Royal William Victualling Yard, Plymouth, from Mount Edgecombe. Inversed digital file to create b&w positive

A paper calotype negative. A composed view from the corner of the Garden Battery on the Mount Edgecumbe estate looking over towards the Royal William Victualling Yard at Plymouth Dockyard. In the foreground (l-r) is a unidentified man in a top hat using a telescope, a lady leaning on the barrel of a cannon and two ladies standing together between the two cannons, all looking out towards the Clarence Building. The three ladies, while not specifically identifiable, were Mrs Constance Talbot and the two Misses MacDonald, who were Talbot's half-sister Caroline's husband's nieces. A letter from Talbot's half-sister Caroline Augusta Edgecumbe, married to the 3rd Earl Mount Edgecumbe, dated 7 September, expressed her delight at him visiting and confirmed that Calvert Jones and Nicolaas Henneman were welcome too. [BL, LA45-124 ]. However, a letter dated 23 September 1845 from Calvert Jones is addressed from Regent Street, London [BL, LA45-131, doc 5398]. Talbot arrived sometime around 20 September, as his mother wrote to him on the 20th at Mount Edgecumbe [BL, LA45-129]. A letter from Constance Talbot, his wife, dated 12 October 1845 states 'I do long to see the Mount Edgecumbe views – particularly the battery scene', which may relate to this one as well as the image in P15CAL.

Object number: P14CAL
Date: 1845
Original dimensions: 295 mm x 354 mm