Postcards from the Past #2: Winchester Cathedral, England
Instagram Post of July 8, 2020:
In 1841, Catharine Maria Sedgwick published her two-volume travelogue "Letters from Abroad to Kindred at Home," describing her fifteen-month trip through Europe visiting England, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, France, and Italy.
This week, one of our A Woman of the Century contributors (Amy from @handaathomeandaway) started to share the best bits of the book in a series called "Postcards from the Past." Travel along with us by following the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/awomanofthecentury.
It surprised me that Catharine’s 621-page travelogue did not identify her travel companions by name (only their initials). For context about the trip, I had to rely on the Massachusetts Historical Society’s biographical timeline and sketches to fill in the blanks.
From what I can tell, her older brother, Robert, had a paralyzing stroke and then lost a four-month-old baby girl in 1838. In May 1839, Robert and his wife, Elizabeth, needed to take a vacation and set sail for England with Robert’s unmarried sister Catharine (50), their eldest daughter Elizabeth (Lizzie) (15), and nieces Katharine (Kate) (19) and Maria (26).
From what I can tell, her older brother, Robert, had a paralyzing stroke and then lost a four-month-old baby girl in 1838. In May 1839, Robert and his wife, Elizabeth, needed to take a vacation and set sail for England with Robert’s unmarried sister Catharine (50), their eldest daughter Elizabeth (Lizzie) (15), and nieces Katharine (Kate) (19) and Maria (26).
After a month at sea, the six travelers arrived at Portsmouth, England on June 4, 1839. As soon as they arrived, they left a letter and cards at Captain Basil Hall’s door who reciprocated and proceeded to show the Sedgwicks around the area culminating in a stop at Winchester Cathedral.
In the images, you can see what an overwhelmed Catharine thought of the cathedral and the “power of architecture” in her letter to “C.” (probably her younger brother Charles and father of niece Kate) and compare the 1890 picture of the Winchester Cathedral to what it looks like today.
