Between 1771 and 1776 Richard Dennison Cumberland was a student at Cambridge University while his brother George occupied a clerical position at the Royal Exchange Office in London. Thus most of these early letters are written from London to Cambridge or vise versa.

The first mention of one of the Cumberland's Man / Balchen relatives comes in the first letter that Richard writes from Cambridge where he is a newly arrived undergraduate at Magdalene College.

(Letter 1 CB p. 36) from Richard to George Cumberland dated 29th February 1771.

The Mr. Balchen mentioned in the letter is probably John, the son of the brothers' great uncle Henry. John is also mentioned in the following two letters.

(Letter 2 CB p. 36) From Richard Cumberland (the Dramatist) to his brother-in-law Mr. Ashby dated November 16th 1772.

Queen Anne St.

A Letter has arrived from D. [Richard] Cumberland of Magdalene which has produced a conversation between his Friend Mr. Balchen and me upon the subject of the young mans finances, which seem to stand in need of some little assistance. In what matter to best to apply This assistance on the part of my father [Denison Cumberland, Bishop of Clonfert and Kilmore] is a matter of some debate in my mind: Mr. Tapp a worthy trader here in town, pays His Tutors Bills, and by how much He exceeds His College Exhibitions etc. supplies them from a small fund arising from the Amicable Society of Annuitents; the Bills come quarterly and I am of opinion the best method upon the whole will be to throw the Bishops Blessing into the Hands of Mr. Tapp in aid of the slender fund, by which means I shall see the particulars of His expences and can proportion my aid to the nature of the Demands and the situation of the fund, which if it holds out long enough to land Him in Holy Orders will have done all that we require of it: this being the case provided the youth is not in personal want, I think you need do no more on our behalf than signifie my design to Him; & as His Tutor supplies his pocket & other necessities I should expect there would be no call upon you of that sort - We join in our love & good wishes to Mrs. Ashby [the writer's sister] & you & desire you ever to believe me, Dear Sr.,

Most affec. & truly yours

Richard Cumberland

From this, and other interchanges, we learn that Richard Cumberland, the dramatist, is prepared to do little for the brothers. Richard later comments that they cannot expect to '… get any thing from that quarter… ' and George writing in 1777 wonders: 'What if I were to ask Mr. Richard Cumberland for 20 pounds? He would never forgive me as long as I lived. [… ] I hope we have none of his blood in our veins.' (CB p. 146)

(Letter 3 CB p.37) Mr. Tapp to Richard Cumberland at Magdalene College, Cambridge November 27^th 1772.

Both your letters came duly to hand and it gives me great pleasure to find my Endeavours have had the wished for effect of contributing to Your Happiness & exteemd myself indebted to You for the Estimation You Rate them at. In consequence of Your last Letter Mr. Balchen waited on Mr. Cumberland [the dramatist, as mentioned in the letter above] & acquainted him fully with your Mothers & Your Situation & left it for him to Judge from thence of what was Proper for him to add to it, what the Bishop determined on, he told Mr. Balchen, he would send to me, as I pay all Mr. Purkis's Bills; but I have not heard from him Yet, I expect to be at the Bear at Cambridge for half an Hour, about 9 o' clock on Monday Morning where shall be glad to take you by the [hand] if Your Studies will permit & remind with all [ ] kind Love & best Wishes,

The following letter is interesting because it contains four major themes that recur throughout the correspondence between the brothers. First to appear is their mother whose disposition is never truly happy, next their Aunt Man who is considered impossible, third is another aunt, Nancy (Ann Balchen), whose remarkably uncontrolled behavior is a source of great and constant embarrassment, and finally their young Balchen cousins. That the brothers would often despair of their relations is not surprising, as we shall find out.

(Letter 4 CB p. 63) George Cumberland to Richard, July 18^th 1774.

Your mother is better in health than she has been for some time, owing I believe to her having been cupped the other day it has removed that swimming in her head which had troubled her some time with a Numbness which I imagine to be a little Paralitick […]

Our Aunt Man I know nothing of she never calling on us. I am sorry she does not know her friends, there is nothing but what I would do to serve her in my power but her unhappy pride, and tenatiousness will never let her make a friend but perhaps she is prevented by a certain person of whom the only good news I could send you would be that he has ceased to plague Mankind. Nancy (I should have said Miss) has paid Mr. Tapp another visit lately, she asserted so many lies before his customers and vented so much abuse, because he would not pay her beforehand, that he was obliged to turn her out doors. [ …]

There are two possible candidates for who the person might be that George would like to see ceasing to 'plague Mankind' and they are either John Balchen or his father Henry. George is probably punning here since the person being 'plagued' is his Aunt Man. He goes on to say:

Our cousins at Newington are all well and Sally is going to be married … [to] … the son of a Mr. Read - a baker in the Borough, he has no fortune but he is going into partnership with his Uncle who is an emminent Attorney, and who 'tis said will leave him

the business very soon, having acquired a tolerable fortune … [Mr. Read is] … about 19, excessively thin, and pitted with the Small pox, a Man of few words and what is remarkable in a young Attorney or indeed in any profession A Modest Man. [ … ] I went with them all [his Balchen cousins] the other night to Vauxhall for the first time this Season we staid till Eleven o Clock and the lover [Mr. Read?] proposed a Supper but a Young lady in company an Acquaintance of Cousins insisted on going home; it cost me 3/-.

