Dated 13 March 1784, this letter home from Henry, Richard and Edward Huddleston, students at Bornham College in Belgium, leads one to suspect it was composed more out of duty than genuine affection.
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A letter home from Belgium
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After declaring his prowess at Latin "I am always first or second of 16 students" and commenting (a little insensitively) on his aunt’s health "she is very well for an old woman" Henry goes on to say that he is "very much pleased with the little money" given to them and reflects had his mother sent the full allowance, "it would have been gone all at once."
Richard then pens a few lines rebuking his brother Neddy who "would not leave off his game at marbles to write to his Mama" However, her recalcitrant son obviously had a change of heart.
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..gingerbread
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Members of one of Cambridgeshire’s most illustrious Catholic families, their parents Ferdinand and Mary Huddleston lived at Sawston Hall. The couple are known to have been devoted to the welfare of their family but it is quite poignant to read on through the correspondence and discover, some 2 years later, another letter from Henry to his mother where he begins "the time since I saw you is several years ago..."
The family had owned estates in the area since the mid 15th century. In addition to an extensive body of correspondence, the family archive deposited in Cambridgeshire Archives includes manorial, estate and personal papers dating back to the 13th century.
Source:
The original letter is part of the Huddleston correspondence, 1600-1856, held at Cambridgeshire Archives, document reference 488/C1/MH45.