2, 3 of 26

2, 3 of 26

Correspondence

A letter from Wilhelm Bleek to Jemima Lloyd from Government House in the Cape and dated 23 February 1862. Wilhelm continues his response to Jemima's answer to his proposal; he refers to theirs as an "impracticable" union amidst discussion of their marriage and their uncertainty as to when it can occur. He continues to explain his painful words in his proposal letter. He receives a new "affectionate" letter from Jemima during the course of writing this one, which removes all doubt regarding their feelings for one another and their engagement. He tells Jemima all about his Bonn family in preparation for her visit - he has told his mother to invite her. There is a good deal more about Jemima and her sisters' painful personal history in Natal, as well as the progress of his appointment as Grey Librarian.

23 February 1862

A Comparative Grammar of the South African Languages, affectionate letter, age, all doubt removed, appointment as Grey Librarian, Augusta Bleek's marriage, Auguste Charlotte Marianne Sethe, Buenos Aires, Bishop of Natal, Bishop of Natal's opinion of Rev. Lloyd, Bleek family, Bonn family history, Bonn visit, Cape, caused pain, character and faults, daughter, daughter's inheritance, discretion, doctor, doubt, Dr R Russell, employment hopes, engagement, engagement discretion, engagement gossip, explanation of painful letter, family, family history, family religious views, father, father's treatment of daughters, fear of gossip, February 1862, finances, financial prospects, Friedrich Bleek, friends, friendship with Lucy Lloyd, George Woolley, Grey Library, ill health, impracticable union, inheritance, inveterate teaser, invitation to Bonn, Jemima Lloyd, Jemima Lloyd's pain from letter, Jemima Lloyd's personal history, John Colenso, letter, Lloyd family history, Lloyd sisters, love, Lucy Lloyd, mailships, marriage, marriage insecurity and delay, meeting mother, Mr Maurice, Mr Shepstone, Mrs HH Fisher, Mr Russell, Mr Shepstone, money, mother, name, narrow religious education, Natal, Natal family, Natal government, Natal history, pain, painful history, painful letter, past attentions to a lady, past ill health, personal history, photograph, plans for Bonn visit, plans for marriage, promised £250 salary, prospects, publication progress, religion, religious views, Rev. William Lloyd, romantic history, rumours, sister/s, spelling of family name Bleeck, subscriptions for Comparative Grammar, telling people, visiting Bonn, writes to mother, writing letters, Zulu-English dictionary

1. Bleek's 19 February 1862 letter replies to Jemima's "answer" [See C4.11]. Jemima Lloyd's "answer" letter is dated 4 January 1862 [See C8.10 and its transcription]. 2. There are photographs of Dr Russell and his family. See Photographs and Portraits on this website. 3. This section of the letter, concerning the process whereby Wilhelm was appointed as the Grey Librarian, appears in a short series of extracts all transcribed in pencil by Jemima Lloyd from letters written to her by Wilhelm between 19 January and 22 August 1862. [See JL's pencil transcriptions in C8.9.]