Further information on the subject is filed with the print
Related to one of five paintings measuring 36 x 24 inches of "Royal condescension" by William Agnew (1883, 1889, 1900), showing Queen Victoria using sign language. "The subject of one of them was described as follows: "Some years ago a deaf and dumb woman namned Mrs Tuffield resided with her parents, who had charge of the Post Office at Osborne, Isle of Wight, 1874. Her maiden name was Bective Groves, and on account of her husband's cruelty, she had been obliged to leave him. In her usual kind of way Her Majesty the Queen was in the habit of visiting this deaf mute, and took great pleasure in trying to lighten her sorrow by talking to her by means of the finger alphabet. Her Majesty lately corroborated this story, and at the same time mentioned that she is not now so proficient in the Silent Language."