L30/9/111/49

Letter from Mary Yorke to Jemima Yorke. Sent from Sittingburn/Sittingbourne? Journey (good detail). Road "began to have evident marks of a visitation. Sometimes we passed a reverend divine upon a sober pad, sometimes 2 stuffed into a 1-horse chair; then, 4 or 5 tidy lads with silk handkerchiefs round their necks, some in clean white frocks, others in fustian suits; perhaps as many lasses in straw hats and clean linen gowns, all trudging on foot; till we came near the town; then the plot thickened and we dove before us girls in waggons, on foot, horseback, every way; surrounded with boys, old women, men, clergy, churchwardens and parish clerks without end; the Bishop himself bringing up the rear; thus we entered the town in the midst of dust, noise and bustle." "The room I am in is over the gateway where the carriages are continually rumbling, overhead is I believe half the clergy of the neighbourhood and their valets de chambre preparing themselves and their wigs for dinner; on each hand of me are apartments taken and separated only from me by a folding partition; and the passages and staircase continually occupied. [typed transcript available]

30 Jun 1774

From: 1774 To: 1774

item

Yorke, Mary,
Yorke, Jemima

personal correspondence, women's history, travel, roads, horse drawn carriages, carriages, clothing, gowns, Sittingbourne