Journal written by Elisabeth Tchitchagoff (or Chichagov), covering various dates between 15 August 1804 and 4 March 1805.

Elisabeth describes a voyage through the Gulf of Finland to Kronstadt and then her life in fashionable St Petersburg society. There are accounts of visits to court, musical evenings, dances and also many references to the ill health both she and her husband suffered. Notable people referred to are Emperor Nicholas I, the Dowager Empress, Count de Maistre, Mrs Cameron (wife of the architect Charles Cameron), Countess Stroganoff and Lord Gower.

Administrative / biographical background
Elisabeth Proby was born at Chatham in 1774. She was the youngest daughter of Charles Proby (1725-1799), Commissioner of Chatham Dockyard. She married Pavel Vassilievitch Tchitchagov (or Chichagov) at Beddington in Surrey in 1799 and arrived in St Petersburg in 1800. They had three daughters. She died in Paris in 1811. See the biography 'The Commissioner's Daughter: The Story of Elizabeth Proby and Admiral Chichagov' by Joanna Woods, published by Stonefield, 2000. Pavel Vassilievitch Tchitchagov (1767-1849) was a Russian admiral and Minister of the Navy. The National Maritime Museum holds a marble bust of his father Admiral Vasili Tchitchagoff (1725-1809), see SCU0055.