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​Letters Sent Home by an Edwardian Gentleman 1913.

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Home > Pre WW1 > Letters Home 1910-1914 > Letters Home 1913

Letters Sent Home by an Edwardian Gentleman 1913

Postal problems, Federal Election day, hard to find servants, life at Ballandool station, social gossip from England.

Ballandool**
Goodooga
N.S.W.

June 3rd 1913
My Dear Mother
No letter from you yet, but suppose an Eng. mail may arrive this week. It takes 10 days for a letter from Melbourne to here as far as I can make out; one written from there 21st May I got 31st! One could write from Ireland to New York & get a reply in that time. I can’t grasp mail service here & don’t try, it seems to come and go any time, any way & normally twice a week, so just expect a letter when you get it.

Last Sat. was Federal Election day & everyone except myself & the cook went in to vote at a little township 11 miles from here; have not heard result of elections yet, station people seem to take no interest in politics, anyway about here; I’m most  keen to know if the Labour Govt. have been defeated, I fear not, but one can’t say. Papers we get here are from 6 to 8 or 10 days old, so it is no use being too excited; I must try & get news by telephone this evening. 

The ???keeper  had to go off to Angledool, 25 miles, this morng. to bring back a trap a man drove in from here Sat. to fetch out a Chinese cook, they got a wire this morng. to say man on the spree [? Slang for on the drink?] , cook won’t come. These men generally go on a howling drunk [sic] when they go to any township & will be dead to the world for a week, so ?????? will let him walk back.

It is awfully hard to get a cook or any other servant, cook gets 35/- to £2 a week fancy, & hard to get at that. 2 maids, cook & house & parlour maid left day I arrived, a carpenter does cooking now, not at all bad & we all help washing & the governess is a very good sort & sweeps & helps a lot & cooks good puddings, but alas she goes on Sunday does not quite hit it off with Aileen I think.

That is the worst of this country, servant & general labour worry, it is perpetual, if it were not for that it would be a good enough country to live in.

Boundary riders get 25/- a week & food & nothing to do but ride about after sheep.

Glorious weather, cold nights & warm days. Sat. was cold & cloudy, but such days are quite the exception.

I see in last Daily Graphic a photo of Lord Petre’s fiancée, Mifs [sic] Boscawen, fine eyes, dark looking girl, is she R.C. extraordinary a Lord Petre* marrying anything else!! He must be very young. Saw a picture of Norah ???? in Tatler the other day at some point to point races, looking very smart; is it quite off & over with her admirer of last year.

A bottle of eye lotion I ordered in Melbourne a fortnight ago today to be sent here by post I have not got yet!! The roads have been awful lately & 100 miles of ???? bog to drive through certainly presents some excuses. Travelling out in these back block areas is no pleasure, it is either dust or mud.  I fancy I shall be here till end month.

Mornings are very fresh & Queensland houses are certainly not built for cold weather, cracks in floor, windows & doors never fit & the cold morng. air rushes at one from fifteen different directions, a hot cup of morng. tea goes well, Aileen generally brings it to me about 7a.m. or little after. 

June 4th
Yours of April 24th from Coughton [Court, Warwickshire, England] arrived last night & 2 I[Irish] Times. Glad you found all well at C [Coughton] but why don’t you stay longer, seems a very short visit. Hope you stay a fortnight at Exton [Exton Park]. So glad U. W. [Uncle Will] is so well, but John seems poorly. Letter from Angie. Delighted to hear of Wulstan’s [?] engagement, I believe a Vaughan is very nice, how very perfect marrying a Vaughan, makes up for Mowbray’s marriage, Wulstan must be doing well, as of course she has not got a cent; no doubt they will live at Malvern, but will be much missed at Foxcote. Pity you did not go to Foxcote.

How curious Annie Throck [Throckmorton] marrying a Leinster Fitzgerald who is an R.C. & why does she marry one when there are thousands of men of her own persuasion; it is a funny world & hard to understand the way things go. Funny about Hatford match, but suppose it will be all smoothed over in time & they will be married, she is very rich is she not, will they live at Rugby.

Very glad to hear Florence is so much better. I believe a mail goes today taken by a man who is going in search of a cook. Water in bath very cold a.m. just had one, hands cold & once sun gets going then it is glorious. Lovely sunsets.

Busy shearing & one is able to help a bit with sheep work. Thank you for Ireland Illustrated which I got last mail; I got your letter yesterday fortnight in Melbourne, but papers I had directed on here & got them 10 days later. I suppose this will go sometime this week.
Best love
Yr. affect. son
Arthur

*Captain Lionel George Carroll, 16th Lord Petre , 3 November 1890 – 30 September 1915, died from wounds received at the Battle of Loos.


** The Advertiser 10th October 1910 "The Ballandool grazing property, near Goodooga, containing 70,000 acres, together with 24,000 sheep and 60 horses, has been bought by Mr. E. Jowett"



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