Passionate Abolitionist and
Witness to the American Civil War
Passionate Abolitionist and
Witness to the American Civil War
Elizabeth’s many letters to her parents from her all girls school reveal an attention to neat handwriting, correct spelling and a style of extreme courtesy that has now passed out of fashion.
This one reinforces that her parents were wealthy by the mere fact of sending a girl to receive a quality private education at a time when that it was unnecessary to invest in a girl’s education when her probable future would likely involve being just a wife and benefiting only from domestic and social skills.
Of course if the family was far richer, she would have been taught at home by a personal governess.
Single folder sheet addressed to:
Mrs. Slater
Eastwood
Nottinghamshire
Clear Postmark:
ASHBOURNE
MY 8. 1841
And bearing a clear Queen Victoria Penny brown stamp, notable because it is unperforated and appears to have been cut from a gummed page of stamps, presumably by the post office.
Also at the bottom left hand side, there are the letters
P.P.
presumably indicating that the Postage was Paid
Reverse of the folded sheet shows a hole where the wax seal has been cut out (presumably to avoid tearing the contents of the letters if the page had just been pulled apart.
Ashbourne May 8, 1841
My dear Mother,
I am very much obliged to you for the dress you have sent me which I like very much and shall I have made immediately, it will be a most useful now that the weather is warmer, We have enjoyed the delightful change exceedingly and have had many pleasant walks. I’m glad to hear you are in good health. It will be a great pleasure to me to find you quite strong and well when I return home. Miss Pidock sends her kind
side 2
regards to my Father and wishes me to say the flour arrived duly and proves very good. and as soon as she has room to store more she will inform him. The bag he mentions with one just emptied will be sent to Derby on Monday next by Johnson. – I have not heard from John very lately, no doubt he is much engaged with his studies, and like myself cannot spend very much time for letter writing,
perhaps the Election has been an amusement to him,
What does my father think of the Tory member they have returned at Nottingham? I should hope he has been brought in without bribery
Give my best love to my Fathers, brothers, and sisters, and accept it yourself from Your affectionate Daughter
Elizabeth Slater
This letter has many interesting historical dimensions.
First it was written shortly after the world’s first formal postage stamp had been introduced in England- the penny black in 1840 for letters up to half an ounce going to anywhere in the country. This slightly later version has the same design featuring Queen Victoria’s head and has no perforations showing that the post officer cut the stamp from a sheet of already gummed stamps before it was applied, posted, and postmarked. (It is not evenly spaced across the two sides.)
Second, it reflected earlier pre-postage stamp conventions. The front cover is marked “P.P.” showing that the postage was already paid (not always the case where the recipient used to have to pay some or all of the postage). Also there was no envelope to enclose the letter and bear the stamp which became the convention later.
The third point is that the paper used for the letter is still strong and reflects good tastes to anyone of that generation whose eye was tuned to such matters. In particular there is an embossed seal on the top left hand side of the page that shows a floral shield bearing a cross and surrounded by the words “LONDON SUPERIOR” which we suspect was just the brand of paper used.
The content.
This letter is somewhat unusual as it is directly addressed to her mother instead of her other letters that were primarily addressed to her father with the request that he convey Elizabeth’s good wishes to her mother. Here the reason seems to be that her mother had sent her a dress (or perhaps just the material to make one).
Most letters from school mention in one way or another convey the good wishes of one or both “Miss Pidcocks” the owners, or at least the principals of the school. Here we learn of another dimension. Apparently Elizabeth’s father had made a gift of a bag of flour to one of the Pidcocks. Elizabeth passes on their headmistress’s gratitude for the gift along with the comment that Miss Pidcock will be glad of another “just as soon as she has room to store it”! We have no idea what the motive was for such a gift but can guess that Elizabeth was somewhat embarrassed to be asked to convey such sentiments in her letter.
Elizabeth mentions that she has not heard from her brother John recently and expects that he, like her, was busy with his studies. Then she adds a sentiment that is not just from Victorian England. Wondering what John and her father think of the recent election, she expresses her concerns. “I hope the new member of parliament for Nottingham has been brought in without bribery!”