Ɛpsilon

Faraday to Marianne Arnott1   9 November 1860

[Royal Institution embossed letterhead] | 9 Novr 1860

My dear Mrs Arnott

I am very grateful to you for your kindness - You will wonder why I return it - but you have unfortunately put your figure opposite No. 72 instead of No. 73 for it is Leighton Minnie that we are working for. I do not know whether you can correct it by adding your signature there. It is said that erasures are not allowed2[.]

Ever Your faithful Servant | M. Faraday

1
Marianne Arnott, olim Knight, née Holley (d.1876, age 75, GRO). She married the scientific writer Neil Arnott (1788–1874, ODNB) in 1856. She had been a subscriber of the Infant Orphan Asylum since 1854. See the 1861 Report of the Infant Orphan AsylumRLSA 90/21/10/18, p.11.
2
This was for a proxy for Minnie Leighton for a place in the Infant Orphan Asylum in Wanstead. This was similar to the London Orphan Asylum (see note 1, letter 4704u) but took children under the age of seven. On this Asylum see Grist (1974), 1-42. Faraday is not listed as a subscriber in the records of the Asylum in RLSA, but there was no prohibition on non subscribers seeking to place an orphan in the Asylum.

Bibliography

GRIST, Donald Honey (1974): A Victorian Charity. The Infant Orphan Asylum at Wanstead, London.

Please cite as “Faraday3884,” in Ɛpsilon: The Michael Faraday Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/faraday/letters/Faraday3884