Postcard No. 3 - View from the marshes, leigh on Sea

This card is postmarked 11.30 am on August 24th 1909.

Its addressed to Miss B Haines

72 Woodhays (Woodheyes) Road,  Neadsen (presumably Neasden?) N.W.

Message reads:

Dear Bertha,

I am very sorry I did not see you Saturday night. I want to tell you something may i write a letter?

Yours loving Joy

In an unusual twist, the sender has also added her address at the top of the card which reads

Emsleigh Villa, Elmesligh Drive, Leigh on Sea.   I have looked on 1911census.com but there is no-one there called Joy or Joyce at the same address just 2 years after this was posted.

Bertha was 17 at the time as i have found her on 1911 census aged 19. She is a dressmakers assistant, born in Hull, Yorkshire and living with her parents Frederick & Emily Haines.

What a mysterious message it is. I wonder what Joy wanted to tell Bertha and how strange that she asks if she can write her a letter to do so.  Just one of the annoying parts of documenting these postcards is that you may never know just what the message meant.

Postcard No. 1 Leigh on Sea, Essex

I had many reasons for buying this postcard. The first being that it is a view not that far from me. And is a path i have walked along with the sea on one side and the railway on the other.  I just love the animation in the picture. Families strolling along by the sea whilst their children run on the beach and paddle in the sea.  The second reason is that this is a card posted in August 1914 one month after the outbreak of WW1.

It has a bitter sweet feel to it and i wonder how many of the men in the picture went on to their deaths in France and beyond.

The years from late 19th century up to 1918 are the period of history i most enjoy and the reason so many of my postcards that i intend to feature on this blog, will be from that era.

Sadly at some point in its life a previous owner has seen fit to go over the text in green highlighter which along with the card having been written in pencil now makes it very hard to fully decipher.  I can't be certain of either name so my research has been very limited, but here is what i have found.

*********************************************************************

 

Lower Walk, Leigh on Sea – Posted on 31^st August 1914

Addressed to:

Mr G. Husby?

281 Portobello Road,

Notting Hill

Message:

Dear George,

Hope you arrived home safe and was ready for work on Monday morning. It rather dull here this morning but that does not affect us much.

With best of love,

From

Alice Bysouth?

c/o Mrs Frost

?? Leigh Ville Grove

Leigh on Sea

Research

I reckon Mrs Frost is Lillie Frost of 59 Leighville Grove, Leigh on Sea. Alice is staying with her, maybe for the summer?

I believe Alice’s name may be Bysouth.  I have found a lot of Bysouths in Romford but can’t say for sure if it is her obviously, so don’t think I’ll find out much about her.

The fact that she writes her address on the bottom of her message suggests that George is not a relative or he would have known the address but someone she has met maybe who she wants to reply to her.

I have looked up George Husby, Hasby, Harby but nothing coming up with that address so may do an address search on 1911census site.

Address search found nothing. George was not living there in 1911, but the people who lived at that address in 1911 also had a boarder so maybe George was boarding in 1914.

Without a confirmation of George or Alice’s last names I can’t really go any further.

I wasn't particularly lucky with this one but thats the way it goes. If you have any knowledge of anybody mentioned in this post please contact me at the email address on the right of my blog.

Postcards - little snapshots of history

I have recently purchased some lovely old postcards via a great internet markeplace site called Delcampe and particularly from one of their many postcard sellers Old_Postcards

I've always loved buying postcards when i've been away and either keeping them for souvenirs or sending them to family at home but i never realised until recently just how fascinating they are.
Each one is a small snapshot of history especially if it has been written and posted to someone. The message on the back can be a funny one, sad one, mysterious one or just a few words of thanks, they all meant a lot to both the sender and recipient.  My favourite era of postcards to collect is 1900 to 1920's which apparently was known as the golden age. It was a time when postcards were really popular and people would use them a bit like sending texts today. They would be sent to say 'thank you for a lovely day' , 'arrived home safely' or 'isabella had a baby boy'. People would send them just for others to add to their collection as collecting postcards was a big deal at the time.

Being a family history buff I cant resist being nosy, reading those messages and doing some research on the people mentioned.  What was the senders relationship to the recipient? Boyfriend and girlfriend perhaps, mother and daughter? I cant resist the thrill of the chase to find out more about them, 1 postcard at a time, which i will do in my next post.

So here are the first three postcards i bought.

These are all of views which are fairly local, so they have a double interest for me.

Do you have a postcard collection, if so how many and what made you begin?