7th october 1909 leonard heath to emma heath nee cloke

battersea, london to forest row, sussex

27 miles

the message

“Dear M & F

Ect

I arrived here quite safe not tired, went about 20 miles after I got here. I have also been over 36 today. I have seen the nimrod ship also the Lord Mayor of London in his robes ect an grad coach. I have been through Blackwall Tunnel also Albert Docks an all about the city. Got plenty of life. All well here. Started to rain this afternoon.

Len

the sender

For details of Leonard Heath and his family, follow this link to another card he sent to his parents in August 1909.

the recipient

For details of Leonard’s parents, including family trees, follow the link above.

the places

Battersea to Forest Row

what the card says to us

The picture is a photograph taken at the English Church Pageant which was staged at Fulham Palace in June 1909 (https://histpag.dighum.kcl.ac.uk/pageants/1062/) It does not appear to have any relevance to the message or the family, unless they had attended one of the 11 performances earlier in the year.

The card was originally addressed to 23 Milford Street, Clapham. In 1909 this address was occupied by Leonard’s uncle David Daniel Heath (1858-1938) and his wife Anna Allen (1856-1936). Why the card originally had that address is totally unclear. Did Leonard get confused in the excitement of the trip to London? Were his parents visiting his uncle? And who made the changes? It looks like Leonard’s handwriting.

The message provides a wonderful snapshot of social history. It is possible that Leonard was visiting London on a sightseeing trip, but it is more likely, given that October 7th 1909 was a Thursday, that this was a work trip which took in some sightseeing along the way. This would explain why he went through the Black Wall Tunnel (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackwall_Tunnel) to get to the Albert Dock (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Albert_Dock,_London). Maybe he was collecting some flour from the dock?

The Nimrod ship mentioned will have been the ship that Ernest Shackleton used in his 1908 expedition to the South Pole (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrod_(ship)) which was lately returned to London.

In 1909 the Lord Mayor of London was Sir John Knill, 2nd Baronet Knill.

Leonard appears very enthusiastic about the number of miles he travelled.