Jane Welsh Carlyle - Reference
[Chronology] [Locations] [Further Reading] [Selected Topics]
Carlyle Chronology
Abbreviations used:
- TC = Thomas Carlyle,
- JWC = Jane Welsh Carlyle
- GEJ = Geraldine Endsor Jewsbury
1795 | TC born (4 Dec) in Ecclefechan (Dumfries), one of seven children of James Carlyle and Margaret Aitken |
1801 | Jane Baillie Welsh, only child of John Welsh and Grace Welsh, born in Haddington (E. Lothian) |
1808 | Caroline Sheridan (Norton) born |
1809 | TC goes to Edinburgh Univ. (aged 14, he WALKED the 100 miles there, over 5 days) |
1812 | GEJ born (22 Aug) in Measham, Derbyshire |
1821 | TC and Jane Welsh meet |
1826 | TC marries Jane Baillie Welsh (17 Oct) - they live at "Comely Bank" Edinburgh |
1827 | TC publishes "German Romance" |
1828 | TC & JWC move to Craigenputtock (Dumfriesshire) |
1829 | TC writes "Sartor Resartus" |
1831 | Carlyle visits London; fails to publish "Sartor Resartus" - Jane joins him in Sep (Ampton St) |
1832 | James Carlyle (TC's father) dies - TC & JWC return to Craigenputtock - Winter 1832/3, back in Edinburgh |
1834 | TC & JWC move to London, Cheyne Row, Chelsea "A side street off the Thames" - TC begins work on "The French Revolution" - John Stuart Mill accidentally burns first MS copy and TC has to start over |
1837 | TC finishes "The French Revolution" - Lectures to London Society (1837-40) |
1839 | TC publishes "Chartism" |
1841 | GEJ writes to TC after reading "Heroes". She is invited to Cheyne Row. |
1842 | Mrs Welsh dies while JWC is at Liverpool en route to see her. |
1843 | TC publishes "Past and Present" and starts on "Cromwell" |
1852 | TC starts on "Frederick" (14 years to complete), and visits Germany |
1854 | GEJ moves to Chelsea (Oakley Street) |
1865 | TC finishes "Frederick" |
1866 | TC elected Rector of Edinburgh Univ.; Inaugural Address (2 Apr); JWC dies 21 Apr. TC begins a 3-year task collecting JWC's correspondence and preparing them for possible publication. |
1877 | Caroline Norton dies |
1880 | GEJ dies in London hospital |
1881 | TC dies |
1883 | Froude publishes "Letters and Memorials" |
Locations referred to in "Letters and Memorials"
S | Scotland |
M | Manchester/Liverpool |
W | Sth Wales |
D | Devon |
H | Hampshire/Isle of Wight |
K | Kent/Sussex |
L | London |
T | Troston (Suffolk) |
I | Ireland |
Scotland
Dingwall ("Kinloch Luichart", Cromarty Firth, Inverness), Lord Ashburton's residence in Scotland.
East Fife, across the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh
Linlathen, Dundee
Auchtertool, Kirkcaldy (seaside town NE of Dunfermline)
Humbie Farm, Aberdour - farmhouse rented for holiday; TC travelled by steamer with Charlotte & Fritz; JWC travelled separately by train - seen off by GEJ and J Cooke - to Sunny Bank, Haddington, then "over the 'frith' to Aberdour .." "And as for air, there can be none purer than this, blowing from the Atlantic [sic] fresh on a hill-top!" [Atlantic = North Sea!] - July, 1859
Edinburgh
Comely Bank TC & JWC lived here after their marriage in 1826
Craigenvilla, Morningside
Green End (Mrs. Betty Braid)
JWC's Edinburgh aunts: Ann, Elizabeth and Grace Welsh
East Lothian
Haddington (Sunny Bank, Haddington), birthplace of JWC. In 1811 her father engaged Edward Irving as a "classical tutor". Irving introduced her to Carlyle
Dumfriesshire
Thornhill (north of Dumfries) - Mrs Mary Russell; later (autumn 1859) moved to "Holm Hill" just outside Thornhill
Templand, nr. Thornhill; Mrs Welsh (JWC's mother) buried here
The Gill (near Annan, Dumfries) - Mrs Austin
Lann Hall, Tynron, Dumfriesshire (Mrs Pringle)
Moffat House, Moffat (NE of Dumfries)
Ecclefechan (Scotsbrig) - birthplace of TC, his brothers John and Alick and sisters Margaret, Mary, Jane and Jenny.
