Description:Rachel’s letters also refer to wider social and world affairs. In a further letter she comments on proposed marriage arrangements concerning Lord Shrewsbury, who was closely associated with Sir Richard’s estate in Lilleshall, Shropshire. She writes ‘this town is very emptie of news, onely the Lord Shrewsbury your neightbour, is in motion to two sisters, Mr Brewdnells daughters by two wifes, the elder liveing with her Grand father the Lord Brew: being unhandsome & crooked: the younger tolerable, it is thought he will not have the elder’.
As well as discussing the marital affairs of other wealthy families, Rachel’s letters also comment on their financial affairs. In a letter dated 20th July 1658 she writes ‘The duchess & the duke of Richmond are safe arrived in France, from her Creditors great store of her servants are turned off, and her Estate put into friends hands to pay debts, which are very great’.
The letters written to Sir Richard Leveson by his sister Rachel include a wide variety of topics ranging from the family’s health to the financial affairs of their acquaintances. The letters are extremely valuable, allowing us to see the world that the Leveson and Newport families lived in from their own contemporary perspectives.