7th September 1912 elaborate flowery unreadable to albert leuty maude

Manchester to blubberhouses, yorkshire

54 miles

the message

"Sorry I am rather late. Many happy returns of the day

? ? ??????"

the sender

Sometimes what looks like clear, flowing script, on closer inspection, is utterly unreadable. This signature might be "J M Rumply"", or "F M Kuinpley" or anything. There are no clues in the family background and no apparent links with Manchester.

the recipient

The handwriting makes identifying the recipient difficult. The first part of the name at first looks like "Mrs" or "Miss" but this does not make sense in the context of this family and the probability is that it says "Aly". The "L" is the significant letter. All through the 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911 censuses the Maude (or Maud - the spelling seems to vary over time), family are resident in Hardisty Hill, Blubberhouses. They are a big family. Albert Leuty Maude (1884-1959) is one of 12 children born to Joseph Maude (1893-1913) and Emma Warwick (1844-1920). Albert never marries and when he dies his will favours one of his nieces and one of his nephews. He fought in WWI with the Duke of Wellington regiment. He and his siblings were all farm labourers or servants across Yorkshire. Albert is the most likely of the family to be the recipient.

the places

Manchester

Blubberhouses, Yorkshire

what the card says to us

The card is a simple birthday card. The recipient is 28 years old. The card is sent from 50 miles away, which is quite a long way away. Sadly the signature is too flowery and elaborate to know who it is from. Interestingly the 1912 birthday card contains a horseshoe which today we more commonly associate with weddings.

Blubberhouses is a very unattractive name. It conjures up an image of a whaling station on an ocean battered shore, but it is well inland.

There are many unanswered questions arising from this card, not least of which is how Albert got the middle name of "Leuty".