From Samuel Walter at Plymouth Barracks to Mary Fletcher at Madeley Vicarage. He is very unhappy and most miserable here and would give all the world to secure his liberty . He would be most obliged if Mrs Fletcher could speak to his father [Samuel Edward Walter] concerning securing his discharge [from service in the Royal Marines] as 'every day ... is a day of pain and grief'. He would dearly love to return to his home and enjoy his old liberty. If his father is willing to purchase his release, Walter will turn over a new leaf 'and be a comfort to my father ... the few days that I have been here, have been days of pain.' It is all the more upsetting because his present predicament is a result of his ignoring the advice of his father, Mrs Fletcher and other friends.
Walter would be very grateful indeed to return to his usual occupation in life. He has sown his wild oats and seen enough of the knavery of the world. 'No-one can conceive the sin that goes on here ... do be pleased to consult my father immediately that I may have as speedy a discharge from here as possible. I am willing to serve double the time to Mr Smith, or anyone that will advance the money for my liberty.'
In a postscript, Walter asks that mail be directed to him as 'S. E. Walter, [Military Service] Number 35, 90th Divisional Company, Royal Marines Barracks, Plymouth'.
Notes
- Samuel Walter (1765-1823) was born in Wellington, Shropshire, the son of John Walter, gent. He graduated B.A. from St Edmund Hall Oxford in 1788 and was ordained as an Anglican priest in the same year. Walter served as curate at Madeley from 1792 until taking a curacy at Slaithwaite near Huddersfield in 1815, where he served until his death in 1823. He is described in his obituary as a zealous promotor of the Bible Society and Church Missionary Society. Source: Clergy of the Church of England database and Annals of the Church and Parish of Almondbury, Yorkshire by Charles Augustus Hulbert (1882)