Letter from Gainford in 1815 speaks of Napoleon's exile after Waterloo

The letter, sent from Gainford, near Darlington, to a Mrs Russel in Alphington, Exeter, was written a  matter of weeks after Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo by armies commanded by the British Duke of Wellington and the Prussian Prince Blücher.

It reference's news of Napoleon's exile of the island of St Helena and the writer, one E. Walton, hopes he will be closely watched "to prevent his doing future mischief in the world".

The letter was charged originally at 1/- which was crossed out and adjusted to 1 shilling & 2 pence - the 1812 Postal Letter Rate for distances up to 500 miles.

The letter addressed to a gentleman in Exeter bears a Darlington postmark, dated 1815 (Image: CONTRIBUTER)

It has a Darlington Circular Mileage mark dated August 1, 1815. The mileage 244 was the distance calculated from Darlington to London.

Sealed by an oval red wax seal with a manuscript M, the contents at first talk about 19th century village life.

It reads: "My ever dear friend, Receive my best thanks for your last kind affectionate letter, which I have deferred answering from the desire of informing you when I left Gainford for a few weeks, going first to Mr. Vaughan’s and from thence to the Spaw at Middleton or Croft Bridge, the latter has a house near the bath, which is the only reason I shall prefer it (as all the lodgings at the other spaw are a distance from it) as I fear I shall not be able to walk the distance after bathing without fatigue, and that would be a drawback on the benefit I hope to receive.

The start of the Gainford letter (Image: CONTRIBUTER)

"On Friday first Mr Vaughan comes for me in his gig….. Our village (Gainford) is thin of society at present.

"Capt. and Mrs Byron intend letting their house for three years, they are now in London but come down for a week or two in September… I imagine they will let it from Martinmas.

"Two houses in our row are empty the end house what Mr. Todd formally occupied & Mr. Hodgson’s.

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"Rumour says Mr. Elliot has had a family about his, but as I have not heard it from himself, I imagine nothing has been concluded. He has for these few years talked of selling both his house and property here then living in a town in winter and going to the seaside in summer.

"The County has severely felt the failure of Mowbray’s & Co Bank, whether the sufferers will recoup any material advantage from the dividend of the bank time must show, to many who had their all in the bank it has given great distress. Neither Mr. Appleby or Mr. W having any of their notes."

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The last couple of paragraphs are something rather special.

The letter, written from Gainford in 1815, not long after the Battle of Watreloo, makes reference to Napoleon's exile on St Helena (Image: CONTRIBUTER)

It reads: "Eventful have been the state of public affairs since I last wrote, the late French Emperor having surrendered himself, I trust will be a means of the army late under his command doing the same to their lawful king in every part of his dominions.

"Yesterday’s papers inform us Napoleon’s residence is to be St Helena, I hope in future he will be kept so closely watch’d as to prevent his doing future mischief in the world.

"Your sincere and obliged friend. E. Walton".

The letter is in the collection of a philatelist from County Durham, who adds: "A wonderful insight into the language, observations, life and times of a person who must have been a fairly wealthy resident of Gainford in 1815."