Rising earlier, wrote to J.H.B. ― & sent letters to him & Lady Reid. Weather changed, warmer. ― Drew at Bonham Carter’s Petra, till at 11½ ― Breakfast, 2 nieces & a nephew, & a Col. Dawkins, ― Mr. Stansfield, ― Sir Clark Jervois ― (of Idsworth,1 a particularly nice person ―) Mr. Hay, & H.B. Mathew came, & looked over the Palestine drawings. ― Later ― S.W.C. came, ― & I drew till 3½ when he came again, & from 4¼ to 5¼ we walked round the Borghese. Fine, damp-warm evening ― At 6, went to the Chetwodes. Queer, but good little man. Mrs. C. kind & soft good. Miss C. agreeable also. & Mr. ――― also Hibberts, who, talking to Miss C. of Buckinghamshire people ― shocked me by saying Anthony Chester is dead.

He died of Apoplexy 3 weeks ago ― & poor Mary Chester is now truly alone! ―

Perhaps this accounts from that man T. being here.

Poor Anthony Chester! Who is to judge!

It seems but the other day that we were at Norba2 & S. Felice!

To day also I had a short letter from W. Nevill.

[Transcribed by Marco Graziosi from Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Eng. 797.3.]

  1. In 1789 the Idsworth Estate was purchased by the Jervoise Clarke Jervoise family whose descendants lived in Idsworth House until 1974. [↩]
  2. An ancient town not far from Rome. [↩]