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Monday 18 June 2012

Love Letters from the Past

I was very taken with Elaine's recent post about letter writing at Life in the Slow Lane. It prompted me to take another look at a some rather special letters that I've been looking after since my Grandad died.  These are letters to my Great-Grandmother from her first fiance.  They start in the winter of 1893/94.


This is one of the first letters.  It's clear even then that my Great-Grandmother worked long hours on the family farm and had very little time to meet her 'suitor'.  It seems that he wrote if the weather was too bad to visit, or if one of them was too ill to meet.  Even at this early stage there are also some letters that he has written to clear the air after an argument.  It's rather strange to read the justifications of an argument that took place 120 years ago!


Every letter through 1894 and 1895 ends with an affection 'sign off' and loving PSs.  There are also a few Valentines cards in the pile and other cards that he sent her for amusement.  Unfortunately the relationship appeared to flounder in 1896.  My Great-Grandmother is accused of prioritising her work on the farm over making time to see her 'beau'.  There are several complaining letters when she has clearly cancelled at the last minute.


Finally, at the bottom of the pile, there's an envelope with a plain piece of paper wrapped around this small scrap... It seems that he was finally tired of waiting.  My Great-Grandmother couldn't bring herself to keep the letter where he broke off the engagement, but she cut the date from the top and kept it in an envelope with all the other letters.


She also kept the ring and I now keep it safe with other family heirlooms.

Eventually my Great-Grandmother found 'the man of her dreams'.  He was an engineer from Stafford who cycled to north-east Manchester to find work in 1900.  He was happy to let her run the farm, while he worked in a factory less than a mile away at the bottom of the hill.  They had three children - two girls and then a boy.  The boy was my maternal Grandad and he eventually followed his father into the same engineering trade.

I never knew my Great-Grandmother but I understand that she was profoundly deaf.  Family tradition says that she became deaf following the shock of her first broken engagement.  After all these years, we'll never really know the truth.  I just feel very lucky to be able to look after a little 'time capsule' from 120 years ago.

11 comments:

  1. Wow...that's just incredible. What a wonderful keepsake of family relationships and the hardships of living on a farm in those days. Thank you so much for sharing them. Joan

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  2. What a wondeerful collection of letters to have as a reminder of your great grandmother! They are wonderful record of both family and social history. Thank you so much for sharing them with us:)

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  3. I am so glad my post inspired you to write about your great grandmother - you are so lucky that your family kept the letters - I wonder what happened to her beau - I hope he found happiness too.

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  4. Oh Jan what a truly amazing set of letters and such a fantastic keepsake from your Great grandmother! I loved reading your post as i'm so interested in things like this, I find old letters facinating, and can only imagine how wonderful it must be to have some written by past family members. I have some old diaries and letters that i've acquired from antiques markets and ebay etc, and still find them extremely interesting and beautiful to read, even though they are of no relation to me. Thank you sharing this post, thoroughly enjoyed it!!
    I will certainly pop over to "life in the Slow Lane" blog tomorrow morning, the post you refer to sounds just up my street too. Marina xx

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  5. Wonderful. I love old handwritten books, letters, documents. I always think they reveal so much, and simply by holding and reading them you are so close to the writer, no matter how long gone they may be. To have those letters is to have a treasure trove. Brilliant post. As Elaine Rickett said, I hope her former beau found happiness too.

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  6. How wonderful to be the guardian of such letters. It's so sad that the relationship fizzled out, though of course, you wouldn't be here if it hadn't. She must have thought a lot about him to have kept his letters though.

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  7. What a treasure you have there. How I would love to read about my family's past that way. Lucky you...Balisha

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  8. How lovely to have something like this in your possession and thank you for sharing them with us xx

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  9. Hello Jan...I just wanted you to know your post inspired me to write about some love letters I recently found when clearing out my closets. I linked back to your post. Of course, mine are more recent than the ones you wrote about. But, finding my little stash, brought back a river of memories. I always enjoy reading your blog. Thanks so much for allowing me a glimpse of your life.

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  10. Hi Jan, I'm just catching up with my blog reading and this is a fascinating and beautiful post.How wonderful you still have those treasures that give such an insight into your ancestors pasts.

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  11. Oh Jan, what a wonderful collection. The letters truly are priceless. I wish we still wrote wonderfully long letters. Sigh.... Bonnie

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