Craigenputtock - a vast, isolated, moorland farm. Originally purchased by Jane's father for £10,000. TC & JWC moved here from Comely Bank (Edinburgh) before their final move to London.
Manchester/Liverpool/Nth Wales
Manchester - JWC stays with GEJ
Alderley Park, Congleton, Cheshire (Lord Stanley)
Liverpool - JWC's Uncle John (Welsh) & family (6 "cousins" Helen, Margaret, Alick, Jeannie, Walter & Mary)
Seaforth sea-side resort outside Liverpool (the Paulets)
Benfryden (Nth Wales) - with Mrs Paulet (Jul 1849)
Sth Wales
Cowbridge & Carmarthen (Glamorgan) - TC's "Welsh Tour" 1843 and 1850, staying in Charles Redwood's country cottage.
Devon
Seaforth Lodge, Seaton (just west of Lyme Regis). Lady Ashburton's new country house, started in June 1864 and completed towards the end of 1864 (NLM 251)
.. "The house is within a hundred yards of a high cliff overhanging the sea; so we have fresh air enough! The Country all round is extremely beautiful, and new to me. Chiefly I am delighted to see clear, running waters, like what we have in Scotland; also the wee lambs, quite white, are a treat to see after the sooty sheep near London!" (NLM254)
Hampshire/Dorset
The Grange (8 mls from Winchester)
Bay House, Alverstoke (nr Portsmouth). Lord Ashburton's country estate. " .. It is the place of all others to get strong at. Close by the sea, - nothing between me and the sea but a lawn, a terrace walk, and a little fringe of Scotch firs; then such a lofty airy House, with such beautiful grounds; long drives in an open carriage every day; sails too in the Bay when I like .." (NLM 191)
Sherborne House (Dorset) - Jane's eventful visit to Macready (the actor) and his wife (LAM 143).
Kent/Sussex
Ramsgate (Kent) Jane on holiday with GEJ, annoyed by the scraping of her pen Aug 1861
Dover (Kent) Jane holidaying with the Bromleys Oct 1862
Folkestone (Kent) with the Ashburtons and Miss Bromley (Jul 1862) and with Miss Bromley (Aug 1865).
St. Leonards (nr Hastings, Susses). Old servant "Bessie" and her husband Dr Blakiston nurse Jane during her illness, Apr 1864.
London
Cheyne Row on the north bank of the Thames between Battersea Bridge and Albert Bridge.
Addiscombe nr. Croydon (Surrey), 15 miles SE of London; the Baring's residence and farm.
Bath House (Piccadilly), the Barings "town" residence.
Suffolk
Trotson, Bury St. Edmunds ("St Edmundsbury" in the text)
- Jane visiting the Bullers - LAM35-39
- "Cromwell" country where TC researches his book on Cromwell
Ireland
Belfast, Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Cork - TC's itinerary during a six-week visit in 1849.
Further Reading and Links
While many of the books in this list are out of print now, they are readily available in Public Libraries:
The Carlyles: A Biography of Thomas & Jane Carlyle John Stewart Collis, hbk 186p, Sidgwick & Jackson, 1971
Thomas Carlyle: Selected Works Thomas Carlyle, ed. Julian Symons, hbk 784p, Rupert Hart-Davis (Reynard Library) 1955
Reminiscences Thomas Carlyle, ed. Kenneth Fielding and Ian Capmbell, OUP (World Classics) 1997
Thomas Carlyle: Selections A M D Hughes, hbk 172p, Clarendon Press Oxf, 1957
Thomas Carlyle: Letters to his Wife ed. Trudy Bliss, hbk 414p, Gollanz 1953
Thomas Carlyle: Essays Vol. 1: Scottish & Other Miscellanies Thomas Carlyle, hbk 339p Everyman Lib (Dent) 703 (1915), 1964
Thomas Carlyle: Essays Vol. 2: English and Other Critical Essays Thomas Carlyle, hbk 341p Everyman Lib (Dent) 704 (1915), 1964
Moral Desperado: A Life of Thomas Carlyle Simon Heffer, hbk 420p Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995
Froude's Life of Carlyle Abr./ed. John Clubbe, hbk 725p John Murray 1979
The Carlyles at Home Thea Holme, ill. Lynton Lamb, hbk 204p OUP 1965
Jane Welsh Carlyle: A New Selection of Her Letters arr. Trudy Bliss, hbk 355p Victor Gollancz 1950
Necessary Evil: The Life of Jane Welsh Carlyle Lawrence & Elizabeth Hanson, hbk 618p Constable 1952
Ambitious Heights: Writing, Friendship, Love - The Jewsbury Sisters, Felicia Hemans and Jane Carlyle Norma Clarke, pbk 245p Routledge 1990
Geraldine Jewsbury: Her Life and Errors Susanne Howe, hbk 236p Allen & Unwin 1935. The appendix (p211) contains a copy of the only surviving letter of Jane Carlyle to Geraldine Jewsbury.
