Two Nusseys, indeed, and two Walkers,
were court physicians in their day. When Earl Fitzwilliam was canvassing
for the county in 1809, he was a guest at the Rydings for two weeks, and
on his election was chaired by the tenantry. Reuben Walker, this uncle
of Miss Nussey's, was the only Justice of the Peace for the district
which included Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, and Halifax, during the
Luddite riots--a significant reminder of the growth of population since
that day. Ellen Nussey's home was at the Rydings, then tenanted by her
brother John, until 1837, and she then removed to Brookroyd, where she
lived until long after Charlotte Bronte died.
The first letter to Ellen Nussey is dated May 31, 1831, Charlotte having
become her school-fellow in the previous January. It would seem to have
been a mere play exercise across the school-room, as the girls were then
together at Roe Head.
[Picture: Ellen Nussey as schoolgirl and adult]
'DEAR MISS NUSSEY,--I take advantage of the earliest opportunity to
thank you for the letter you favoured me with last week, and to
apologise for having so long neglected to write to you; indeed, I
believe this will be the first letter or note I have ever addressed
to you. I am extremely obliged to Mary for her kind invitation, and
I assure you that I should very much have liked to hear the Lectures
on Galvanism, as they would doubtless have been amusing and
instructive.
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