18 Maria Riddell, the Friend of Burns. 



where she was educated.^ Her taste for hterature must have 

 betrayed itself early in life, for we find her writing poetry at 

 the inconsiderate age of fifteen. Among her papers are some 

 verses addressed to her by that once famous wit, Joseph 

 Jekyll,^ and her reply to the same gentleman; the reply being 

 dated " London, March 17, 1788." Jekyll at that time was 

 well past thirty, and the year before had been elected, 

 through the Marquis of Lansdowne's^^ interest, member of 

 Parliament for Calne. In spite of his political pursuits, he 



lost off Madeira, December 11th, 1795. (Metrical Miscellany 



(1802), p. 173.) 

 Henry: I. January 10th, 1768; d. August 18th, 1777. 

 Charles: h. March 7th, 1776; married and had issue. 

 Frances : &. November 6th, 1760 ; m. August 18th, 1784, Henry 



Bankes, M.P. for Corfe Castle, 1780/1826, and for Dorset, 



1826/1831 ; she was a noted beauty and was painted by Romney ; 



her husband died 1835; she d. November 22nd, 1823, leaving 



issue. 

 Harriet: 6. June 13th, 1765; m. January 11th, 1788, Thomas 



Pickard of Bloxworth House, Dorsetshire, and d.s.p. 



(The above information has been obtained from Vere Langford 

 Oliver's The History of the Island of Antigua, vol. iii. (1899), pp. 

 256-257; John Hutchins' History of Dorset, vol. iii. (1868), p. 240; 

 checked with the MS . pedigree put in with the ' ' Petition of Colonel 

 Daniel Corrie Walker for service as Heir-in-General of Robert 

 Riddell of Glenriddell " ; Sheriff Court, Dumfries, 1897; and also 

 with information obtained from Maria Riddell' s papers. See foot- 

 note 1.) 



8 Article in The Standai'd by Mr S[tephen] W [heeler], August 

 18th, 1899. The fact that she has been termed a " Creole " would 

 denote nothing more in West Indian patois than that she was a 

 pure bred white person born in the West Indies ; as a matter of fact, 

 however, she was born in England as above stated. 



9 Joseph Jekjdl, h. 1754, educated at Westminster and Christ 

 Church, Oxford ; M.A., 1777 ; m. August 20th, 1801, Maria, daughter 

 of Hans Sloane, M.P., a lady of considerable fortune and by whom 

 he had two sons ; reader at Inner Temple, 1814, treasurer, 1816 ; 

 M.P., Calne, 1787-1816; contributed whig pasquinades to Morning 

 Chronicle and Uvening Statesmctn ; attacked in The Jekyll, a Political 

 JEclogue, 1788; K.C. and Solicitor-General to Prince of Wales, 

 1805; master in chancery, 1815; d. March 8th, 1837. His portrait 

 forms the frontispiece to Correspondence of Mr Joseph Jehyll with 

 his sister-in-law, Lady Gertrude Sloane Stanley ... by Hon. 

 Algernon Bourke, 1894. 



10 Sir William Petty, created Marquis of Landsdowne 1784. 



