Augusta Draper travel diary

6 October 1876-6 May 1877

Augusta Draper, née White, wife of the Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician William Henry Draper. The eldest daughter of Captain George White, retired from the British Royal Navy, and his wife Mary, Augusta emigrated to Canada in 1822. She was a lifelong friend of the writer Edward John Trelawny, who was most famous for his friendships with the Romantic poets Byron and Shelley. Holograph travel diary documenting the Drapers' visit to England and to France, taken to try to improve the health of William Henry Draper. Augusta gives accounts of an underground expedition, country walks and church services, but her main interest is in her husband's health and in the news of their family in letters received from Canada. Augusta met her friend E. J. Trelawny for the last time on 6 November 1876; the visit is recorded in the diary (see Shelley and his Circle, volume V, pages 77-78). Sewn-together leaves, all edges marbled, apparently torn out of the binding, now missing (along with a portion of the diary). With a later (early 20th century?) note on a piece of Canadian Club stationery wrapped around the volume which reads: "1876-7 / Journal of / Mrs. W. H. Draper / on trip abroad / Greatgrandma / acct. of visit to / Trelawny, keep." Acquired along with some photographs of members of the Draper and White families, now removed to the Visual Materials file.