Correspondence relating to Margaret Gatty, 1858-1913.

Correspondence relating to Margaret Gatty (1809-1873), written between 1858 and 1869.

(1) Autograph letter signed, Margaret Gatty to Miss Sandars.

'I do not feel myself to belong much to the author race, having begun so late and done so little'; her enormous admiration for [Alfred] Tennyson (1809-1892), and the news that last week she 'had the pleasure of being in his society for a couple of hours'.

Signed Margaret Gatty. 6 Montpellier Terrace, Brighton [Sussex], 17 November 1858.

(2) Autograph letter signed, Margaret Gatty to Lady Maria Hooker (d.1872), widow of Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865), director of Kew Gardens.

About a botanist asking for her help, which she feels unable to give, 'I have no naturalist friends now', and asks Lady Hooker to refer the query back to her son Dr [Joseph Dalton] Hooker (1817-1911) and Dr [William Henry] Harvy (1811-1866); Margaret Gatty's increasing disability.

Signed Margaret Gatty. Ecclesfield [Sheffield], 10 December 1869.

(3) Autograph letter signed, Margaret Gatty to Miss Thompson.

About collecting botanical specimens, 'Never mind about any anemones ... but some Bryopsis plumosa growing on bits of rock will be invaluable!'; whatever she finds or does not find, 'I hope the charming air & place will do you a great deal of good'; any specimens can be sent 'very fresh and nice in a bit of oil silk'.

Signed Margaret Gatty. Ecclesfield [Sheffield], 3 September 1859.

(4) Autograph letter signed, Margaret Gatty to Louisa.

Sending her autograph and a carte-de-visite photograph. Signed Margaret Gatty. Ecclesfield [Sheffield], 13 March 1864.

(5) Autograph letter signed, Horatia Katherine Frances Gatty to Miss Bragge.

Enclosing her mother's autograph 'which was written before she had lost the use of her hands'; asks if Miss Bragge could remember her 'if ever you have a chance or procuring one of W Roebuck's'.

Signed Horatia K F Gatty. Ecclesfield Vicarage, Sheffield, 14 Sep[tember] nd.

(6) Autograph letter signed, Alfred S Scott-Gatty (1847-1918) to Mr Haywood.

Apologises for mislaying Haywood's letter; 'With regard to that old song Medicine Jack I must have written in about the year 1868, and I am ashamed to say that I not only wrote the words and music but also designed the cover! - The follies of one's youth are always cropping up'.

Signed A. S. Scott-Gatty, Garter. Headed notepaper, Garter King of Arms, College of Arms [London], 12 April 1913.

(7) Autograph letter signed, Alfred Gatty (1813-1903) to Mr Bragge.

About a book which Margaret Gatty has borrowed before and wishes to borrow again.

Signed Alfred Gatty. Ecclesfield Vicarage, Sheffield, 1 June 1872.

(8) Autograph letter signed, Margaret Gatty to unidentified correspondent (incomplete).

About correspondence relating to Aunt Judy’s Magazine, and collecting stamps; 'I heard a wonderful poem by George Eliot (1819-1880) The Gypsy Queen - a rival of Tennyson's I suppose!'; thanks for the recipient's kindness to Gatty's daughter Undine; apologising for her poor handwriting, partly through haste, partly 'some nervous muscular failure', which is affecting her speech as well.

Signed Margaret Gatty, no date.

Margaret Gatty (1809-1873) was the youngest daughter of the Reverend Alexander John Scott (1768-1840), who was private secretary to Nelson and chaplain on HMS Victory. She married Alfred Gatty (1813-1903) in 1839. In 1842 she and her husband published a memoir of her father. She started writing for children in 1851, with The Fairy Godmother, and was the author of Aunt Judy's Tales (1858), one of the most successful mid-Victorian volumes of fiction for children. She also published Parables from Nature, in five series between 1855 and 1870, Aunt Judy's Letters (1862), and Aunt Judy's Magazine (started in 1866, and continued by her daughter Horatia until 1885). She also published a book on British Seaweeds in 1862, as well as Book of Emblems and Book of Sun Dials in 1872.

For the last ten years of her life she suffered increasing paralysis.

Margaret and Alfred Gatty had six sons and four daughters, including Margaret Scott Gatty, (b.1840), whose granddaughter Rachel Smith donated to St Andrews University three albums of seaweed specimens collected by Margaret Gatty;

Juliana Horatia Gatty, (1841-1885), their second daughter, who married Major Alexander Ewing in 1867, and also wrote children's stories;

Horatia Katherine Frances, later Mrs Eden, who took over Aunt Judy's Magazine on the death of her mother, and wrote the biography of her sister Juliana;

Undine Marcia Gatty;

Alfred Scott-Gatty (1847-1918), their third son;

Stephen Herbert Gatty.

Charles Henry Gatty, who donated a large sum of money to the Marine Laboratory at St Andrews University which was subsequently named the Gatty Marine Laboratory, was distantly related to Alfred Gatty. Charles Henry Gatty was the great-grandson of Joseph Gatty and his first wife Joanna Beard, while Alfred Gatty was the grandson of Joseph Gatty and his second wife Jane Hawken.

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(1) Paper: 1 sheet 22.5x17.7cm, folded. Attached to card 15x22.8cm approx, on which is written 'Mrs Alfred Gatty', and in another hand 'Aunt Judy'.

(2) Paper: 1 sheet 22.5x17.8cm, folded.

(3) Paper: 1 sheet 22.6x18.2cm, folded.

(4) Paper: 1 sheet 11.2x17.9cm, and photograph 6x8.8cm, both attached to card 23.1x30.4cm.

(5) Paper: 1 sheet 20.2x12.7cm, folded. Black border around p.1.

(6) Paper: 1 sheet 20.3x25.4cm

(7) Paper: 1 sheet 11.4x17.8cm

(8) Paper: 1 sheet 11.1x17.8cm

Description compiled by Maia Sheridan, Archives Hub project archivist, based on material from the Manuscripts Database

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