august 14th 1909 kitty to nellie egerton

birmingham, warwickshire

0 miles

the message

“Dear Nellie

Thank you for your pretty PPC. I will come and see you soon. Hope you are doing better.

Fond love from

Kitty”

the sender

There are no clues to Kitty’s identity.

the recipient

Nellie Egerton (1885-1951) was the daughter of Albert Thomas Egerton (1859-1927) and Florence Eliza Derrington (1860-1927). Albert was a painter and decorator. Albert and Florence died with a few months of eachother.

Nellie, according to the 1911 census was a fancy draper.

In 1912, Nellie married William Richard Bowes (1883-1918), a travelling jewellery salesman. William died in a military hospital in 1918, presumably a casualty of war.

In 1922 Nellie married again, this time to Charles Ernest Janney (1881-1965). Charles also served in WWI and went on to work in an ironmongery.

the tree

the places

Aston, Birmingham, Warwickshire

Coniston, Cumbria

what the card says to us

The picture shows a painting of Coniston Old Man, Cumbria (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man_of_Coniston ) which is a beauty spot in Cumbria but appears to have nothing to do with the family receiving the card. The painting is surrounding by an embossed ring of ivy and the car is curiously offset to the right.

Kitty is a mystery.

Another mystery is why Kitty hopes that Nellie is doing better. Had she been ill?

Nellie’s story, twice married after being widowed in the war, is not unusual for the time.