August 8th 1907 MA to agnes Julie Jensen

southend-on-sea, Essex to chatham,kent

46 miles

the message

"Dear A (have quite enough luggage to carry across)

Please don't send the Macintosh skirt or overall I shan't want either, only my watch & the coffee

Love to all

From MA"

the sender

There are no real clues to the identity of MA but it could be the elder sister of the recipient Marion Augusta Jensen (1882-1954)

the recipient

Agnes Julie Jensen (1884-1969) was the daughter of Waldemar Ludwig Christian Jensen (1858-1945) and Marjory (1856-1927). Marjory's maiden name is not known, but she was born in Elgin in Scotland. Waldemar was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was naturalised in 1902 as was Agnes and her siblings. He originally came to Scotland where he married Marjory and where Agnes was born. In 1891 they had moved to Gateshead which is now in Tyne and Wear, and by 1901 they had moved to Croydon where Waldemar was an electrical engineer with the council. By 1911 they were living in Chatham.

Agnes married Edwin Fermor Roberts (1883-1960) in 1910 and they were living in Rochester, Kent in 1911. Edwin was original from Newtown in Wales and in 1911 his profession was given as varnish maker.

the places

Prittlewell and Southend-On-Sea, Essex

Chatham, Kent

what the card says to us

The postmark can only be partially read but the proximity of the village of Prittlewell shown in the picture to Southend-On-Sea makes it a reasonable assumption.

Quite what a Macintosh skirt might be is open to question. The use of the word "either" suggests that there are only two items being discussed, the Macintosh skirt and the overall.

Where is MA going that he or she has enough luggage and doesn't need any more? What is the significance of he watch and even more intriguingly, the coffee? We will never know.

What is Marjory's maiden name? Why did Waldemar leave Denmark for Scotland some time prior to 1881?

So many questions.