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The Love Letters of Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple, 1652-54
Dorothy Osborne, Lady Temple (1627-1695) was a British writer of letters and wife of Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet. She is notable not only for her engaging letters, but also for defying her family's wishes to marry a suitor of their choosing, despite undergoing intense and sustained pressure. She fell in love with Temple in 1649, when the pair were both about nineteen years old, but both families opposed the match on economic grounds. Seventeenth-century marriages, particularly amongst the upper classes, were frequently business arrangements, designed to bring land, titles and/or cash to the families involved. Much to the chagrin of her family, in particular Osborne's brother Henry, Dorothy Osborne stubbornly and steadfastly remained single until, after the deaths of both fathers, the families finally sanctioned the match. After nearly seven years of intermittent courtship - the latter two marked by the exchange of the famous letters - their marriage took place in 1654 and lasted until Lady Temple's death in 1695.
152 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 1963
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About the author
Dorothy Osborne
35 books4 followersDorothy Osborne, Lady Temple (1627-1695) was a British writer of letters and wife of Sir William Temple, 1st Baronet.
Osborne was born at Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, England, the youngest of ten children born to a staunchly Royalist family. Her father was the nobleman Sir Peter Osborne, who was the Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Guernsey under Charles I. Her mother was Dorothy Danvers, whose brother was Sir John Danvers the regicide.
After refusing a long string of suitors put forth by her family, including her cousin Thomas Osborne, Henry Cromwell (son of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell) and Sir Justinian Isham, in 1654 Dorothy Osborne married Sir William Temple, a man with whom she had carried on a lengthy clandestine courtship that was largely epistolary in nature. It is for her letters to Temple, which were witty, progressive and socially illuminating, that Osborne is remembered. Only Osborne's side of the correspondence survived and comprises a collection of 77 letters held in the British Library (ADD. MSS. 33975).
Osborne fell in love with Temple in 1647, when the pair were both about nineteen years old: both families opposed the match on financial grounds, seventeenth-century marriages frequently being business arrangements. She steadfastly remained single, and after the deaths of both fathers, the families sanctioned the match, after nearly seven years of intermittent courtship—the latter two marked by the exchange of the famous letters. The marriage took place on 25 December 1654, and lasted until Lady Temple's death in 1695.
Although there is little extant trace of Osborne after she married, a few of her married notes and letters survive, but lack the wit and verve of her courtship letters. Scattered references indicate that Osborne was keenly involved in her husband's diplomatic career and matters of State. Sir William's career posted the couple abroad for periods of their married life, including time in both Brussels (in the Spanish Netherlands) and the Dutch Republic. Temple was Ambassador in The Hague twice, latterly during the marriage negotiations of William and Mary. In 1671 Charles II of England used Dorothy to provoke the Third Anglo-Dutch War by letting her on 24 August sail through the Dutch fleet on the royal yacht Merlin, demanding to be saluted with white smoke. Osborne was an important and acknowledged figure in the later marriage negotiations because of her friendship with both William III of Orange and Princess Mary. Osborne's close friendship with Mary lasted until the Queen's death in 1694.
Osborne (Lady Temple) had nine children, all but two of whom died in infancy. A daughter, Diana, succumbed to smallpox at age fourteen, and a son, John, took his own life in his twenties, but not before he had married and fathered two children, providing Sir William and Lady Temple with two granddaughters: Elizabeth and Dorothy Temple.
Lady Temple died at Moor Park, Surrey, and is buried in the west aisle of Westminster Abbey, along with her husband Sir William Temple, daughter Diana Temple and Temple's sister, Martha, Lady Giffard, whose adult life was spent as a member of the Osborne/Temple household.
(from Wikipedia)
Osborne was born at Chicksands Priory, Bedfordshire, England, the youngest of ten children born to a staunchly Royalist family. Her father was the nobleman Sir Peter Osborne, who was the Lieutenant-Governor of the Isle of Guernsey under Charles I. Her mother was Dorothy Danvers, whose brother was Sir John Danvers the regicide.
After refusing a long string of suitors put forth by her family, including her cousin Thomas Osborne, Henry Cromwell (son of Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell) and Sir Justinian Isham, in 1654 Dorothy Osborne married Sir William Temple, a man with whom she had carried on a lengthy clandestine courtship that was largely epistolary in nature. It is for her letters to Temple, which were witty, progressive and socially illuminating, that Osborne is remembered. Only Osborne's side of the correspondence survived and comprises a collection of 77 letters held in the British Library (ADD. MSS. 33975).
Osborne fell in love with Temple in 1647, when the pair were both about nineteen years old: both families opposed the match on financial grounds, seventeenth-century marriages frequently being business arrangements. She steadfastly remained single, and after the deaths of both fathers, the families sanctioned the match, after nearly seven years of intermittent courtship—the latter two marked by the exchange of the famous letters. The marriage took place on 25 December 1654, and lasted until Lady Temple's death in 1695.
