Letter from Mary Leadbeater to John Walker, 17 May 1822

Jazmyne Abraham

Letter From Mary Leadbeater to John Walker, M.D., May 17th, 1822

Introduction

The sender of this letter is Mary Leadbeater, who was an Irish author and diarist, and the receiver is a man named John Walker, who appears to be an old friend of Mary Leadbeater and, based on his M.D. title, a doctor. It is notable that Mary does not address John Walker at the beginning of the letter and simply dives right into the body of the letter, which suggests a closeness in relationship and perhaps a similar social class. 

Delivery Method

The letter has been visibly folded into an envelope and follows a standard letter format with two sides of writing and an address in the center of an otherwise blank page, but there is no clear evidence of a seal. Being that the letter is simply addressed with John Walker’s name and not an address, it can be concluded that this letter did not go through a postal service and was likely hand-delivered to John Walker, possibly by Richard David Webb, who is another friend of Leadbeater. Based on the sign off, it is evident that Leadbeater was in her home village of Ballitore, Ireland when this letter was written, meaning that John Walker likely was not. Considering Richard David Webb was from Dublin, Ireland, I would guess that he visited Ballitore, where Leadbeater gave him the letter, and delivered it to Walker, who may have also been in Dublin. 

Description

The date this letter was sent was May 17th, 1822, from Ballitore, Ireland. The content of the letter does not appear to be a response to a previous one and feels personal in nature as Leadbeater discusses her late-niece and the relationship status of some of her friends. Leadbeater seems comfortable writing to her old friend as she gives some detailed information and attaches her personal feelings with them. It appears that Leadbeater is updating John Walker on their social circle and setting up an introduction with a mutual friend, which suggests that perhaps he is only recently returning to town after being away for a substantial amount of time. Further evidence of this is when Leadbeater writes that thirty years have passed since their last encounter. Being that most of Leadbeater’s friends and acquaintances went through the Ballitore School, I’d guess that John Walker also attended the school, which would have been his connection to Leadbeater. This is further perceptible with Leadbeater’s letter alluding to mutual familiarity with pupils associated with the school.

Notable features

This letter is dated near the end of Leadbeater’s life, which was June 27, 1826, when she was well into her sixties. Leadbeater was a well-practiced writer by the time this letter was sent and would have been familiar with letter etiquette. Based on her use of punctuation, her accurate spelling and grammar, and her clear penmanship, it is evident that Mary Leadbeater was well educated, articulate, and an experienced writer. It is interesting that Leadbeater did not address her husband as “Mr. Leadbeater” in the letter, but rather simply as “my husband”, which is another nod to the familiarity between Leadbeater and Walker. Again, referring back to the fact that Leadbeater was an experienced writer who would have been well-versed with the protocols, it is particularly noteworthy when she breaks these social standards. 

Social commentary

There is an appropriate amount of white space left, which indicates that Leadbeater was either writing to socio-economic superior or she was fairly wealthy herself and was not concerned about access to writing materials. Based on what we know about her and her relationship with John Walker thus far, as well as the personable and charismatic feel of the letter, I feel it is safe to assume the latter.