Diary in America, Series Two

Diary in America, Series Two

Author: Captain Marryat (1792-1848)

Year: 1837

Captain Marryat visited America and Canada in 1836-7, and wrote his observations in two series of three-volume books, of which this is the second. It is worth a dip, but do not take it too seriously, just as we would not take too seriously a book about England written after a short visit by a foreigner, however eminent in his/her own land. Frederick Marryat was born in Great George Street, Westminster, London on 10th July 1792. His father, Joseph Marryat, was descended from Huguenots who had taken refuge in England following the St. Bartholemew’s Day massacres in 1572, two centuries previously, and his mother was an American from Boston, with the maiden name of Geyer. Frederick's grandfather was Dr. Thomas Marryat, an extremely eccentric physician, who had died, impoverished, in Bristol just before Frederick's birth. Frederick's father Joseph, however, was very wealthy, partly by inheritance and marriage, and partly by his own endeavours. He was a Member of Parliament for Sandwich, the Chairman of Lloyd's, and Agent for Grenada in the West Indies. They lived in Wimbledon, and sent their second son – Frederick – to Mr. Freeman's private school at Ponders End, now a district of North