Susanna Wesley's Epworth Memoirs by Colin Ella - part 14 We Move to Wroot
SAMUEL was given the living at Wroot in 1724 and we moved to that inhospitable and desolate spot that same year.
The Rectory here was very much a come down from our Epworth home and added to that was surrounded by swamps and watery wastes.
Our parishioners were the most rustic in character and yet they were less hostile than those at Epworth. Emmy had been five years at the Lincoln Boarding School but now she returned to live with us at Wroot.
With the exception of Molly I knew full well that all our daughters with us then really hated that isolated spot where there was even less chance of meeting eligible young fellows. They found the long, weary hours hard to fill and grew more and more restless. Hetty was the most put out by the dullness and boredom and we had a good idea that she was seeing a man without our knowledge.
Surprisingly, and in spite of a mountain of debt, we in fact enjoyed more comfort here than at Epworth, as we never lacked food and drink. I had hoped for some financial support from the fortune my brother, Sam, had accumulated in India and I travelled to London to meet him off the ship 'Albemarle'. I was horror stricken when the Captain told me that Sam had simply disappeared from his cabin, even before the vessel had left Bombay. The Captain said that Sam did have a few enemies out there and he feared the worst. Whilst in London I did take the opportunity of visiting my eldest son, Samuel, but found him laid up with a broken leg. He invited Jacky over from Oxford but unfortunately a lack of sufficient money prevented him from leaving that city. And so I returned to Wroot with a heavy heart to pass on this bitter news about Sam to my family. The girls were greatly dismayed as they had so anticipated benefitting from Sam's affluence.Back home I wrote to John to tell him not to be discouraged by his shortage of funds and to hope and pray for better days.
The following year the Epworth area was suddenly ravaged by an outbreak of smallpox and it afflicted all the family excepting for myself and I was thankful to God for His answer to my prayer in preserving me from that dreadful scourge.
We were looking forward to the time when John would take Holy Orders as he was then to come north to help his father at Wroot, giving Samuel the chance to give due attention to his Epworth parish. My husband suffered awfully because of the journeys he had to make between Wroot and Epworth, a route often only passable by boat. Time and time again he staggered back home soaked to the skin and I just could not wait for John to take over the Wroot living.
In that lonely place I loved to read letters from Sukey and our three lads. Their news would have been welcome anywhere but in the outback of Wroot the letters came like messages came like angels from heaven. We had been right in our suspicions about Hetty. She had taken up with a lawyer who Samuel hated. We packed Hetty off to the Granthams at Kelstern to work as a governess to their two young children. We wrongly imagined that this would deter Hetty from any further pursuit of the Lincoln lawyer but were soon to find out that our plans for her had not worked . She had in fact been secretly creeping out for clandestine trysts with her new found beau time and time again. As ever, Hetty was determined to please herself and go her own way.
Next week in Part 15 - Jilted and Forlorn
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Weather for Epworth
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South
