In September 2013, we received a donation of papers found in
a chest of drawers bought at an auction. Among them were eight letters. They
were sent between June 1886 and May 1887 from Miss Jessie Rowland aged 16 of
Grimsditch Hall, Lower Whitley to her 27 year-old cousin, Charlie Rumney. They
begin in a friendly way, thanking him for his letter after the death of
Jessie’s father, Samuel. But by April 1887, ‘Dear Charlie’ is ‘My dear Charlie’
and by May of 1887, ‘My Dearest Charlie’.
Clearly, Jessie’s affections were reciprocated as in the
last of the letters (17 May 1887) she ‘cannot understand you loving such a
little insignificant thing like myself … but I can understand anyone loving
such a darling as you’ and signing it with ‘Hundreds of kisses’. Though she thinks his letters could be longer!
A glance at the census return for 1891 reveals that all
ended well and Jessie and Charlie are married and living with her mother at
Grimsditch with a one year old daughter, Nora and eight month old Samuel. They
had married at Lower Whitley church on 26 July 1888. Jessie and Charles
continued to live at Grimsditch Hall until their deaths and the Hall remained
in the family until the death of their third child, Kathleen Joyce Rumney who
died there in 2004.
Our reference for the collection is D 8474.
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