july 17th 1908 H Powell to ada beatrice fanny hackett

halesowen, west midlands

0 miles

the message

"My dear Beatrice

I send you this PC hoping you will like it. I think it is very pritty one. I am writing to you to tell you I shall not be able to see you till 1/2 past eight on Saturday night and I will come up to the field to you. I do hope I shall see you now my dear to ask your mother if you can come on Sunday as I should like you to. xxx

Please remember me to your mother and I hope she is well as she never looks well at the best of times.

Now I must close with love from 

H Powell xxxxxx

I have sent B a PC. Don't say anything to him when you see him."

the sender

There are no clues to H Powell's identity. Whoever they were, their handwriting was not great, their spelling pretty good but not perfect and their sentence construction a bit challenged.

the recipient

Ada Beatrice Fanny Hackett (1892-1966) was the daughter of Charles Hackett (1867-?) and Jane Harris (1869-1954). Charles was a postman.

In 1916 Ada Beatrice married Arthur Charles Franklin (1890-1953). Arthur worked as a clerk at a Steel Tube works. They had two daughters.

the places

Halesowen, West Midlands

what the card says to us

The picture is a painting of Mary Magdalen by Ribera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jusepe_de_Ribera). There does not seem to be any link with the sender or the recipient although it is referred to in the text.

The obvious interpretation of the message is that the sender, H Powell, is romantically interested in the recipient, Ada Beatrice who at the time of sending was 16 years old. It appears important that Ada's mother gives her permission for Ada to attend some event on Sunday. However, it is unlikely that the reference to her mother not looking well at the best of times would help the cause. The fact that Ada married someone else suggests that this relationship was not successful.