8th. Sep. 1863.
My dear Friend,
On my return from the North of England last night1 I found your friendly letter.2 It would give me great delight to pay you a visit and I hope to do so some day, but I must I regret to say postpone it for the present. I have been wandering about so long that the calls upon me in London have at length become peremptory.
I have been spending a most pleasant week with my friend Sir William Armstrong at Newcastle, afterwards I spent two or three days at Alnwick Castle,3 the residence of the Duke of Northumberland.4 Thence I went to Chillingham Castle5 the seat of the Earl of Tankerville6 and spent a short but joyous time there—yesterday morning I started [south] and came last night to London.
I have been in the Country of the Tyndall’s—but they were scattered abroad from Tyndale during the wars of the Roses. The Duke once said to me that I ought to belong to Northumberland as my name indicated relationship to the valley of the Tyne.7 The only trace of the name that I alighted on was on a sign over a grocer’s shop in a little country village.
I have been lately in correspondence with Mr Robert Tyndale8 of Oaklands near New Ross.9 Some day I hope to pay you all a visit.
I shall keep my eyes open regarding George and John10
Yours ever | John Tyndall.
RI MS JT/1/TYP/10/334
LT Typescript Only
the North of England last night: Tyndall had attended the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, which was hosted in Newcastle Upon Tyne (see letter 2024, n. 3).
your friendly letter: letter missing.
Alnwick Castle: see letter 2031, n. 20.
the Duke of Northumberland: see letter 2031, n. 21.
Chillingham Castle: see letter 2031, n. 22.
the Earl of Tankerville: see letter 2031, n. 22.
valley of the Tyne: the valley through which the river Tyne flows.
Mr Robert Tyndale: Robert Tyndale.
Oaklands near New Ross: Oaklands is a small village just outside the town of New Ross in Country Wexford, Ireland.
George and John: possibly two of the three sons of John Tyndall (of Gorey), who had stayed with Tyndall from late June into July 1863 (see letter 2019, n. 2). Tyndall was trying to secure positions for them, although he was not optimistic about being successful in this endeavour.
Please cite as “Tyndall2032,” in Ɛpsilon: The John Tyndall Collection accessed on