On June
23rd I went to Bury. The speeches at Bury School, which I wished to
attend, took place next day."
At this point of his Autobiography the writer continues, "Now came one
of the most important occurrences in my life." The important event in
question was his acquaintance with Richarda Smith, the lady who
afterwards became his wife. The courtship was a long one, and in the
Autobiography there are various passages relating to it, all written
in the most natural and unaffected manner, but of somewhat too private
a nature for publication. It will therefore be convenient to digress
from the straight path of the narrative in order to insert a short
memoir of the lady who was destined to influence his life and
happiness in a most important degree.
Richarda Smith was the eldest daughter of the Rev. Richard Smith, who
had been a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, but was at this time
Private Chaplain to the Duke of Devonshire, and held the small living
of Edensor, near Chatsworth, in Derbyshire. He had a family of two
sons and seven daughters, whom he had brought up and educated very
carefully. Several of his daughters were remarkable both for their
beauty and accomplishments. Richarda Smith was now in her 20th year,
and the writer of the Autobiography records that "at Matlock we
received great attention from Mr Chenery: in speaking of Mr Smith I
remember his saying that Mr Smith had a daughter whom the Duke of
Devonshire declared to be the most beautiful girl he ever saw.
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