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July 29, 1794 letter from Dr John Ford to Thomas Haweis

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Title	July 29, 1794 letter from Dr John Ford to Thomas Haweis
Post Date	July 29, 1794
Author	Ford, Dr. John
Recipient	Haweis, Thomas (1734-1820)
Date	1794-07-29
Physical Description	4 pp. total; 3 pp. text; 1 p. address
Dimensions	39.7 x 25.8 cm
Location (Box, Folder)	Box 1, File 34
Address To	Thrapston
Country To	England
Address From	Tunbridge Wells
Country From	England
Transcriber	Gareth Lloyd
Plain Text Transcription	From Dr John Ford in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, to T.H. in Thrapston, Northamptonshire. It was pleasing to hear that a great many ministers of the established church had recently assembled in Aldwincle and that the Lord was with them. James Willyams, the principal object of T.H.’s letter, is still here (Haweis' cousin through his mother Bridgeman Willyams). He returns on Thursday to Truro in Cornwall via London. ‘He is an agreeable, sensible, well-behaved man. The account you given of the family is truly respectable. Miss Mendes(?) has leave from her mother and me to make her own choice.’ (the rest of the letter is concerned with the financial details of the proposed marriage between James Willyams and Sarah Mendes. See also the letter of P. Illingworth to Haweis dated December 27, 1794.) Mr Mendes left £1000 to each of his daughters and their mother increased the legacy to ‘£2000 4 percents’. (reference to investment funds, possibly government bonds, paying a fixed rate of interest) The combined sum of £4000 has been transferred to Miss Sarah Mendes. Ford’s wife, with his consent, proposes to give Sarah the further sum of ‘£6000 4 percents’ on the occasion of her marriage on condition that her own fortune and ‘marriage portion’ (When marriages were entered into by the propertied classes, it was common for the husband and his family to formally set aside a sum of money for the guaranteed upkeep of his new wife and any children that the couple might have – see for example the marriage settlement of Charles Wesley and Sarah Gwynne in 1749. ) be settled as follows: ’Miss Mendes shall receive the interest during her life, that if she have any children then the interest shall be paid to her intended husband during his life. The principal, if Miss Mendes leaves children, shall be equally divided amongst them, but if she leaves no children, the principal shall be subject to her last will and testament. The purpose of Captain Willyams to secure £200 per annum upon Mr James Willyams his son would have been most eligible if it could have been settled upon an estate or in the funds, but as this cannot be done without great inconvenience to his family, we are willing to accept the joint bond of Captain Willyams, Colonel Willyams and yourself. The condition of this bond is to secure to Mr James Willyams and his children by Miss Mendes, if he should have any, £200 per annum during the life of Captain Willyams and at his death, property sufficient to annually produce the aforementioned sum. But should Mr James Willyams die before Miss Mendes and leave no children by her, she is willing to give up all further claim on the bond.’ Colonel Willyams’s warmest approval of the proposed marriage and the assurance from T.H. that he has appointed James Willyams [as] his heir to the paternal estate induces me to enquire whether Mr James Willyams is to succeed to the estate immediately upon the death of the colonel and what is the supposed value of the estate?’ As for the remaining part of T.H’s very important letter concerning Mr Willyams’s future employment – Ford has discussed the matter with him and Miss Mendes and neither approve of his being engaged in business of any kind and indeed it has been Ford’s experience that ‘collegians’ rarely succeed in commerce anyway. Both the parties and Captain Willyams are desirous of James taking holy orders and ‘though it is not reconcileable to our view of the gospel ministry nor in itself defensible, the choice lies with them and they must be responsible for the choice they make…’ The Fords leave for Brighton towards the end of this week and Miss Sarah Mendes is to join them at the chapel house. Sarah joins in sending her regards to T.H. and his wife [Jennett]. In a postscript, he mentions that the debts of the chapel house in Tunbridge ‘are adjusted and paid. The house is not yet let.’ (1 sheet, 3p.) 29 July 1794
Notes	Postmarked "Tunbridge Wells". Endorsed: Miss [Sarah] Mendes' marriage settlement with James Willyams.
Digital Resources Type	Image
Digitization Date	Digitized: 2012
Digitization Process	Digitization process: Derivatives resized at 4030 pixels in height or width
Digital Publisher	Bridwell Library, Special Collections; Perkins School of Theology; Southern Methodist University
Rights	Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Head of Special Collections of the Bridwell Library
Decade	1790-1799