9 Chadwell Street | Myddleton Square | Pentonville | London | 21st. March 1855.
My dear Mrs Ginty,
In the midst of my present occupations, which usually keep my brain busy, there are times when I think of the long, kind, and pleasant letters2 which you used to send to me long ago, and often my head has been unable to do its work, and I have been obliged to sit at home and feed myself on memories, I have experienced a feeling of regret that a correspondence which I once so highly esteemed should have so effectually ceased. The cause which prompts me to write to you at present is that William3 has been kind enough to send me a long letter,4 giving me an account of his doings in Brazil,5 and informing me that you intend to start to Rio on the 9th of April.6 He wishes, if possible, that I should see you and your children7 safely on board, and I can only say that if it be at all possible I shall feel a true pleasure <words missing> 9th, and will do all in my power to help you.
Believe me | most sincerely yours | John Tyndall.
RI MS JT/1/11/3642
LT Typescript Only
Margaret Ginty: wife of William Ginty; see n. 3, below and volume 2, letter 0335.
the long, kind, and pleasant letters: including volume 3, letter 0517.
William: William Ginty (1821–66) had worked closely with Tyndall on the Ordnance Survey, both in Ireland and later in England. Like Tyndall, he was dismissed in November 1843 for signing a letter complaining about the ineffective management of the Survey. He then worked as a surveyor for the Tithe Commission, before being appointed engineer and manager of the Hydro-Carbon Gas Company in Manchester. In 1854 he was appointed general manager of the Imperial Gas Works in Rio de Janeiro and moved to Brazil. To mark his contributions to public works he was knighted by the Emperor of Brazil in 1860.
a long letter: letter missing.
his doings in Brazil: see n. 3, above.
9th of April: Margaret Ginty and her children sailed on The Great Western from Southampton on 9 April 1855.
your children: Tyndall and the Hirsts travelled to Southampton on 9 April to bid farewell to Margaret Ginty and her five young children (Hirst’s Journal: RI MS JT/2/32b/1156). Four of the children were named Kathleen (b. c. 1848), William Roberts (b. 1849), Fanny (b. 1850) and George (b. 1851) (Ancestry).
Please cite as “Tyndall1059,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on