Henry Leigh Hunt to William Hone, 7 May, [1821?]

University of Iowa Digital Library, Leigh Hunt Letters, item: MsL H93h3. [external link] [return]

The dating of this letter presents the archivist and biographer with several problems. While the archivists at the University of Iowa originally placed the date at 1815, the internal evidence offers some uncertainty. First, Hunt dates the letter simply "Monday, May 7," but in 1815, May 7th fell on a Sunday. Second, the letter is addressed to Hone at "Ludgate Hill." Hone did not move into his rooms at 45 Ludgate Hill until very late 1817 or (more probably) early 1818. In 1815, Hone lived with his family above a tiny shop at 55 Fleet Street, and from October of 1816, he lived and worked at 67 Old Bailey. Further complicating this issue, however, is the fact that many of Hone's publications produced while resident at the Old Bailey address are identified in print as "67 Old Bailey, a few doors up from Ludgate Hill." It is thus not unreasonable to think that Hunt may have used "Ludgate Hill" as a possible address for Hone as early as late 1816. But if Hunt's date of "Monday, May 7" is accurate, the year is more likely 1821, when Major Cartwright and Thomas Wooler were finally tried on charges of sedition (for their political activism in Birmingham in 1819). [return]