Diary of Anne Elizabeth Fisher, vol VII

Written mainly from 14 York Place, Portman Square [London], with, at back: list of books read, 1857, and books to get, letters and notes written and received in 1857. Includes letter from R Holman, Ashford, Kent saying he unable to help her [no further details and no date]; also includes pressed flowers and newspaper cuttings. Notable entries include: (5 June) visit to the newly-opened Great Reading Room at the British Museum; (10 June) wedding of [Margaret] Isabella Amos (daughter of Andrew Amos] and Rev. Lewis Hensley [Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge] at St. Ibbs, with newspaper announcement; (13 July) reference to the trial of Madeleine Smith for poisoning her fiance; (7 Aug) Annie's 21st birthday, in St Leonards-on-Sea - when she came into the fortune (approx. £100,000) left to her by her mother; (29 Aug) return to York Place in London, where newly-wealthy Annie begins major redecoration work on their home and orders a carriage; (early September) travels to and around Scotland, including sights (churches, gardens, museums, monuments, art galleries etc) in Edinburgh, then on to Dunfermline, Loch Leven, Melrose and Abbotsford, Perth, Sterling, Inverness ["we changed horses 10 or 12 times - making from 40 to 48 horses we employed"], the Caledonian Canal, Oban, Loch Lomond, Glencoe, Glasgow, then on to Keswick, Seatoller, Seaton and Richmond (left 20 Oct); (30 Oct and subsequent entries) account of the 'Fall of Delhi' [the Indian Mutiny of 1857]; (12 Nov) long passage commenting on Mrs Gaskell's 'Life of Charlotte Bronte' and the Bronte sisters; (15 Dec) visit, with description, to the Consumption Hospital.