This from my grandfather's diary: "We motored to Parkestone and found out that the steamer from Flushing was not expected till 7.30. We had tea at the hotel and walked along the quays till the steamer arrived. Pippa and Bet were among the last to come off and we began to be nervous that they had not come. They both looked well - had been sick just part of the voyage. Betty had been out of England since September 1925 and Pippa since October 1925."
How I wish I had been sufficiently curious or just plain interested in something and somebody other than myself to ask my mother about the time she and her sisters spent as girls in Lausanne and Munich. Did they enjoy themselves? Were they homesick? I don't suppose I shall ever know, unless perhaps in the most oblique of ways through the pages of my grandfather's diaries. Or is there correspondence floating about somewhere?
What a cosmopolitan lot they must have been! Far more so than me, relatively speaking. And how much more exotic travel must have been in those days!
It might be worth asking the cousins whether Pippa kept a diary?
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately our mother didn't, tho I do have a notebook of rather flowery poetry! Also photos.
I don't think either of them made lasting friends from their respective schools, though Wilma did.
What about letters? To and from Gran, etc?
ReplyDeleteBarnaby, online there's an 1846 diary I stumbled upon a few months ago. Here's the entry for Wednesday, 15 April 1846.
ReplyDeleteYour grandfather's diary is quite interesting--I've been following along--, probably because the century, the time, the place, are familiar enough to be comfortable with.
Thank you for sharing it.
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One of my sisters has researched our ancestors, some back to before the, um, what we call the Revolutionary War.
Judging by their death dates, most lived to around 85, some even more. And judging by their marriage dates, many had seven month pregnancies.
-lesle
Many thanks for your kind and informative comments, lesle.
ReplyDeleteNow, the Revolutionary War: what could you possibly be referring to!
Mr. Dunn, you yourself have any letters still in existence! But do ask the cousins when you meet up in May.
ReplyDelete