A Selection of References in the Letters
In the absence of an index, the following is a selection of links to some topics and incidents covered in the Letters.
L1, p5 | "The English women turn up the whites of their eyes, ..." |
L5, p18 | "In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my I-ity .." |
L5, p19 | ".. I am loth to believe that I have married a Pagan .." |
L20, p100 | "You are to know, dear, fifty pounds is exactly $224.22 .." - Emerson forwards a bill of exchange for TC's "French Revolution" sales in America. |
L26, p123 | "At present, I have got a rather heavy burden on my shoulders .." - Helen Mitchell (servant) takes to drink |
L31, p140 | News from Templand of her mother's death. |
L33, p157 | Night noises in Suffolk country |
L35 | "I went to church yesterday afternoon .." |
L42 | Jane suggests a book for her Uncle to read |
L44 | "Thank you passionately for giving me Vittoria Accoramboni .." |
L45 | Writing in her artificial "gypsy-tent" in the garden (Jul 1843) |
L50, p220 | Fr Matthew (temperance preacher) |
L51 | Bugs on the Isle of Wight |
L52, p232 | "After some hours of the deadest sleep I ever slept on earth .." |
L54, p240 | A "colony of bugs" in Helen's bed |
L56, p254 | Jane haggles over the price of a second-hand sofa |
L60, p264 | "upheaval" at Cheyne Row; TC restless and bilious as he starts on "Cromwell" |
L61, p273 | " .. a precious specimen of the regular Yankee .." |
L65, p286 | Teenager discontent (her cousins in Liverpool) |
L66 | TC & Jane have different tastes in reading |
L69 | More discontent caused by "Cromwell" |
Note Book | Jane's "Note Book" (Apr 1845) |
Note Book | Jane rescues a stray child |
Note Book | Three "hot live Irishmen" visit Cheyne Row |
Extract | Jane refuses to go to Church |
Extract | Geraldine Jewsbury at Seaforth smoking "cigaritos" |
L72, p326 | Jane defends TC's approval of Cromwell's "atrocities" in Ireland |
L75 | Letter to Charles Gavan Duffy Sep 1845 |
L80 | Jane "driven distracted" by a dog |
L81, p356 | Jane's household account depleted |
L83 | Jane and "the impulses of her heart" |
L84 | Jane's opinion of Lady Harriet Baring |
L87 | Jane thinks TC has forgotten her birthday |
Much Ado .. | Templand - visiting her father's grave (Much Ado About Nothing) |
Much Ado .. | "The surest way to get a thing in this life is to be prepared for doing without it, to the exclusion even of hope." |
L122 | From "Nero" to TC |
L128, p116 | "Geraldine left me last night, very unwillingly..." |
L143 | Jane visits the Macreadies at Sherborne |
L150, p204 | A robbery at Cheyne Row |
L151, p209 | Jane sleeps with two loaded pistols |
L161, p243 | "Oh, my dear! never does one feel oneself so utterly helpless as in trying to speak comfort for great bereavement." |
L162, p246 | "I am hoping for a considerable acquisition before long .." |
Journal, p263 | "I have been fretting inwardly all this day at the prospect of having to go and appeal before the Tax Commissioners .." |
Journal, p267 | "When one has been threatened with a great injustice, one accepts a smaller as a favour." |
L179, p322 | "Oh, heaven! or rather, oh, the other place! 'I am degenerating from a woman into a dog .." |
L186, p341 | "I haven't got through the American novel yet .." |
L207 | "Will you think me mad if I tell you that when I read your words, 'I am going to be married,' I all but screamed? .." |
L213, p15 | "Blessed be the inventor of photography! It has given more positive pleasure to poor suffering humanity than anything else that has "cast up" in my time -- this art by which even the "poor" can possess themselves of tolerable likenesses of their absent dear ones." |
L216 | Death of Nero |
L232 | "Have you seen that Tale of Horror .." |
L237, p83 | ".. scrape, scraping .." of GEJ's pen in Ramsgate |
L241 | "Oh, you agonising little girl! .." - Invitation to Miss Barnes wedding; TC's refusal to go |
L274, p174 | Jane's accident Oct 1863 |