Description:Amongst Sir Richard Leveson’s personal papers are a collection of letters written to him by his sister Rachel. Rachel Leveson married Richard Newport, first Baron Newport of High Ercall (1587-1651) by 1615. Both the Newport and Leveson families were extremely influential, particularly in hropshire. Stephen Wright suggests that following his father’s death in 1623, Richard Newport became ‘probably the richest man in Shropshire’. The Leveson and Newport families were closely associated, a closeness reflected in Sir Richard Leveson’s letters from his nieces and nephews and from his sister Rachel.
The letters Sir Richard Leveson received during the late 1650s from his sister inform him of news from London, and include gossip about the marriages and the financial affairs of many high profile families. The letters tell us about issues which were considered important to wealthy families at this time, and reflect how family members communicated news to one another.
The purpose of Rachel’s correspondence is reflected where she tells Sir Richard she will send him 'weekely intelligence of the town newes...in what I can heare, and dare write’.
The content of her letters can be anticipated from her promise to supply what she covertly hears and ‘dare write’. The letters are extremely rich in intriguing detail including gossip about inappropriate wedding matches, weddings at court and families forced to flee to France because of debt.
Click on the images on the left to see more of Rachel Newport's letters.
Contextual information from Stephen Wright, ‘Newport, Richard, first Baron Newport (1587–1651)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20038]