#Seeking Sophie Letter 9: Destination Derby - Final Instalment of Mary's Travels Through Regency Derbyshire

In this letter, the 3rd & final instalment of Mary's recollections of her journey - entering Derby.

The Time 'Tec brief will follow tomorrow, ready for Sunday's meeting, when the Regency detective team will have opportunities to examine some of the evidence for this case.

#Seeking Sophie Letter 7: Abduction - Mrs. Mary Speaks (in broad 18th century Derbyshire dialect!)

In this next instalment of the Seeking Sophie story, S.M. forwards the first part of the young serving girl's (Mary's) description of the journey taken with her mistress, Miss. Sophie; Miss. S.'s waiting maid, Nancy; footman George (I'm beginning to think that there might be something between these two!); and the new cook & coachman (both of dubious character).

We now know that this journey was effectively one of abduction, in which Miss. S. was removed from her home to be more easily forced into marrying Admiral Crawford, friend of her so-called 'guardians'.

Little Mary recollects the route taken (& stops made on the way), lest this be of use in finding her young mistress. But the girl is self-taught, and writes as she speaks (in broad 18th century Derbyshire dialect!), so her account may take some deciphering! Tip: if used to hearing 'Derbicisms', the account will probably be easier to understand if read out-loud - and get grandparents on the case!

(Dr. J has said a little here about how & why she is using this format to relay Mary's testimony. In brief, this text has been compiled using contemporaneous antiquarian works on Derbyshire dialect. But in order to make this more widely accessible, she provides merely a broad popularist phonetic rendition, rather than a technically accurate 'transcription'.)

For those who find the dialect too cumbersome, translations are also supplied after each account.

If you're following the story (& if you'd like to take part in the Tournament: see this post for further information), you can trace the journey on the period map I shall supply in the following post.

#Seeking Sophie Letter 6: The Game's Afoot!

Letter #6: The Game's Afoot!

This letter is the final communique regarding the discoveries of S. M. (friend of Miss. Sophie - & the driving force behind the investigation); the next batch of letters contain the testimony of servant Mary relating the journey she took with Miss. S., her waiting maid Nancy, & footman George.

#Seeking Sophie Letter 3: Evil Deeds

The third letter that divulges the Seeking Sophie story speaks of the evil intentions of Crawford's gang against Miss Sophie & her faithful friends: your help is needed to put a stop to such abominable plans!

The #SeekingSophie story continues in the next letter, Who's Who?:

Seeking Sophie's Secret Letters: #1 The Story Begins...

As mentioned in a previous post (& explained further on Dr J's blog, here), I'm putting many of the resources for the Antiquarian Academy's next event online, so that those who can't make it to the free workshop (& so take part in the 'Tournament', and be entered for the winning prize) can join in. (To reserve a place in the Heritage Open Days  'Austen Age' Time 'Tec Taster Tournament, tickets can be obtained here.)

The story of this history mystery challenge - and the tasks required of Mrs Leach's assistant antiquarian detectives - is presented in a series of letters, which I shall present most days running up to the event on 16 Sept.; the 'case files' will be collected together, on a webpage, here. So without further ado, here is the first: The Story Begins...

I am endeavouring to upload a PDF of the letter, for easier reading; if you would like a PDF copy in the meantime, message or email Mrs. Leach.

The story continues tomorrow!