April 10, 1863

I have nothing specific to say about what I think my Pa would have written to Mr. Wakefield at this time.

I have decided to write to Catharine Torlesse, who I know to have been Edward’s younger sister. I know where she lives from a reference in a previous letter to my father.

She is married to the Vicar of the church in Stoke by Nayland, which Mr. Balshaw, my employer, tells me is near Colchester in Suffolk. I know that he had a high regard for her, and that she cared for his children when he was in prison.

If I tell her of my plan for the book and ask for her help in filling in the gaps in her brother’s life after 1845 when Pa last had letters from him, if she is alive and able, I think she will help me.

Ellen’s father, William Turner became an MP for Blackburn for the Whig party in 1832, but I expect Mr. Wakefield was well aware of that.

Here is Edward’s next letter to Pa, much shorter than usual. 

"February 8, 1832

Dear Daniel

Since I last wrote to you, I have had a bitter blow. My grandmother Priscilla, who was almost a mother to me, has died. I think I told you about her writing and all her good works.

It happened last September but I have not felt like writing anything since then. I do hope that before she died, she felt proud of me and my accomplishments. She certainly stood by me throughout my life, taking the rough with the smooth, and loved me despite my many failures to live up to her expectations. I do miss her so much. Why is it that all that I value is taken from me?


Yours faithfully, 

Edward Gibbon”