Chandler, Richard

Biography

While nothing is known about Ann Harris or Richard Chandler apart from the contents of this collection, their three-year correspondence provides tremendous insight into the history of working-class women in early nineteenth-century England. The finished letters of Ann Harris tell a story of a woman constantly searching for independence and self-worth in a social class without privilege and only limited freedom. The drafts of Richard Chandler, though minimal both in extent and information, present a man in pursuit of love and happiness struggling to attain what he most wants. The words of Harris and Chandler reveal a deeply loving and troubled relationship that echoes the difficult realities of working-class life at this time.

From 1804 to 1805, Harris was employed as a governess, and briefly a nurse, in the English town of Hereford, County Herefordshire. The fall of 1804 marked the beginning of her aquaintance with Richard Chandler, a young man from the country village of Prestbury, County Gloucestershire. In her correspondence, Harris confided the hardships and frustrations of working-class life to her new friend. Her letters are often filled with descriptions of exhausting work days and the lack of freedom associated with such a lifestyle. Ann's day-to-day existence was significantly circumscribed by the obligations owed to her employers, duties that limited both her social life and her privacy. Indeed, Harris' relationship with Chandler was greatly affected by her situation, her letters pointing to meetings arranged clandestinely, the risk of discovery never entirely eliminated or avoided.

Despite such obstacles, Harris and Chandler perpetuated a promising romance that led to an engagement in October, 1805. In November of that year, however, Ann was given the opportunity to work for her brother in London, a position she eagerly wished to take. With Richard's blessing, she took up residence with her brother, working in his newly purchased public house as a barmaid. Harris' tenure in London, rather than granting her the liberation and independence she desperately craved, was plagued with additional unhappiness. Her letters of this period speak of dashed hopes and continued feelings of imprisonment, sentiments that fueled her decision to break all ties with Chandler in August, 1806.

Though Ann's silence was not permanent, communication with Chandler resuming by February, 1807, the prospect of one day marrying is notably absent from her subsequent correspondence. Harris' remaining letters for the year 1807 emphasize her loyal friendship to Richard and her ever-present desire to find and secure a better opportunity for herself. Richard's drafts, on the other hand, point to a renewed desire on his part to not only correspond with Ann, but still fulfill the dream of a happy marriage with her.

The abrupt termination of their correspondence in September, 1807 thus provokes many unanswered questions. In her last letter to Chandler, Harris' decision to again stop all communication is credited to Richard's ignoring a loan request made by her in August. However, the absence of further responsive drafts by Chandler leaves the couple's tumultuous correspondence without closure. Though financial troubles appear to be responsible, attributing the split to a single cause would be simplistic. The sudden end to the documented relationship between Ann Harris and Richard Chandler must be viewed against the broad social context which defines the collection.

Epithet: of Woodborough, county Wiltshire

Epithet: of Add MS 21017

Epithet: of London

Epithet: printer and bookseller, of London