Clementina Black then adds this comment: "The Newington relatives were the widow of Mrs. Cumberland's brother Captain William Balchen; and an affectionate intimacy existed between the juniors and the Cumberland cousins." However she also adds the following regarding Mr. Read: "So deceptive, however is youthful promise that this modest man lived to send in to the Cumberlands a bill for professional services which George stigmatized as exorbitant." (CB p. 64). This is not the only bill the Cumberlands would complain of. They were not very pleased when their cousin James Man (whom George denigrated in one letter as a 'mere merchant') also came after them for payment (see letter under Man correspondence). (The illustration is of Vauxhall Gardens at the time.

The next reference is to Henry Man, at least this is whom Clementina Black asserts is meant by H.M., in the following brief extract of a letter describing recent election riots that had broken out in London

(Letter 5 CB p. 68) George to Richard 18^th October 1774:

Riot disorder and confusion prevailed [ … and he had … ] sent two or three Squibbs to the papers [ …and that …] on Friday H.M. and my self where busily employed at the hazard of a broken head, in sticking up Bills which we had printed again's the 'King of the City' .

1775

The next letter from George to Richard is dated June 15^th 1775 which Clementina Black paraphrases as follows: "He [G.C.] mentions in the letter that John Man is 'at last' married, and that his 'father has given him half his school,' a statement that is somewhat confusing, in view of the fact that not many years later George was applying to this same John for a legal declaration that he had not seen or heard from his father for seven years. The explanation probably is that George, like most of his contemporaries, often failed to make any distinction between a relation by blood and a relation by marriage, and that 'father' here mentioned was the parent of Mrs. John Man." (CB p.83).

As we now know, Ms. Black's supposition that 'his father' in fact refers to John Man's father-in-law is correct. John Man was indeed given a half share of the Reading school belonging to William Baker on marrying his daughter Sarah on June 5^th 1775. William Baker is described as ' … a man of most amiable character and manners, and of great classical and mathematical learning, and more than forty years a master of an academy at Reading Berks'. Encyclopaedia Londinensis, p. 634.

Clementina Black remarks that the Cumberland brothers had considered marrying one or other of their Balchen cousins (Susan and Mary) which she phrases as follows: "The Misses Balchen being now of age to attract suitors, George's letters frequently report the addresses of some gentleman to one or other of them. Richard had recently enquired whether Mr. Joachim, 'Susan's humble servant,' was descended from an abbot of the same name who pretended to inspiration ..." (CB p. 92-93)

See the Appendix for notes on who the historical Joachim was. The reference to 'Vender of Nutmegs' further along has something to do with Joachim. All of this is rather obscure to the modern reader. The illustration is a self-portrait by George.

(Letter 6 CB p. 93) George replies to Richard October 14^th 1775:

Ms. Black then asserts, by means of parentheses immediately after the mention of Mr. Tapp that he was "her uncle and perhaps her guardian." But as we have noted, if Mr. Tapp were an uncle of Mary's then he would have been a great uncle since her mother's last name was O'Neal. Ms. Black goes on: "From all which protestations we may surmise that Mary Balchen may have been the 'amiable Female' with whose affection George would have liked to be 'blessed.' " Unfortunately Ms. Black fails to provide us with the context in which 'amiable Female' or a wish to be blessed occurs, all of which leaves the reader somewhat confused at this point.

She goes on to state that "Richard, some days after, did, as requested congratulate him heartily: ' …on having once more regain'd your Liberty which I really thought at one Time in Danger, tho' I cannot give credit to all the unconcern you express upon the Occaision.' " (CB p. 93).

And she continues: "The vanity of George, if not the heart, must surely, his brother opined, be touched by the rivalry of the 'Vender of Nutmegs.' Even vanity, however, had no reason long to feel a wound, for neither of the Balchen sisters married Mr. Joachim." (CB p. 93). The picture is of George Cumberland by an unknown artist that hangs in the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Ms. Black reports that in the next letter George returns to the possible rivalry of Mr. Joachim, protesting that, as she says, "... he felt no ill-will to him, and proceeded with a statement about Mary that deserves some attention, considering how important a part she played in the lives of the Cumberland brothers, and […] as an example of the eighteenth century attitude toward marriage." (CB p. 94)

(Letter 7 CB p. 94) George to Richard around the end of October 1775.

Situated disagreeably as I know she is at home, a Man offers himself not disagreeable in his person, approved by her friends, and in a thriving business: she knows her own fortune to be no large one. I am sure she has no vanity and therefore thinks nothing of her personal qualifications; all this considered, I think in prudence she could not refuse; As I am entered into the subject I will tell you (my father Confessor) what my thoughts have been, and how they got their rise - for to no one but yourself, have I ever indulged them, nor do I now ever intend so to do. For the sweetness of her temper, unaffected Humility, and some little strokes of an [invincible?] integrity, joined to my own Observations, I always gave her the preference to one Sister; -- there was a bashfulness, a modesty, which in my Eye, gave her a preference to both [ ] Age had some share in it; after the death of Eliza (for whom I boast to declare, I would have encountered every difficulty that could have fallen to the lot of Man) my partiality was encreased to esteem from some conversations I had with her on that occasion ; since: I have gradually discovered new beauties in her Mind : and I will frankly confess to you were I in a situation to marry any woman without injuring her, she would be woman of my choice …. And my only hopes, (if I hoped at all) were that [s…..] she remain single, I might one day have it [in?] my power, honourably, to ask her hand -- but my circumstances must be good before [d…..] because I am fearful of my own extravagance […]

The opening sentence of this letter referring to Mary's situation at home sounds a familiar refrain that suggest that Mary's domestic situation was made uncomfortable, if not impossible, by her mother.

This letter also resembles one Richard would write some five years later (see letter ___ ). In fact, Richard proposed to Mary but she declined while George never went quite so far.