From Edmond B Sayers   Saturday

E.B. Sayers | Mr. Goodalls House | Samuel Street | Woolwich.

Saturday¹

Here I am my dear Jack at as nice duty as you could wish superintending docks &c., and drawing plans – Not six inch plans,² but ground plans and elevations at 5s a day, 7 days a week, and a promise of 7/6 a day when I am more advanced. Do you call that nothing? Hours from 9 to 12. 1½ to 10 minutes to 4, and they are not particular to ½ an hour or 1 hour. 4,500 men under our superintendence, we have two docks making now that will cost 540,000 and more buildings than we can do almost. We are going to add 34 acres more to the yard, to pull down 43 old houses to build two barracks, a marine and foot one, and to survey the Thames from London to the mouth – 60 miles. That will be a job. Only three of us and Captain Danivon.³ We are treated like gentlemen not like the survey. Can go in and out of the office when we like, no one to ask where we are going. Two of the Lords of the Admiralty⁴ were here today and I had a long chat with them. I could not give much information to them being so lately joined. We have a splendid office, plenty of every kind of stores, and the best, we have H.H. pencils,⁵ harder than the 4. H. ones of the Survey. I showed them some of them and they said they never heard of such things before. Are you doing anything? I came from P.⁶ last Saturday with Mrs Banister.

How is Philigeen [Evans]?⁷ remember me to them and George,⁸ also, don't forget yourself. All quite well at Preston. When will I see it again?

Yours as ever | E.B. Sayers. | Samuel Street

RI MS JT/1/TYP/11/3858

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