| In a similar vein is Lady Layard’s Journal. She was the third daughter and eighth child, of ten, born to the industrialist Sir Josiah John Guest (1785-1852), owner of the Dowlais Ironworks, and his wife Lady Charlotte Elizabeth Bertie (1814-95), only daughter of Albemarle, 9th Earl of Lindsey. Enid (she was christened Mary Enid Evelyn Guest) was born in circumstances which allowed her to meet many leading figures of her day. Her marriage to a well-known and popular public figure extended these opportunities and may have sparked a determination to make daily journal entries, unlike the occasional entries of earlier years, and chronicle the events of her life and the people she met. Except for periods of personal illness and tragedy Enid wrote regularly in her journal up to a few days before her death on 1st November 1912, in her Venetian palazzo, Ca’Capello. Lady Layard’s journal covers 51 years, is in excess of 8,000 pages, and consists of over 15,000 entries. And, she mentions Sir Hubert in several entries. To find out more about here follow the link at the bottom of the page which will open the most fascinating website of the Armstrong Browning Library at Baylor University, Waco, Texas. |
| November 1900 - Ca’Capello, Venice |
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Friday. 2nd November 1900 Mr & Mrs Curtis, the 2 Misses Monk & Sir Hubert Miller came to luncheon. Mr Christie, Lady Dounshire & Miss Balfour came afterwards to make acquaintance with the former - Mr Brown came to see me, quite altered in manner & quite as of old. Evidently Mrs Curtis has talked to him. I had said I wished for no explanation but if he came to call I should understand that the cloud was cleared. It is a comfort. |
| Thursday. 8th November 1900 Mr Christie came in the morning to talk over Sailor’s Institute affairs. Told me also that Sir Hubert Miller has presented to our church some nice old inlaid wooden altar rails - I took Aline to the station directly after lunch & saw her off by the 2 train with her cousins Lady Dounshire & Miss Balfour to Milan. I went thence to Mrs Curtis - had a talk with her about Fanny Browning who seems not to be going to get a separation from her husband against all her friends advice. Took Mrs Curtis out in gondola for a while & after dropping her fetched Mrs Fildes & took her to the jeweller in the Piazza to conclude the bargain for her pearl necklace. It was 6 oclock before I got home & at the door I met the Misses Monk who came to say they were starting home tonight having had a telegram to say their only brother is ill - They did not stay long & when they were gone & the door shut I went up to my room & really felt that I am alone again - a relief for I have been living at high pressure & am very tired much as I liked having my friends - I dined at 7.30 & went to bed at 10 - to have a long rest........................ |
| Friday. 23rd November 1900 This morning’s post brought me a bad account of Maria. It is evident she is daily getting worse. Barbara went out this morning with Iduna Belmondo. Gertie did not appear till 11. I modelled. Had a visit from Don Antonio the priest at Vescovana - he burst into a sob on seeing me - & set me crying - & it was some time before either of us could speak - He told me how our dear Countess Pisani had died of a cholic which lasted hardly 26 hours & ended in paralysis of the heart & her death was sudden & unexpected as the Dr had not been in apprehension - He said tho’ the Bentivoglios were good & kind people it was hard for him to bear the change - their ways & ideas were so different in every way to the Countess. I said he & I are her only true mourners. I asked him to burn any of my letters she might have kept which he promised to do. He says he has sacks full of letters to look thro’ & burn. He told me that Dr Alexander van Millingen had been to Vescovana & asked for & received many of the Countess own family things & at last wrote so often for more that he had had to put a stop to it. How indelicate are people on these occasions! After lunch I took Gertie Seymer & Barbara Layard out in gondola to the Piazza & for a row & we came back soon after 4. Sir Hubert Miller & Iduna came to tea. Had amusing talk with the former - who said that for some time on first acquaintance with me he was very frightened of me - So many people have said the same that I asked him to explain what there was about me & after some difficulty he said that my manner was so proud. How little one knows oneself! I never felt proud - only often shy & stupid. I must try & watch myself. I know I have not been attractive to Barbara Layard who is very uncongenial to me but I have tried hard to be nice to her as in duty bound to a guest - tho’ I did not want her to come & she asked me to have her - & I did not expect her to have stayed so long. I hope however she has enjoyed herself & has not found me out. Mr & Mrs Curtis & Mr Horatio Brown dined with me. Just before dinner I got a telegram from the Du Canes saying & evidently poor Maria is going to die after all - It is very very sad. |
