Harriet Thiebault Letters

Personal letters addressed to Harriet Thiebault, nee Thayer at various residences in England, France and Germany from numerous correspondents. Only about 10 of the letters predate her marriage in late 1822.

Her correspondents included Elizabeth Griffiths, 1816-20; Margaret Sinclair, 1819-23; Elizabeth Anne Leven, 1831-1859; Elizabeth Elgin and her daughters Augusta and Charlotte Bruce, 1836-1858; Anne Pennington, 1846-1852; members of the Bowles family, 1846-1854; Vicomte de Santarem, 1835-1836; Comte de Vaudreuil, 1823-1824, Madame Massone, 1842-1850 and others. There is also a letter from her daughter after her marriage. Correspondents' names and the date of the letter have been added to the top of some correspondence, occasionally with explanatory notes about the correspondent's identity, possibly in Harriet Thiebault's hand.

The majority of the correspondence is concerned with the social activities and leisure interests of Harriet Thiebault and her friends and acquaintainces, both in Britain and France. Letters include news of society events during the London Season and in Paris, including balls, operas and soirees to which she was invited by French aristocrats. Society gossip and news of mutual acquaintances is also a common topic of discussion. Some letters discuss Harriet's reading matter, including works of philosophy and natural history. A number of letters, particularly those written during the 1820s and 1830s, also refer to political matters, and provide brief comment on wider events including the 1832 cholera epidemic and its effects in Britain and France, the Irish famine in 1846, and unrest in Paris in 1848.

The collection also includes some letters to Harriet's daughter, Henriette Malvina, known as Nina who subsequently married Captain Otway Inglefield

Harriet Thayer (b c 1793) was the youngest daughter of Edward Loveden Loveden of Buscot Park, Faringdon, Berkshire (c1751-1822) who was MP for Abingdon 1783-1796 and Shaftesbury, Dorset 1802-1812. He was born Edward Loveden Townsend, son of Thomas Townsend of Cirencester and as well as his father's estate, he inherited the estate of his great uncle at Buscot in 1749. He changed his name to Loveden in 1772, as his uncle's bequest required. He was married three times, first to Margaret Pryse in 1773, by whom he had three children, Pryse Loveden, Margaret Loveden and Jane Elizabeth. Margaret Pryse died in 1784 and the following year he married Elizabeth, widow of Joseph Nash and daughter and sole heiress of John Darker of Gayton Park, Northamptonshire. She died in 1788 and in 1794 he married Anne, daughter of Thomas Linthall in 1794. These marriages were childless; Harriet Thayer seems to have been a ward or natural daughter of Edward Loveden Loveden.

Harriet Thayer's marriage to Paul Adolphe Dieudonne, Baron Thiebault on 22 November 1822 at Worfield, Shropshire is recorded in the International Genealogical Index. He was the son of General Baron Thiebault who served with Napoleon at Austerlitz and was a staff officer in the cavalry of the French Royal Guard. Harriet seems to have spent most of her married life in Paris and Versailles, although some of the later correspondence is addressed to her in Bonn. References in other correspondence suggest that she also spent periods in England. The requirements of her husband's career may explain some of her movements, but it has proved difficult to find out any more information. The couple had a daughter, Henriette Malvina Thiebault, whose christening at the British Embassy Chapel in Paris on 3 November 1823 is also recorded in the International Genealogical Index. She married Captain Otway Inglefield in 1852.

Sources: Burkes Peerage and Baronetage; Catalogue of the Loveden papers at Berkshire Record Office; International Genealogical Index: http://www.familysearch.org/; Bristow & Garland sales catalogue, occasional list no. 2-2001.

The letters were originally sewn onto stubs on the inner margin of the volume and bound in roughly chronological order between cardboard; this volume has been disbound and the letters removed but the original order has been maintained.

Open. Access to all registered researchers.

Purchased June 2001

Please see full catalogue for more information.

Permission to make any published use of any material from the collection must be sought in advance in writing from the Director of Special Collections (email: special-collections@contacts.bham.ac.uk). Identification of copyright holders of unpublished material is often difficult. Special Collections will assist where possible with identifying copyright owners, but responsibility for ensuring copyright clearance rests with the user of the material.

Other collections of correspondence of the Thiebault family were sold by Bristow & Garland, Antiquarian Booksellers
Booksellers in June 2001 and are now in different hands.
The papers of Edward Loveden Loveden are held at Berkshire Record Office