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Tuesday Feb. 13. 1 o'clock 1781
Now for a very odd sort of a story which our
travelling cousin G.B. has just now been and
told me. As I told you before Banks had promised
him his interest with Ld S. for a Pursership.
that was I believe about 6 weeks or 2 months ago.
Being dismissed from time to time,
Banks had put him off from time to time
telling him that he must wait a little, that
his Ldship as he might imagine was much
pester'd
with Sollicitations, and hamperd with
former promises. In the mean time Allen
(Master Painter at Woolwich) had talked
to him about the state of his expectations,
and told him he could put him into a
much surer channel. Thereupon he gave
him a letter to a Mrs Steele at a shop
where they sell Essence of Spruce for beer,
& which is opposite to the Admiralty: I
dare say you remember it; a very spruce
shop indeed; where they sold nothing else.
(now indeed they do sell a few other things)
The firm of the shop is Steele and Townson.
The history of them is as follows.
There are two sisters, Mrs Steele and a Mrs
with a German name (he could not recollect
it precisely) something like Switch; we
will call her Mrs Switch. They have a
brother whose name is Hughes, & who is
a slater (I think it is) by trade: they
have also a cousin a Mrs Townson who
is the other partner in the Shop. Mrs Steele
Mrs Switch and Mrs Townson are all married.
Mr & Mrs Steele & Mr & Mrs Townson
live together in this house: and I believe
Mr & Mrs Hughes likewise. Mrs
Switch and Mrs Steele are both visited by
Ld North. Mrs Switch does not live in that
house, but in another in Dicem Street, which
has a door into the park. She lives very retired.
1781-2-13.
but had a Coach called for her at 3 o'clock
one day that G.B. was at Mrs Steel's. I observe
that there was a report of his having kept a
woman in one of the courts near Charing
Cross, (Johnson's or Craig's) and asked whether
it was the same: he answer'd he believed it
was: he had heard of her having lived thereabouts.
This Mrs Steele has several daughters:
the eldest 17 and very beautiful: the next
13 and very pretty for her age: she hs
fair hair. They are supposed to be Ld N.'s
the eldest is just going into keeping with
Ld S. she said to Miss Allen a few days
ago, "in less than a month I shall be at
Blackheath, then I shall come and fetch
you in my coach, & we shall see one
another often. The connection between Allen
and them comes in this way. Allens father
and their father lived next door to each other
in or near Parliament Street; then
Allen and these girls used to be playfellows.
When G.B. carried this letter he was received
upon terms of familiarity and confidence.
The first idea was, that he should
have one of the new forty-gun frigates:
and Mrs Steele was to have so much a year
for three years. She began that topic by
throwing out a distant hint, to which he
replied a compliment must be given of
course: then there was no farther difficulty,
& matters were treated of in plain terms.
This was days ago: he has been there
several different times: he is going there
now he has left me. A day or two ago,
upon his calling there Mrs Steele said
to him "Well, now you have got your
frigate, and the warrant is made out; but
suppose a larger ship could be had you would
have
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Identifier: | JB/539/144/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 539.
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1781-02-13 |
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539 |
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144 |
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001 |
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Correspondence |
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Jeremy Bentham |
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