September 25th 1905 Frances Martha mantz to walter joseph newitt
Victoria docks, London to Isleworth, London
18 miles
the message
"I arrived quite safely at L T S at 9:3. Hope you arrived at the other end in time. Shall not have time to write to night but will on Tuesday.
Ever your own
Frances"
the sender
The sender was Frances Martha Mantz. For details about Frances go to the first card in this series at
the recipient
The recipient was Walter Joseph Newitt (1886-1952), the future husband of Frances Mantz. Walter was the second of four children. His parents were Alfred Newitt (1860-1916) and Alice Summerland (1859-1936). Alfred was a coal meter or weigher at a coal merchants as was Walter's elder brother Alfred Thomas (1883-1951). Walter had two younger sisters. Sarah Rebecca (1889-1969) and Alice Emily (1891-1949). They were all born and brought up in West Ham except Walter's mother who was from Leicester.
Like Frances, Walter became an Elementary School Teacher. At the time of receiving this card in 1905, Walter was 18 years old. The address is Borough Road College in Isleworth which was among other things a teacher training school and which later merged with other establishments to become Brunel University. (https://www.brunel.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/393913/INFO-SHEET-BRC.pdf)
In 1911 Walter was living with his parents in West Ham, Essex and was an Elementary School Teacher.
In 1914 Walter married Frances, the sender of this card. They had two children.
In 1939 they were living in Shepton Mallet, Somerset where Walter was teaching.
the tree
the places
Spring Grove, Isleworth, London
Victoria Docks, London
Oxford
what the card says to us
The picture on the card shows two iconic buildings in the centre of Oxford that have changed little since the photograph was taken. The picture does not appear to have any relevance to the message.
The message is written in mirror writing. It is quite fluent but not as natural as the mirror writing seen elsewhere in Ghostpostcards e.g.
Why is mirror writing being used. Is it just a convention for young lovers in the 1900s decade? Both the Newitt/Mantz and Simmons/Smith series of cards are between couples who eventually marry.
The message itself suggests that Frances and Walter have met up somewhere but have now returned home separately, Walter to college in Isleworth and France to home in Victoria Docks. September 25th 1905 was a Monday so presumably the meeting was on the Sunday. The time given of 9:3 is presumably 9:30 and maybe that slip was a result of the mirror writing. The initials LTS could mean London, Tilbury and Southend railway which was perhaps part of Frances' journey home. What is meant by "the other end" is unclear because even the reference to LTS does not tell us where they had been and therefore where they were starting from.
To see the first two cards in this series go to