Although there is little extant trace of Osborne after she married, a few of her married notes and letters survive, but lack the wit and verve of her courtship letters. Scattered references indicate that Osborne was keenly involved in her husband's diplomatic career and matters of State. Sir William's career posted the couple abroad for periods of their married life, including time in both Brussels (in the Spanish Netherlands) and the Dutch Republic. Temple was Ambassador in The Hague twice, latterly during the marriage negotiations of William and Mary. In 1671 Charles II of England used Dorothy to provoke the Third Anglo-Dutch War by letting her on 24 August sail through the Dutch fleet on the royal yacht Merlin, demanding to be saluted with white smoke. Osborne was an important and acknowledged figure in the later marriage negotiations because of her friendship with both William III of Orange and Princess Mary. Osborne's close friendship with Mary lasted until the Queen's death in 1694.
Osborne (Lady Temple) had nine children, all but two of whom died in infancy. A daughter, Diana, succumbed to smallpox at age fourteen, and a son, John, took his own life in his twenties, but not before he had married and fathered two children, providing Sir William and Lady Temple with two granddaughters: Elizabeth and Dorothy Temple.
Lady Temple died at Moor Park, Surrey, and is buried in the west aisle of Westminster Abbey, along with her husband Sir William Temple, daughter Diana Temple and Temple's sister, Martha, Lady Giffard, whose adult life was spent as a member of the Osborne/Temple household.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 19, 2022
'Tis but an hour since you went, and I am writing to you already; is not this kind?
Dorothy Osborne (born in 1627) was the daughter of an impecunious Royalist family, who fell in love with Sir William Temple, when the pair were both about nineteen years old. Both families opposed the match, but the lovers remained constant, and carried out a clandestine correspondence for the next seven years. They were finally married in 1654, a marriage that lasted till Dorothy's death in 1695.
I know historians like these letters for the insight they offer into the times, but I love them because Dorothy is real. In spite of some C17th turns of phrase, this letter - describing how she had given up on hearing from William - is lively, heartfelt and almost contemporary in content.
Dorothy Osborne (born in 1627) was the daughter of an impecunious Royalist family, who fell in love with Sir William Temple, when the pair were both about nineteen years old. Both families opposed the match, but the lovers remained constant, and carried out a clandestine correspondence for the next seven years. They were finally married in 1654, a marriage that lasted till Dorothy's death in 1695.
I know historians like these letters for the insight they offer into the times, but I love them because Dorothy is real. In spite of some C17th turns of phrase, this letter - describing how she had given up on hearing from William - is lively, heartfelt and almost contemporary in content.
SIR,–Your last letter came like a pardon to one upon the block. I have given over the hopes on't, having received my letters by the other carrier, who uses always to be last. The loss put me hugely out of order, and you would both have pitied and laughed at me if you could have seen how woodenly I entertained the widow, who came hither the day before, and surprised me very much. Not being able to say anything, I got her to cards, and there with a great deal of patience lost my money to her–or rather I gave it as my ransom. In the midst of our play, in comes my blessed boy with your letter, and, in earnest, I was not able to disguise the joy it gave me, though one was by that is not much your friend, and took notice of a blush that for my life I could not keep back. I put up the letter in my pocket, and made what haste I could to lose the money I had left, that I might take occasion to go fetch some more; but I did not make such haste back again, I can assure you. I took time enough to have coined myself some money if I had had the art on't, and left my brother enough to make all his addresses to her if he were so disposed. I know not whether he was pleased or not, but I am sure I was.
March 20, 2021
A lovely collection of letters from a young woman in Cromwell's England to the man who would eventually become her husband. I am incredibly grateful for Alan Jacobs bringing them to my attention in his book Breaking Bread with the Dead. He compares her to Jane Austen, which I think entirely fair. Dorothy Osborne is delightfully witty and a whole lot of fun to read, and I wonder what she might have produced if she'd ever turned her hand to something besides letters. That said, it's not an easy collection to get through--spelling in the 1650s was not standardized, so there's a fair bit of puzzling out that's necessary, and a whole lot of flipping back and forth to the notes to figure out the people and events she's talking about.
Unfortunately, my local library didn't have this one, so the copy I read was an interlibrary loan and needed to go back to it's home library before I was able to get through all the letters. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a copy for my personal library before too long!
Favorite quote:
"For by what I had heard of the Gentleman I guessed hee expected a better fortune then myne, and it proved soe, yet hee prottested hee liked mee soe well, that hee was very angry my Father would not bee perswaded to give a 1000 more with me, and I him soe ill, that I vowed, if I had had 1000 less I should have thought it too much for him, and soe wee parted".
Unfortunately, my local library didn't have this one, so the copy I read was an interlibrary loan and needed to go back to it's home library before I was able to get through all the letters. Hopefully I'll be able to get my hands on a copy for my personal library before too long!
Favorite quote:
"For by what I had heard of the Gentleman I guessed hee expected a better fortune then myne, and it proved soe, yet hee prottested hee liked mee soe well, that hee was very angry my Father would not bee perswaded to give a 1000 more with me, and I him soe ill, that I vowed, if I had had 1000 less I should have thought it too much for him, and soe wee parted".
March 19, 2023
Read this for my ww module (which I kinda hate)
May 21, 2012
This book is a labour of love. Ask me again when I've finished.
And now, I have finished and it remained a labour of love for Dorothy and William and I.
My work here is done.
And now, I have finished and it remained a labour of love for Dorothy and William and I.
My work here is done.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews