been in here more than a week and my correspondence is in arrears, but I will try to write soon. The trouble is Cheyne-Stokes breathing, which you know all about, and I am getting quiet nights by drugs. The doctor is very complimentary to my pulse, and I expect to go away on Friday.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. Silver Jubilee stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 10.15 p.m. on 25 June. The letter is written in pencil, but the direction on the envelope is in ink.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
5 April 1935
My dear Gerald,
I lose no time in thanking you for your birthday present, which I have lost no time in sampling. It is very good, better than potted char; and you have probably started me on a road which will conduct me to the doom of Henry I.
I thought your walk in Wales very enterprising and judicious, and I am glad you were able to seize the good weather before it degenerated into this. My chief recent experience has been motoring sixty miles to a funeral on Wednesday, through country in many places white with hail.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 7.30 p.m. on 5 April.
Transcript
I sent you a post-card on Saturday morning, which you do not seem to have received. I shall be very glad to see you on Wednesday. Let me know when to expect you. Priestley I believe has left Cambridge.
A. E. H.
18. March 1935
[Direction:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | 125 Queen’s Gate | S. W. 7
—————
A pre-paid 1d. postcard, postmarked at Cambridge at 10.15 p.m. on 18 March.
Transcript
Wednesday perhaps might suit me a trifle better than Thursday, but I shall be very glad to see you either day. Meals offer no difficulty at all.
A. E. H.
Trin. Coll. Camb.
16 March 1935
[Direction:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
A pre-paid 1d. postcard, postmarked at Cambridge at 12.15 p.m. on 16 March.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
12 March 1935
My dear Gerald,
As to the point you want my advice on, I think it would be a pity to break off your medical education unless a really good offer in the mining world came along. I am glad that you are getting on satisfactorily and with enjoyment.
This last fortnight I have been rather worse than usual and the doctor has been sending me to bed for week-ends, and this odious weather makes me quite ready to go there. I therefore do not feel that I should ask you to stay here even for two nights, as I cannot be sure of being able to entertain you properly; but if, as you suggest, you came over for the day—including both lunch-eon and dinner I hope—I should be very much pleased to see you, unless some accident should intervene. I have given up the idea of going abroad in this next vacation, and expect to be here all the while.
Thank you for your news about your mother, who I hope is now quite well; and I hope that your ulcerated (a word I deciphered with great doubt and difficulty) throat is healed.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 9.30 p.m. on 12 March.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
9 Jan. 1935 {1}
My dear Gerald,
From what you said in your letter of the 19th I gather that you will be back in London on Jan. 1, so I send you enclosed a cheque {2} for £450 for this next year, which I hope will be happy and occupied with interesting work. I hope too that you found the family party at West Hartlepool in good health and spirits. Oscar wrote me a very nice long letter with much information about himself and the rest of you. He seems to be inclined to be looking for a new job.
I have not asked you to stay with me here this year because I have felt hardly comfortable enough to be fit for a guest. On the advice of a friend of mine who is a doctor I have just been a total abstainer for a week, which has only resulted in producing symptoms of gout; so I had better stick to my proper medical adviser.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] Gerald Jackson Esq | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope bears a 1½d stamp, but there is no postmark or any other mark of posting. It has been marked with the date ‘19 Jan. ’35’, which is wrong.
{1} ‘9 Jan. 1935’ below ‘31 Dec. 1934’, struck through.
{2} A line has been drawn below this word to draw attention to it. Cf. Nos. 41 and 57.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
15 Oct. 1934
My dear Gerald,
Cease worrying about expense: I can support you quite well, apart from the fact that the sale of my lecture has been profitable and that my holiday has been less expensive than usual.
I forgot if I told you that on the 22nd you can view the Library, as a member of the University, from 2.30 to 5.30 without a ticket, and can take friends with you.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which has been marked in pencil ‘15.10.34’, was postmarked at Cambridge at 6 p.m. on 15 October. The postage stamp has been torn off.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
13 Sept. 1934
My dear Gerald,
I came back yesterday and have received your letter of the 7th, from which I am glad to have good news of you. I had three weeks of almost perfect weather, spent mostly in Alsace and Lor-raine, a part of France quite new to me and well worth seeing. I think the trip has done me some good on the whole, though I caught a cold at the end of it and am feeling rather tired to-day.
My chief ambition all my life has been to be invited to the Colchester Oyster Feast. This has come to pass this year, but my lecture at Cambridge will prevent me from going. Let this be a lesson to my godson that earthly hopes are dust and ashes.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge on 13 September (the time is indistinct).
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
29 May 1934
My dear Gerald,
I am glad that you are enjoying yourself now that you have got actual victims and are not restricted to theory.
There seems to be some want of co-ordination between authorities as to appointments on the Rand. Do not think yourself obliged to jump at any job which offers.
I am not by any means well, though the spring is pleasant and the show of flowers unusually fine.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 6 p.m. on 29 May.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
31 March 1934
My dear Gerald,
I congratulate you on your success, which I know has been won by very hard work, though I had not much doubt that you would pull it off; and I am glad that you look forward with pleasure to your next step. I hope that when you come to the patients you will find that what you have been learning about their insides is all true.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq | c/ Rupert Jackson Esq. M.D. | 97 Clifton Avenue | West Hartlepool
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 1.15 p.m. on 1 April, and has been marked in pencil ‘31 March 1934’.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
22 Jan. 1934
My dear Gerald,
Thanks for your cheque for £25.0.0, though I would rather you had not sent it, as it gives me an uneasy feeling that you may be stinting yourself too much. This formidable term you will require extra strengthening.
It was very bad luck for all of you to get the influenza at Christmas.
When you ask “how many meals the 52 oysters represented” you betray some meanness of conception. They constituted the one meal of supper.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 6 p.m. on 22 January, and has been marked in pencil ‘22
Jan 1934’ and ‘£25 returned’.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
18 Jan. 1934
My dear Gerald,
As I suppose you must now be back in London and at work again I enclose cheque {1} for £480.0.0 to see you through this year. I hope you had a good Christmas in the north and found the rest of your family well.
I am going on tolerably, neither worse nor better, I think. The eating and drinking of Christmas does me no harm, and the 52 oysters I consumed on Dec. 31 rather did me good.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | The Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, half torn away, was postmarked at Cambridge at 9 p.m.(?) on 18 January, and has been marked in pencil ‘18.1.34’.
{1} A line has been drawn below this word to draw attention to it. Cf. Nos. 47 and 57.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
26 Dec. 1933
My dear Gerald,
I am writing to thank you for your Christmas letter and to wish you a happy New Year. As this will soon be here, you will be in need of another cheque, which I will send when I know your address for certain. I am going on much the same. Remember me to your family if you are still among them.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] Gerald Jackson Esq. | c/ Rupert Jackson Esq., M.D. | 97 Clifton Avenue | West Hartlepool
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 10.15 p.m. on 26 December, and has been marked in pencil ‘26/12/33’.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
30 Nov. 1933
My dear Gerald,
Thanks for the news about you in your letter. For goodness sake do not go starving yourself or depriving yourself of proper amusement: if you do it will react on your work.
I am much better than I have been, but I do not yet walk briskly, and I am rather uncomfortable between waking up and breakfasting.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 3 p.m. on 30 November.
(With an envelope.)
—————
Transcript
Trinity College | Cambridge
14 Oct. 1933
My dear Gerald,
Your proposed transfer has advantages, as you describe them, but take care not to overwork yourself and cram in more than you can manage.
My strength comes back very slowly, if at all.
Your affectionate godfather
A. E. Housman.
[Direction on envelope:] G. C. A. Jackson Esq. | Medical School | St Thomas’s Hospital | S. E. 1
—————
The envelope, which bears a 1½d. stamp, was postmarked at Cambridge at 9.30 p.m. on 14 October.