John Gwyther [?] to Mrs. Lloyd, [Fewston], 23 February 1859
Title
John Gwyther [?] to Mrs. Lloyd, [Fewston], 23 February 1859
Title
John Gwyther [?] to Mrs. Lloyd, [Fewston], 23 February 1859
Sender
John Gwyther [?]
Recipient
Mrs. Lloyd
Date(s)
- 1859-02-23
Place
Fewston
Letter Content
John Gwyther [?] to Mrs. Lloyd, [Fewston], 23 February 1859
MS: Copy in National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
[Fewston] Vicarage Yorkshire | February 23. 1859.
My dear Mrs. Lloyd. . . .
We believe Mr. Liggins to be the author of Scenes of Clerical Life from the fact that a friend of his assured us he was the author and we know no one more likely.
Mr. Liggins was not an intimate acquaintance of ours, but we often met him at the house of one of our parishioners. His Parents were Bakers at Attleboro', a Hamlet lying between Nuneaton and Chilvers Coton where I was Curate. They realized a handsome property, and he being an only child was, as is often the case, a spoiled child. He was well educated -- went to Cambridge, 40 and having plenty of money formed connexions to his disadvantage and was advised to Rusticate to save expulsion. He never returned to Alma Mater, but travelled a great deal on the Continent and having sown his wild oats was in a reforming state when I parted with him in 1836.
I think he took a great liberty in writing of living persons as he has done -- much more in "Jannett's repentance" than with me even. The office of the Lawyer 41 Jannett's husband was in Nuneaton, not 300 yards off Mr. Liggins' residence. The old clergyman was Mr. Hughes. 42 The Lecturer who introduced "Evangelical views" was a Mr. Jones, 43 curate of the Chapel of Stockingford about 2 miles distant from Nuneaton where he was the Lecturer.
Mr. Gilfil, whose Love Story he writes, was a Mr. Ebdell, 44 the former Vicar of Chilvers Coton. He married the proteg'e9e of Sir Roger Newdegate of Arbury Hall in that Parish, and a very fine account he gives though there is more romance in it than in the other stories, as he had to draw upon his imagination.
Sir R. Newdegate was the ancestor of the present M.P. for North Warwickshire 45 but a still nearer relation of Colonel Newdegate of Blackheath, so that all the scenes and parties were in our immediate neighbourhood.
Yours very truly
[John Gwyther.]
MS: Copy in National Library of Scotland. Hitherto unpublished.
[Fewston] Vicarage Yorkshire | February 23. 1859.
My dear Mrs. Lloyd. . . .
We believe Mr. Liggins to be the author of Scenes of Clerical Life from the fact that a friend of his assured us he was the author and we know no one more likely.
Mr. Liggins was not an intimate acquaintance of ours, but we often met him at the house of one of our parishioners. His Parents were Bakers at Attleboro', a Hamlet lying between Nuneaton and Chilvers Coton where I was Curate. They realized a handsome property, and he being an only child was, as is often the case, a spoiled child. He was well educated -- went to Cambridge, 40 and having plenty of money formed connexions to his disadvantage and was advised to Rusticate to save expulsion. He never returned to Alma Mater, but travelled a great deal on the Continent and having sown his wild oats was in a reforming state when I parted with him in 1836.
I think he took a great liberty in writing of living persons as he has done -- much more in "Jannett's repentance" than with me even. The office of the Lawyer 41 Jannett's husband was in Nuneaton, not 300 yards off Mr. Liggins' residence. The old clergyman was Mr. Hughes. 42 The Lecturer who introduced "Evangelical views" was a Mr. Jones, 43 curate of the Chapel of Stockingford about 2 miles distant from Nuneaton where he was the Lecturer.
Mr. Gilfil, whose Love Story he writes, was a Mr. Ebdell, 44 the former Vicar of Chilvers Coton. He married the proteg'e9e of Sir Roger Newdegate of Arbury Hall in that Parish, and a very fine account he gives though there is more romance in it than in the other stories, as he had to draw upon his imagination.
Sir R. Newdegate was the ancestor of the present M.P. for North Warwickshire 45 but a still nearer relation of Colonel Newdegate of Blackheath, so that all the scenes and parties were in our immediate neighbourhood.
Yours very truly
[John Gwyther.]
Signature
[John Gwyther.]
Citation
John Gwyther [?], John Gwyther [?] to Mrs. Lloyd, [Fewston], 23 February 1859, Complete George Eliot Letters(2026), George Eliot Archive, edited by Beverley Park Rilett. https://GeorgeEliotArchive.org, Accessed September 7, 2026. https://georgeeliotarchive.org/items/show/91693