| Wednesday. 12th December 1900 Modelled in morning. Sir Hubert Miller & Fannie Browning came to lunch. Sir H. expounded his advice on the altar cloths &c of our church here in which he takes much interest. Gertie developped a bad cold in her head & I persuaded her to go to bed which she did when I went out at 3. I went to the Piazza to buy beads for her for necklaces she is stringing & then returned home. Iduna Bel. & Mlle Aspasie Kwekwitsch came to tea. I dined alone at 7 & then went to the Sailor’’s Institute where there was the usual men’s concert. Mr Langford a young Englishman sang. He has a good baritone voice & is studying for the stage. Being abt 29 he has lately married a woman of over 50 & is her 3rd husband. Mrs Hulton also sang & I - Prof. Trombini who was there kindly accompanied us. M. Revel & his family came there & Fanny Browning with some American friends. An English Captain made a speech at the end voted thanks & the sailors gave us all hearty English cheers - three times three - We sang God save the Queen & went home - by 11 oclock. I had a talk with a very respectable Engineer who said the Institute was a great pleasure & comfort to him & all & they all liked the present missioner & family Mr & Mrs Newman - & resented the attacks of the Hansens on them - Hansen dismissed from our Institute having set up an opposition in the place. |
| Monday. 25th March 1901 Went out after lunch with the Oranmores to Moses Della Torres’ antiquity shop to help them to choose furniture. Countess Canevaro came to tea at 5 & brought with her a Countess Pegnole the wife of a naval officer to introduce to me. Later came Maria Cozzi, Countess Brandolin & her boy Carlino, Mme Rubini & her girl, Sir Hubert Miller & Mr Montalba. Onie sang as did also Ersilia Canevaro. |
August 1901 - Shrubbery House, Froyle, Hampshire |
| Saturday. 3rd August 1901 Breakfasted in our own rooms & met downstairs about 11 - Sir Hubert Miller (my hostess’ landlord) arrived to stay. I took a walk with him & he showed me some cottages he was enlarging & improving. He is very fond of his place & deeply regrets not being rich eno’ to live at the big House Froyle which he has let to a Col. Wyndham & Mr Murray. |
| April 1902 - Ca’Capello, Venice |
| Saturday. 26th April 1902 I walked out with Elaine before lunch & went to call on Bss Reinelt whom I found laid up with the gout but very wroth at having Sr Rombo come to sit with her - as he had done yesterday morning. He is Ct Morosini’’s father & between them they are trying to hold her tight in their clutches on account of her millions & she tells me she is sure Rombo comes as a spy. She is the more put out that there has been a report put about that she is going to marry him & she wound up by saying “Je voudrais jeter ce monsieur là pas la fenêtre!” All this she whispered to me as she limped with me to the door of the anteroom. I promised to return to see her tomorrow morning & joined Elaine again & went home to lunch. After lunch I had a solemn visit from Mr Castellani (manager of the V. & Murano Co) & his wife. He is an old man almost in his dotage - & I always have mistrusted his honesty. As soon as they left Ct Seckendorff & I went off in gondola to fetch Mme Kwekwitsch & she took us to the palace of the Centanini to see some blue faience vases they want to sell - who they believe to be worth 40000 lire & who I believe not to be worth 2000 - They are blue & white & dated 1769. The daughter Mme Notabartolo received us & showed their vases to us & then gave us coffee on a charming terrace wh leads out of the middle of the house. I took occasion to ask why her mother had not given over to the police the gondolier who had stolen the leather wh had been sold to me - She said her [mother] had not done so