The Wrest Park collection of letters, deposited by Lady Lucas in the County Record Office, includes more than 7,000 letters addressed to the Marchioness and to her two daughters, besides copies of letters written by the Marchioness herself (L.30). It was impossible to print the originals in full. It is hoped that this life will both give information on the key figure at 18th century Wrest, and also form a guide to the use of the correspondence in more detail. My grateful thanks are due to Lady Lucas for allowing me to write it. The method used has been to tell the story wherever possible in the words of the letters. Where quotation marks are used the quotations are frequently compressed; that is to say, some subsidiary words or phrases are omitted.

A few other sources have been used. Some supplementary information is taken from the Hardwicke papers in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 35,349-36,278). Up to 1764, much of this material is printed in P. C. Yorke, The life and correspondence of Philip Yorke, Earl of Hardwicke (Cambridge, 1913, 3 vols.), but it ends with the death of the 1st Earl. For the 2nd Earl, Mrs. Phillips kindly lent me her transcript of the local correspondence (Add. MSS. 35,693-4) and of some letters to him from the Marchioness (Add. MS. 35,376). The account of Charles Yorke's death in 1770 is taken directly from Add MS. 35,428. The Lord Chancellor's letter about the marriage of his son James comes from the Ancaster collection in the Lincolnshire Archives (3 Anc. 9/1/17). The references to Elizabeth Carter are taken from her correspondence published in 1809. The Berwickshire election of 1780 is dealt with by the late Sir Lewis Namier in the History of Parliament.

The travel journal of the Marchioness’ husband, Philip Yorke, afterwards 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, is still in the possession of Lady Lucas, who has kindly allowed it to be published. Spelling and punctuation have been modernised, except for one or two names not identified. I am indebted to the Director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Professor Sir Anthony Blunt, for help with the identification of artists.