may 15th 1905 unknown to ruby lillian coombes

malta to weston-super-mare, somerset

1950 miles

the message

There is no message.

the sender

There is not the remotest clue as to who sent this card.

the recipent

Ruby Lillian Coombes (1891-1968) was the daughter of George William Coombes (1857-1928) and Ann Emily Curtis (1857-?). George was a baker in Weston-Super-Mare and in 1911 Ruby was working in the bakery.

In 1913 Ruby married George Hinchcliffe Wilshere (1868-1949). George was a commercial clerk in a cocoa business. They had one child Lillian Noreen Wilshere (1914-1934) who predeceased them without marrying.

the places

Malta

Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset

what the card says to us

The picture shows a scene in Valletta, Malta which is where the card was presumably posted. There is no postmark to confirm this. The card is postmarked London, and Weston-Super-Mare. It may have been posted in London but this is unlikely. There is no obvious connection between Malta and the Coombes and Wilshere families. Ruby was fourteen years old when the card was sent. She had two elder sisters, Emily Edith (1878-?) and Beatrice (1880-1976) who married a fruitier named John Victor Baber Criddle (1881-1926). Perhaps it was one of them or their parents.

The address references the archaic name of Somersershire rather than Somerset. Was this deliberate? Was it a political statement? Or a joke? Only the sender knows and they are anonymous.