in order not to ruin the gondolier! I said I had informed the police as soon as I knew it & she said she personally was glad I had done so. I went to call at the Prefettura & saw Elsie Cassis & begged her to tell the Prefect how badly the patients at the Italian hospital were being treated & how we were removing the poor burnt English sailor who was miserable there as he had never once been washed in the 3 weeks he has been in hospital - & that his mate died of erysipelas from the bad nursing. I called also on Lady Radnor & found her at home & spoke to her about the painting of our church windows which she seemed ready to undertake to paint herself. The weather became threatening & a storm of rain & wind arose which I fear will bring wet & cold after the delightful warm weather we have been having. The Villiers dined out with Sir Hubert Miller. Iduna Belmondo came to dine with Ct Seckendorff & Pss Taxis & me & in the evening several friends dropped in to bid me goodbye before my departure for London. |
Monday. 28th April 1902 |
| Tuesday. 29th April 1902 Blanche Lady Lindsay came to lunch with me & Sir Hubert Miller & I took them out directly after to see the Sailor’s Institute. Directly after breakfast we had a Committee meeting of the S. Institute at which Carry Eden, the Consul, Mr Montalba & Mr Hulton were present. I made a proposal that an International Hospital should be started so that we no longer need to send our sick sailors to the general Italian hospital. The members of the Com. all looked down shook their heads in disapproval as I read out my proposal - but as soon as I added that I was ready to offer £100 & Lady Lindsay had offered £25 their expressions changed - & they cheerfully looked up saying the scheme was a good one & it was a thing greatly needed. The Consul too who had raised endless objections began to see the possibilities. I therefore continued my proposal by saying I thought that the hospital should be a thing entirely apart from the Institute & that I proposed a Committee consisting of the Chaplain Mr Brown & Dr Van Someren should be named wh was unanimously agreed to. Later in the day Mr Brown came to see me pleased with the scheme & ready to accept - & late in the eveng Dr van Someren came also & delivered into my hands a letter from the new Committee begging me to give my name as Patroness - I have also undertaken to collect funds when in England. The Villiers left me by 11.50 train via Bâle for Paris where we are to meet on Thursday & after they had left I was able to do some of my packing before I went to sleep. |
| Sunday. 3rd April 1904 Easter Sunday we all went to church which was crowded at both services. Eda went also to the 8 o’clock service & said that it was also very full. Sir Hubert Miller had hung a good deal of black cloth over things which is his high church notion on Good Friday - but today he had covered everything with flowers daffodils &c. After the service Mrs Burdon Muller and I walked home. In the afternoon we went to the Eden’s garden for a short time & then by 5 were back in Venice to go to Countess Brandolin to hear a M. du Bled give a lecture on the Ladies in France of the XVIIIth century. We arrived just in time & found the sala full of Italian ladies all seated & M. du Bled began a rather rigmaroly dissertation over the theme which lasted about an hour - After it was over we partook of tea & refreshments & I exchanged greetings with many Italian ladies - all the Venetian society being still here. At 7 I went off with Baker to the Sailor’s Institute to the evening service and walked back with Mr Harston who was very anxious about his boy who has fever. I found Eda Alderson & Mrs B. Muller still at dinner when I got back & joined them. |
| Monday. 11th April 1904 I went out in the morning with Princess Charlotte & Herr Roeder to the Piazza &c - & then returned home alone to lunch & the Prince & Princess went to luncheon at the Hotel Britannia where Herr Roeder & the lady in waiting are staying - They returned at tea time & Lady Radnor then came to be introduced. Mrs Burdon Muller & Eda Alderson went off to Sir Hubert Miller’s to tea. Count & Css Belmondo dined with us - being very friendly with Pss Charlotte. |
| April 1904 - Bologna |
