{"id":2258,"date":"2021-03-01T09:30:19","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T09:30:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=2258"},"modified":"2025-12-11T14:17:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:17:02","slug":"the-carpenter-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2021\/03\/01\/the-carpenter-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"The Carpenter Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amongst the records of non-conformist churches held by Dorset History Centre you will find a collection of correspondence called the Carpenter Letters<\/a>. In this collection you will find letters from\u00a0<\/span>many<\/span>\u00a0of the prominent social reformers, educators and abolitionists from the nineteenth century.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Bridport Unitarian Chapel<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Reverend Russell\u00a0<\/span>Lant<\/span>\u00a0Carpenter was the minister of Bridport<\/span>\u00a0Unitarian Church from 1865-1887. He was the son of the noted Unitarian Minister and educator\u00a0<\/span>Lant<\/span>\u00a0Carpenter<\/span>\u00a0and m<\/span>ost of the letters in the collection were written to members of the Carpenter family.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the earliest letters in the collection was written to\u00a0<\/span>Lant<\/span>\u00a0Carpenter by Harriet Martineau<\/span>, an author and early socialist. Harriet defied the expectation that women in the nineteenth century should have no higher aspiration than marriage and the raising of children and supported herself with her writing. One of her earliest works was \u2018<\/span>Devotional Exercises<\/span>\u2019 and in a letter dated October 31<\/span>st<\/span>\u00a01823<\/span>\u00a0she asks\u00a0<\/span>Lant<\/span>\u00a0Carpenter for his opinion on her writing.\u00a0<\/span>She had met\u00a0<\/span>Lant<\/span>\u00a0during the years that she spent with her aunt in Bristol, where he was a minister and ran a school.<\/span>\u00a0She writes:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/span>I have not yet been able\u00a0<\/span><\/i>to obtain the opinion of any on whose judgement I can rely, respecting my works, except my brother James, and I therefore anticipate with some degree of dread your judgement upon it. If, after reading it, you\u00a0<\/span><\/i>are able to<\/span><\/i>\u00a0say that you think it will be useful, I shall be perfectly satisfied. I will also venture to say, that if, some time or other you will point out to me what defects are observable in it I shall consider it an addition to the great kindness you have already shown me.\u2019<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Harriet appears nervous about the reception her book will get, with almost two thirds of the letter being devoted to an explanation as to how she came to have written it, when Mr\u00a0<\/span>Wellbeloved<\/span>\u00a0was producing a similar text. Despite her worries she became a very successful author, writing stories that were designed to illustrate political ideas<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Carpenter family had strong connection with the\u00a0<\/span>abolitionist movement.\u00a0<\/span>Rev Russell Carpenter travelled to America in\u00a0<\/span>1859<\/span>\u00a0and Maria\u00a0<\/span>Weston Chapman<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>wrote to welcome him to her country.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Welcome to American soil, alas not\u00a0<\/span><\/i>free<\/span><\/i>\u00a0soil! \u2013 welcome as\u00a0<\/span><\/i>friend that comes to help us make it so!<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Maria\u00a0<\/span>organised the annual\u00a0<\/span>anti-slavery fundraising event in Boston, as well as writing articles\u00a0<\/span>on the subject. The letter to Carpenter is written on an invitation to the 25<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>national anti-slavery subscription anniversary and she also urges him to visit other abolitionists.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Theodore Parker is another American\u00a0<\/span>campaign<\/span>er who wrote to R<\/span>ev Carpenter<\/span>. The letter that\u00a0<\/span>appears in this collection is from 1859 and was written\u00a0<\/span>during a<\/span>\u00a0visit to<\/span>\u00a0England.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>He apologises that he would not be able to visit Carpenter on this\u00a0<\/span>trip but<\/span>\u00a0hopes to return in May 1860. Unfortunately<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0this never happened. Parker<\/span>\u00a0had journeyed<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>to Europe in the hope of improving his health, but\u00a0<\/span>he died\u00a0<\/span>of tuberculosis\u00a0<\/span>in Florence<\/span>\u00a0in 1860<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Several letters\u00a0<\/span>are written\u00a0<\/span>to thank Carpenter fo<\/span>r sending them<\/span>\u00a0copy of a memoir of his brother<\/span>, Philip Pearsall Carpenter<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>These include letters from the Scottish\u00a0<\/span>novelist George MacDonald and Florence Nightingale.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Florence Nightingale<\/span>\u2019s letter suggests that Russell Carpenter had sent\u00a0<\/span>her the book as he thought she may be interested in\u00a0<\/span>his work on sanit<\/span>ation reforms, but she writes that she found much of interest in the book, including Philip Pearsall\u2019s work with shells.\u00a0<\/span>She also explains why there was a delay in her\u00a0<\/span>conveying her thanks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018<\/span><\/i>Your letter\u00a0<\/span><\/i>reached me on the morning of my dearest mother\u2019s blessed going home. And 6 years and more without\u00a0<\/span><\/i>one day\u2019s rest of body or mind, ending with this loss, compelled\u00a0<\/span><\/i>me to go away and seek an interval of silence.\u2019<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two other letters concern\u00a0<\/span>sending copies of this memoir to\u00a0<\/span>India<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>and Florence also\u00a0<\/span>requests that copies of the life of Russell\u2019s sister Mary also be sent.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mary Carpenter was<\/span>\u00a0a social campaigner<\/span>\u00a0and educator<\/span>\u00a0who\u00a0<\/span>founded Ragged schools in Bristol and travelled to India to promote the education of women.<\/span>\u00a0The Dorset History Centre\u00a0<\/span>h<\/span>olds letters from Mary Carpenter in the collection of the\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Colfox<\/span> Family.<\/span><\/p>\n

These lette<\/span>rs are a fascinating collection and give an insight into the work\u00a0<\/span>of the men and women trying to change the world in the 19<\/span>th<\/span>\u00a0century.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amongst the records of non-conformist churches held by Dorset History Centre you will find a collection of correspondence called the Carpenter Letters. In this collection you will find letters from\u00a0many\u00a0of the prominent social reformers, educators and abolitionists from the nineteenth century.\u00a0 The Reverend Russell\u00a0Lant\u00a0Carpenter was the minister of Bridport\u00a0Unitarian Church from 1865-1887. He was the… Read more The Carpenter Letters<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[286,82,285,252,109],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2258"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4947,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2258\/revisions\/4947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2258"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2258"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2258"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}