More Letters from Francis Leveson

Description:The news Francis wrote in his letters was not restricted to developments on the Royalist side. In a further letter from 3rd May 1642 Francis states that Parliament are to ‘draw a petition to the Kinge’ asking him to come to Parliament and ‘hearken to the advice of his great Councill’.

The information which Francis was sending to Sir Richard was evidently appreciated. In one letter Francis notes to Sir Richard ‘I know you are soe confident of mee’. The strength of their relationship is reflected in a light-hearted aside, in which Francis notes that his wife ‘though shee blushes often, there is nothinge hath changed her colour more than that shee thinks shee hath not deserved that favourable opinion shee now understands you have of her’.

Francis’s letters to his uncle are valuable in terms of portraying the developing conflict between the Parliamentarians and Royalists at this time, providing a contemporary perspective of events. Francis and Sir Richard’s correspondence also reflects relationships within the Leveson and Newport families, and tell us a great deal about how people communicated news to one another during this period.

Contextual information from Victor Stater, ‘Newport, Francis, first earl of Bradford (1619–1708)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20033]

Attachments

Transcription of Letter from Francis Newport (34 KB)