| Sunday. 17th April 1904 Packed early & breakfasted at 9 & then sauntered out with Mrs B. Muller & Pss Charlotte to some of the small antiquity shops but found nothing, except a small old Venetian hand lantern which I got for 5 lire. We lunched all together the P. & Pss, the 3 Malagolas & Mrs B. Muller & I & then went to the station to leave for Venice by the 1.50 train. We left the Prince & Prof: Malagola at Bologna to see more churches & to follow us to Venice by a later train & they did not get there before 11 P.M. On the journey Mme Malagola was feeling very ill & Princess Charlotte prescribed a regime for her beginning in the early morning with a glass of hot water containing a pinch of salt & some nourishment every 2 hours. She promised to try it. In the evening we went out in 2 boats to hear a serenade which Mrs Prinsep had arranged in aid of the Cosmopolitan Hospital. She played finely on the piano & Signor Rava on the violin. He is a young Jew with a decided talent for music. Sir Hubert Miller & Thoby Prinsep sang a duet. They collected about 8 lire. It was quite a success. All the serenaders came in to tea with us afterwards. |
| April 1904 - Ca’Capello, Venice |
| Thursday. 28th April 1904 I was in bed all day till 5 suffering with headache from fatigue but I got up to receive Css Canevaro who brought a pretty little Css Pellegrini to introduce to me. In the evening feeling better I plucked up & Eda & I went to an evening party at Sir Hubert Millers in Pal. Printi near the Greek Church. There were many Italians there. Sir Hubert has some pretty things but what shocks the Italians is having in his living rooms reliquaries, wooden angels &c. Today I got a telegram from Marchesa Villamarina to say that Queen Margherita invites me to pay her a visit at Rome on Saty. I had intended going to Rome to Hotel Beausite. I wrote to ask the Marchesa if H.M. wd then see me & this is the kind answer. |
| Monday. 23rd May 1904 I went out with Mrs Silver in the morning walking to help her to shop. It was a hot day & heavy scirocco - Mrs Silver & Mrs Poynter went to tea with Sir Hubert Miller & I took Sir Edward & Mr Poynter for a walk but we had to shorten our expedition as a tremendous thunderstorm threatened & came on later but was not as violent as we expected from the blackness of the sky. |
| Sunday. 29th May 1904 We went to 10.30 service. Sir Hubert Miller at the organ. After lunch Mr Barber called. He is a friend of Mrs Poynter - a middle aged man & very spick & span - He lives in a villa at Florence at Careggi & Mrs Poynter is going to stay with him & his wife tomorrow & he will take Mrs Poynter with him. She & I went to tea at the Prefettura & there met the Canevaros, Ersilia & her sister. Ersilia told the Prefect privately that Css Brandolin is frantic with him for not having prevented the socialists publishing insults of her. In fact Ersilia tried to stir up strife. In vain I tried to undo her work. The Prefect is really not in fault. He said to me “it was the business of the Procuratore del Rè & how can I go & give orders to one who is my equal” - In the evening Mrs Poynter & I went to Countess Marcello’s reception. As there was a ball going on in town there were very few people there. They all sat round in a circle and it was very solemn. Bss Reinelt had begged me to go there as she said they were hurt because I never went to the house. I said I had an objection to go to evening parties on Sundays as it is against our Protestant habits but for once I wd go to show my goodwill. So I put off going to the service at the Sailor’s Institute & we went to the Marcellos. I had once been a great friend of the Count’s mother & knew the rooms well. There was an old gentleman named Casati there who effects being a Frenchman. He is a savant on Etruscan remains. He wears a glossy black wig & has the Legion d’honneur in his buttonhole. He said he had known Henry in former days. The conversation dragged along & the Count spoke of the Campanile of S. Marks - He asked me if I had a bit of the wood of the old tower. On my saying I had, he left me & offered his arm to Mrs Poynter & led her into another room. She afterwards told me that he said he was going to give her a present & proceeded to present to her a small piece of blackened wood abt 3 inches long wh he said came from the piles of the foundation of the tower. He then came to me & offering me his arm led me into the same room where he showed me a beautiful old illuminated missal wh had belonged to Blanche de Navarre. It then being abt 11 I said we must leave as Mrs Poynter had still to pack. We went back into the sala to take leave of our hostess & everyone rose as we left exchanging bows. At the doorway I turned & seeing the company still standing gave a final bow such as I had seen Queen Margherita do to us - & then retired in confusion. The Count armed me down to the gondola - & we went home - laughing at our solemn experience. I felt like a counterfeit queen & Mrs Poynter like a lady in waiting. We did not mean to laugh at our host & hostess - but it was an old world ceremonious visit to wh we are not now used. |
