C1890(ish) Letter, who signed it?

Monogram, address, signature.

How easy is this?

Except 4 hours in and neither my wife nor I can work out who this is.

The reference to Baskett may be to the wife of Rev John Givens Kirkaldy Baskett appointed to Dilton Marsh cum Chapmanslade Wilts in 1884 (we think he was still in the Salisbury area in 1904, 3 separate mentions in different correspondence)

I've now got a mental block on this!

 

Geez. The only other capital letter that first letter of the surname resembles is the I at the beginning of the second paragraph. But the only surname I get looking at the whole of it is "Tolstoy."

 

I keep seeing Ma Tolstoy, maybe a nickname?

 

Ok, so it isnt only me who sees Tolstoy!

 

And if it walks like a Tolstoy, and talks like a Tolstoy......

 

Monogram could be TG or GT.

Here is something on Donhead House:
http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101146100-donhead-house-donhead-st-andrew
Maybe you can find out who lived there at the time.

 

Cept I cant find neither hide nor hair of a Tolstoy at the time in the vicinity

 

Bakers, now the T word has been mentioned, I think there are similarities to th T inThanks

 

Could still be a nickname. Did you find any names that vaguely look or sound like Tolstoy? Friends could make that into Tolstoy.

 

Nothing similar, and at one point I am.sure I found another Donhead House!

 

The angle of the vertical stroke, yes, but it's missing the curlicue.

 

Hm. That article mentions renovations in 1892 for "probably" a Mr. Chapman.

 

Rhiw - Does the little crown above the letters mean some level of royalty?

 

Yes, almost certainly noble, possibly Royal, that would be my take.

Mind, given the amount of wasted time I have spent, I am not the best person to ask!!

 

Wasn't Tolstoy a count? The crown is not a royal crown.

 

Yes, he was.

But it isnt Leo Tolstoy's signature, and the only thing I can link Chapman and Tolstoy is chess

 

Could the first name be Ina ?

 

It is the crown of a count. Maybe a relative of Tolstoy, who used the symbol.

 

What about Ilya, son of Leo (Lev)?

 

The one sig of Ilya that I can find doesnt match