Record Number: 25886

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Lady Harriet Cavendish to her brother, the Marquis of Hartington (b. 1790), 1 February 1809: 'How surprized Barrow's sermons must have been upon first opening to see you and Sir William. I wonder it did not shut of itself. Do you know, it is very delightful of you both, and it is incalculable what advantage serious study, steadily persevered in, would be to you. A frivolous woman is a bad thing, but if there is one thing more contemptible than another, it is a frivolous man.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1809 and 1 Feb 1809

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reading Group:

William Spencer Cavendish and 'Sir William'

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Royalty / aristocracy

Occupation:

Cambridge undergraduate (Hartington) and friend

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

n/a

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Barrow

Title:

Sermons

Genre:

Sermon

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

25886

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

Sir George Leveson Gower and Iris Palmer

Title:

Hary-o: The Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish 1796-1809

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1940

Vol:

n/a

Page:

295

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Sir George Leveson Gower and Iris Palmer (ed.), Hary-o: The Letters of Lady Harriet Cavendish 1796-1809, (London, 1940), p. 295, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=25886, accessed: 14 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

Identity of Sir William unclear, but a Sir William Rumbold is mentioned at p.289 in source, in letter in which Lady Harriet Cavendish writes to her brother: 'As to Sir Wm. [Rumbold] [...] I am extremely sorry to hear that he is so unwell. You seem both of you to lead the most fatiguing lives in the world -- never in the same place two days together, taking too much violent exercise and never going to bed till two or three in the morning [...] its consequences must be bad.' See also p.295, where letter cited in evidence continues: 'We are perpetually cross-questioned about Sir William Rumbold [...] I am as sick of being asked -- "Is he a toad-eater?" as I am of answering -- "You forget that question reflects as much upon my brother as upon him."'