This was the earliest letter from the pen of Mary Granville (1700-1788) (the future Mrs Delany) in the collections of Newport Library. On this page she records her thoughts on a trip to the opera.

Mary Granville was born at Coulston, Wiltshire, the daugher of an aristocratic and influential family. She married Alexander Pendarves, an elderly MP in 1718 but he died in 1725 and Mary moved to London where she became a familiar face at public and social functions. In 1743 she married Patrick Delany, an Irish Anglican cleric. She died in 1788 at Windsor Castle. During her lifetime Mary had been a prolific writer of letter and corresponded regularly with her family and friends. Her letters were edited and published in six volumes in 1861-2 by Lady Llanover (Augusta Hall, neé Waddington) (1802-96) who was her great-niece.