News from the Sepoy Rebellion in India

The news from India still of doubtful character. A letter to the Warden from Mr. Talbot. Havelock had fallen back on Cawnpore, but was again advancing towards Lucknow.

I find in the list of those murdered in this horrible mutiny, my old friend Block. 10 years ago we were freshmen together at Trinity. Then came his appointment to the Civil Service, 2 years since I found he had returned on leave and married. I hope his wife has been spared. What a state of things this is! Deus miseareatur animae. [God have mercy on his soul] Poor Gibbings feels his brother’s death deeply. Tomorrow he is going to preach and have a collection for sufferers in India. I have promised to help him in the afternoon.

How Radley was affected by the Sepoy Rebellion can be read in A letter home, 1857 in 100 Radley objects.

William Wood’s Diary 1855-1861, ed. by Mark Spurrell, is available from Oxfordshire Record Society. These excerpts are presented to give a flavour of life at Radley in the 1850s