june 1st 1905 Flora lickman nee adams to lilian blencowe

eastbourne, sussex to kingston-upon-thames, london

77 miles

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the message

"My dear Lilian

How are you getting on all this time since i heard anything of you. I hope you & Elsie are quite well. Tell her I will send her a post card in a day or two. This is one of the Duke of Devonshire's places. 

Love to you both from Auntie Flora"

the sender

Flora Lickman nee Adams (1872-1951) was the daughter of Edwin Adams (1834-1914) and Sophia Goodfellow Coombs (1836-1921). Edwin was a farmer in Hampshire.

Flora married George Alfred Lickman (1869-1941) in 1898. George was a house painter and the elder brother of Eliza Hannah Blencowe nee Lickman (1870-1955) who was the mother of the card's recipient.

the recipient

Lilian Blencowe (1901-1977) was the daughter of John Thomas Blencowe (1872-1955) and Eliza Hannah Lickman (1870-1955). John was was a gardener at Wilminster Park, Remenham, Henley-On-Thames.

Lilian had an elder sister called Elsie who was born in 1899 and is mentioned in the message.

Between 1926 and 1930 Lilian married Clement Mitchell Houghton (1895-1981) who in 1939 is recorded as a Petroleum Refining Technician. And this might explain why the wedding took place in Iran.

Also see this other card sent to Lilian Blencowe in 1905

the tree

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the places

Eastbourne, Sussex to Kingston Hill, Surrey

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Eastbourne, Sussex

 

Kingston-upon-Thames, London

 

what the card says to us

The picture, slightly tinted, shows a hunt, with hounds, outside Compton Place near Eastbourne which was where the card was posted. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compton_Place)  As mentioned in the message, it belonged to the Duke of Devonshire. Why this is mentioned in the message is not clear because Lilian, the recipient, was only 4 years old when the card was sent and is unlikely to have an interest in the aristocracy.

Presumably Flora, the sender is on holiday and this is really a card sent to her sister-in-law and family under the guise of writing to her niece. The message is a curious mix of the bland and the specific.