9th July 1863.
My dear Hector
In the midst of your present perturbation1 you will I fear have but little attention to give to this letter. But as I am going off to Switzerland and shall not for two months think of writing letters I wish to say a word to you before I go.
For the last couple of weeks I have had staying with me the two sons of Dr John Tyndall of Gorey Co. Wexford.2 They are nice gentlemanly lads, & one of them has creditably taken out his diploma for surgery & midwifery at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. I am trying to get berths for them, but as yet my outlook is very vague.
In a late number of the Wardes newspaper3 I found under the head of the ‘Wexford Archers’ a number of names among which were Mr. Tyndall4 and the Misses Tyndall.5 I have learned that this Mr. Tyndall is a man of substance living at a place called Oakland near Enniscourthy Co. Wexford.6 I have written to him,7 & expect a reply from him by Monday next.
I have also had two letters from a namesake in Holland8 who writes anxious to learn whether we are relatives. His father was named Joseph Tyndall, and he was Judge of Surinam when it belonged to the English. He appears to have been a sugar planter in Surinam. His title & address are
The Hon. J. F. Tyndall de Veer | [Suchtenberg] House | near Breda | Holland.
The name de Veer was added to his by Royal letters patent—it is his wife’s name. He appears to consider it certain that we are related. His arms bear the three corn sheaves which you find on the arms of Baron de Tyndale9 in Tyndale’s10 testament. He strongly disputes the correctness of the e at the end, and avows that the martyr was a Tyndall.
They have been getting up the monument to him of late.11
If I had time I should like much to take a sweep into Ireland & see those people at home. The old original farm is still occupied by a Joseph Tyndall.12 It lies, as you mentioned when you were here between Arklow & Wicklow.
And my dear Hector goodbye and with kindest remembrances to Mrs. Tyndale13
Believe me | always affec[tiona]t[el]y yours | John Tyndall
RI MS JT/1/T/1447
RI MS JT/1/TYP/4/1657
your present perturbation: the American Civil War. See letters 1946, 1988, and 2010.
Dr John Tyndall: John Tyndall (of Gorey). In an earlier letter to Tyndale (1956), Tyndall wrote that this John Tyndall had ‘three sons, one of whom has passed all his examinations as a surgeon, and the two others he intends for mercantile pursuits’.
In a late number of the Wardes newspaper: not identified.
Mr. Tyndall: not identified.
Misses Tyndall: not identified.
Oakland near Enniscourthy Co. Wexford: in the mid-nineteenth century, Oakland was a small village near the town of Enniscourthy, in County Wexford on the south-eastern coast of Ireland.
I have written to him: letter missing.
two letters from a namesake in Holland: not identified; letters missing.
Baron de Tyndale: the Barony of Tyndale or Tindale refers to the Baron of South Tyne-dale in the county of Northumberland dating back to the eleventh century.
Tyndale’s: William Tyndale.
the monument to him of late: presumably the monument at Nibley Knoll in Gloucestershire (see Ascent of John Tyndall, p. 256).
Joseph Tyndall: not identified.
Mrs. Tyndale: Julia Tyndale.
Please cite as “Tyndall2019,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on