LUKE TRAPP FLOOD:
THE MANUSCRIPT DIARIES OF LUKE TRAPP FLOOD* (b. 1809) for the period August 1853 – December 1864 in six volumes 8vo, on 800-pages, ca. 110,000 words. Including two journals of tours in Scotland in 1859 and 1864.
We have only partially read the diary for 1853-1855 and from this establish that this wealthy family are living at Worthing, although a number of London addresses are mentioned, including 8 Woburn Square; his father Luke Thomas Flood is living at Brighton, at Beresford Lodge, Peel Terrace. Luke Trapp Flood and his wife Bessie spend much time house-hunting during the earlier part of the diary, rejecting many houses as unsuitable before deciding on Belmont, Mill Hill (presumably the large house built by James Paine in the 1760’s which is presently Mill Hill Preparatory School). The diaries very fully written-up with details of visits, the hiring and dismissal of servants( see below, the dismissal of his coachman), purchases, he often buys stereoscopic photographs and Bessie receives lessons in photography from: “Mr. Bedford the celebrated photographer” (27/3/55), family and business matters, visits to exhibitions, and charitable interests – “Bessie & I went to Lieut. Blackmore, the Promoter of the ‘Female Temporary House’ in Camden Town, a cheque for £5 as a donation”; he attends meetings of the Mill Hill Providence Institution, the National School Committee, and is elected a Governor of the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, Barnet.
* Luke Trapp Flood was the eldest son of Luke Thomas Flood (1775-1860). He married Elizabeth [“Bessie”] Todd in 1841; there were 6 children: Frederick (b.1842); Charles (b. 1844); Rosa Elizabeth (b.1847); Luke Robert (b. 1849); Mary Ann (b. 1851); & Alfred Edward (b. 1857).13th October 1853: “Bessie, Freddie, & Self went to Brighton … I took Freddie to see a Boy of 14 yrs old & a Girl of 16 of the Earth men tribe. They have been in Engl’d about 20 months – they are very dwarf and as a Race are almost extinct; being naturally very mischievous , the surrounding tribes have persecuted them almost to the point of extinction; they burrow in the Earth, taking shelter there ag’st there enemies, & rarely unite in larger parties than a dozen individuals. These children were from 3 to 4 feet in height, of very cheerful disposition & very tractable; they smattered English & performed 2 or 3 airs on the piano, are extremely inquisitive & polite – they smoke about 3 cigars each day & run about the room in a state of nudity excepting a belt of skin tastefully arranged around their hips as low as the knees, & no end of strings of beads, armlets & charms etc. – the boy wore a chaplet of feathers on his head, & is the finest specimen of a boy ever formed – the colour of their skin is a tawny olive, their eyes vivacious, their nose perfectly flat, & certainly not the prominent feature of their face. The lady & gentleman having charge of them are endeavouring to raise a sum by the exhibition wh’ch shall be for the benefit of the children at a future day, they intend to give them a fair English education, & if the bent of the children’s mind take a missionary taste, it is proposed to prepare them for those duties among their tribe”.
25th December 1853: “ During the service in the afternoon poor Barleycorn suddenly broke out in an address to the congregation, stopping the service, Medhurst & the other pew openers persuaded him to leave the chapel – after service on enquiry made I learnt he was rather incoherent on Friday evening after bringing us home & that yesterday very much so declaring he was on his way to heaven & he had a fit that evening. Mr. Read hinting he was not surprised at the interruption induced me to seek an explanation, when he told me [that when] Mr. Bennett’s brother died Wm. was present and deeply affected… which with the confinement of his wife on Friday has temporarily deranged his mind……the horses I put under the direction of the present ostler”. [26th Dec.] “Last evenings scene made me inquisitive & I learnt that Wm. is nothing less after all than a Beer Beast, that on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday he was out till 12 or 1 drinking & that temporary derangement has followed this course of drinking, he…is wholly unworthy of my further consideration. He therefore will leave me; what will become of his wife and family? He must not blame me…”
Journal of a Tour in Scotland in 1859: “On 1st August C’s. Robinson, Freddie & I left Belmont about 7.25 to reach King’s Cross terminus for 9.20 train to York”. Staying at the Royal Station Hotel at York they then proceed to Edinburgh – Addison’s Alma Hotel. They visit Hawthornden: “striking spots for admiration, even if not also for terror to the timorous”, Roslin Chapel, rail to Melrose, Abbotsford, returning to Edinburgh on the 5th: “Lionized Edinbro the whole day …Hollyrood Palace … detached from its historical interest, Hollyrood is thoroly undeserving of a visit & no one would favour it with a second …to the College of Surgeons, the anatomical department of which is excellent, tho’ of course a part is excluded from the ladies inspection”.
On the 8th they leave for Glasgow via Lanark: “From Lanark the way is replete with disagreeables, thick smoke without cessation – furnaces blazing away without limitation, subterraneous debris heaped about in chaotic disorder, giving to this entrance to Glasgow the impression of everything that can be pronounced most disagreeable & all this literally close up to the very city, tainting the very atmosphere that has supposed upwards of 400,000 inhabitants”.
They proceed to Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine, to Stirling (at the Golden Lion), back to Glasgow, steamer to Greenock, Loch Ness, Inverness,, etc. before returning home via Liverpool and Chester, arriving at Harrow station on the 20th: “delighted at the near prospect of … having some respite from the operations of perpetual motion”. The journal closely written on 37-pages, 8vo, with, at end, a 35-page itinerary of the route with means of conveyance, distances, and hotels. With, loosely inserted, a large coloured folding tourist’s map of Scotland and a folding illustrated handbill advertising David Hutcheson & Co’s. steamers for Glasgow & the Highlands, 1859 (this holed without loss).
The journal of his visit to Scotland 27th June – 26th July, 1864, unread, is closely written on 26-pages, 8vo.In all 6 volumes, 8vo (800-pages, ca. 110,000 words) contemporary full limp roan; in excellent condition.
Quote
Item
No. 8212
Price:
£825.00