| Saturday. 21st April 1906 We were at 9 o’cl breakfast the Bishop, Mrs Collins & I went. Dr van Someren telephoned he wished to see me so I answered I was ready to see him at once & he came. He wanted to talk about his religious attitude towards the patients he wants to bring to our hospital in case he closes his own nursing home. He has now a religious mania & thinks he should try & convert people here to his view of Christianity. I told him that we must come to an understanding on the subject as I had given a promise to people here that no one’’s religion would be tampered with in our hospital & therefore if he thought right to do so with his patients I could not admit them. I pointed out to him that more was to be done by example & influence of one’’s life than any amount of distributing tracts &c. When he began to argue with me as to “works” & “faith” I told him I was not competent to go into that - that I had given my word & could not go back on it. He was quite pleasant & said he would consider the matter & give me a final answer later on - in the meanwhile he undertook to do nothing in the way of conversion as regards those he now has in our hospital - & he left. At 11 I took Mrs Collins out in gondola. We went to our church to see the window I have just had put up in memory of Henry. We both liked it - as also the one to Wotton. The church was being cleaned & prepared for tomorrow’s services. The Bishop joined us there also Canon & Mrs Ragg & Sir Hubert Miller who was making up a throne for the Bishop - Messrs S. & H. Arbib also came in to see & admire. From there Mrs Collins & I went to the Piazza to shop & then home - The Bishop joined us at 1 o’’cl lunch - & I went to the Sailor’s Institute with the Bishop before 3 for a Gibraltar Mission meeting - to which unfortunately only 2 people came so it could not come off. I dont think any one had realized that the Bishop had been going to make a speech on the G.M. So we returned home & I sent him & his wife out for a quiet row for rest & quiet. At 4.30 Angela Reinelt called for me & took me to the party at Marchese Sacripante’s whose daughter is engaged to Count Lovatelli & the reception was in their honor. All Venice was there & it was very hot & tiring - so that we did not stay long. I accompanied Angela back to her hotel & sat a little while with her. She likes me to talk to her about the differences of our two religions R. Catholic & Protestant - & is impressed with some of the things I tell her - not that I think of doing so with an idea of bringing her over. She is a good R.C. but is a clever woman & likes to understand about things that do not interest other women here. I came home at 6 & rested till 7 when I dressed for dinner to wh Canon & Mrs Ragg came. After dinner there was a goodly gathering of English & Protestants whom I had invited “To meet the Bishop” - & there were also a few passing travellers - about 100 people in all - quite a lively affair. |
Tuesday. 15th May 1906 |
| Saturday. 19th November 1910 I went out in the morng at 10 in gondola with Lord K. to the Academy to show him round the pictures. He does not understand much about it & did not linger long. We walked from there along the Zattere to the Frari & went into the Church - & then to the Ch. of S. Tomà where the Frari Bellini & other pictures are kept while the repairs of the Frari are going on & we got home just at lunch time, I rather tired. It was a lovely day & Lord K., Eda & Nela were glad to go out in H. Whitaker’s motor boat. I joined the party about 4 in the Piazza & thence took Lord K. to the Edens where we had tea. They were very pleased to make his acquaintance & Lord K. like dear old Mr Eden & made himself very to him. Mme Wiel & Sir Hubert Miller came in also & H. Whitaker & Nela Du Cane. Lady Radnor, the Prefect (Count Nasalli Rocca), Mrs Curtis & Mr Latimer (her nephew), Hugh Whitaker dined with us. |