27th January 1903 joseph drew appleby to nellie appleby
northampton, northamptoshire to newcastle-upon-tyne, Northumberland
192 miles
the message
Front of card
“Love from Northampton”
Back of card
“Dear Nell
Weather very bad here & wet.
Pain in my back gone but a feverish cold & running from the nose. Hope to be all right in a day or two
Love
JDA”
the sender
Joseph Drew Appleby (1851-1921) was born in Gateshead, Durham. He was the son of Thomas Oliver Appleby (1826-1863) and Rebecca Drew (1821-1889). Thomas worked in a Ship Yard.
In 1851 Joseph was living with his parents in Gateshead. In 1861 the family were living in the St Andrew are of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. In 1871 Joseph was living with his widowed mother in St Andrew where he was a Leather Warehouseman and she was a Grocery Provision Dealer. In 1875 Joseph married Annie Burnip in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. In 1881 they were iiving in the Elswick area of Newcastle. Joseph was now a Leather Traveller. In 1891 Annie was still in Elswick although Joseph is recorded in the census in Aberdeen, Scotland where he is presumably working as a Commercial Traveller. In 1901 they are at 22 Beech Grove Road in Elswick, the address to which the card was sent in 1903. Annie was still there in 1911 but Joseph appears to have been on his travels again, this time in the St Giles area of London.
Joseph’s death is recorded in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne in 1921.
the recipient
Nellie Appleby (1885-1950) was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Her parents were as described above, Joseph Drew Appleby and Annie Burnip.
In 1891 and 1901 Nellie was living with he parents. In 1908 she married William Charles Soden-Bird (1880-1968), a Solicitor of the Supreme Court from Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. In 1911 they were living in the Monkseaton area of Newcastle. They were still in Monkseaton in the 1939 Register.
Nellie’s death is recorded in Northumberland South in 1950.
the tree
the places
Northampton, Northamptonshire to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Northumberland
Northampton, Northamptonshire
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, Northumberland showing Beech Grove Road
what the card says to us
The picture is entitled “Spring” and credited to Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederik_Hendrik_Kaemmerer). It has no link to the message or the family.
This is a touching communication from a father, who is on the road working to sell leather and support his family, to his 18 year old daughter. The weather is bad and his nose is running. Fortunately the pain in his back has gone.