TALBOT993

Chippenham ¹
July 9^th 1822

Dear Sir,

I have been endeavoring to recollect the description of Papers which are deposited in the Tower of Lacock Abbey – There are several Deeds of very ancient date, I think, chiefly, grants under the Great Seal of different Estates, & the original Grant of the Abbey &^c from the Lords of the Regency after the death of Henry the 8^{th 2} – which is stated to be a confirmation of the Grant by Henry, but I believe the original Grant was never found – When the late Sir Sam^l Whitcomb was at Lacock, the Deeds were arranged, after considerable expence & trouble & an Inventory taken, a Copy of which, I should think would be found at M^r King’s ³ – A reference to that, would probably enable you to judge whether there is any thing that could be useful to Sir Richard Hoare ⁴ & if any thing is selected it would be easy for me to produce it, without distrusting the other Papers – I take the liberty of suggesting this Plan, to prevent future expence & trouble, which I should fear might be the case if an Antiquarian was allowed to make a search among such a mass of old Papers – The Keys of the Tower have always been kept in London, (I believe) by Captⁿ Fielding ⁵ –

I shall have much pleasure in conveying your Present to the two Clubs, which I understand w[ould]⁶ be particularly acceptable at this time, in consequence of the very low state of their Funds –

I am Dear Sir Y^r Obliged & Obed^t Ser^t
W. H. Awdry

W. H. F. Talbot Esq
31. Sackville Street
Piccadilly
London