24th april 1913 emily louise stacey to helen mansbridge nee wickersham
nunhead, london to horsham, sussex
30 miles
the message
“98 Gibbon Road
Nunhead
My dear friends
We were so sorry to learn from Frank how unwell you had been. I hope it was not our London Gin upset you. I do feel ashamed of myself for not having answered your kind letter to me. My Dear I think you would understand if you knew all. I am hoping to send you a line soon.
Yours as ever
ES”
the sender
Emily Louise Stacey (1877-?) was born in Pimlico. She was the eldest child of Arthur Robert Stacey (1852-1902) and Christiana Faithful (1856-1933). Arthur was a Carpenter and Joiner.
Emily and her family cannot be located in the 1881 census. In 1891 and 1901 she was living with them in Camberwell and she was a Dressmaker. In 1911 Emily was living with her widowed mother in Peckham. In 1913, when this card was sent she was at 98 Gibbon Road in Nunhead. The main occupier of the house was Frank Mills (1885-1946), a Bootmaker originally from Birmingham. In 1913, the year the card was sent, Frank married Augusta Elizabeth Stacey (1883-1940), the sister of Emily Louise. They were still living at 98 Gibbon Road in 1939, and so was Emily. In between 1913 and 1939, according to electoral registers Emily lived in Camberwell with another of her sisters, Florence Ada Stacey (1890-?) who was married to Arthur Herbert Taylor (1885-?) Emily did not marry. In the 1939 Register she is listed as a Domestic Servant and as Incapacitated.
It has not been possible to accurately identify a death record for Emily. The most likely is one in 1959 in Camberwell. She doesn’t ever seem to have lived on her own. Perhaps this is due to whatever incapacitated he in 1939.
the recipient
Helen Mansbridge nee Wickersham (1875-1944) was born in Horsham, Sussex. Her parents were David Wickersham (1829-1897) and Elizabeth Pickett (1842-1918). David was a Blacksmith.
In 1881 and 1891 Helen was living with her parents in Horsham. In 1895 she married Robert Mansbridge (1874-1945), a Print Compositor also from Horsham. In 1901 they were living in Camberwell. By 1911 they had moved to 49 Park Land in Horsham, the address to which the card was sent. Robert is described as a Jobbing Painter although perhaps that is an error and should be Printer. In 1939 they are living elsewhere in Horsham and Robert is a Master Printer (retired).
Helen died in Horsham in 1944.
The Mansbridge tree is quite complicated because Helen Wickersham and Robert Mansbridge are first cousins. Their mothers are sisters, Elizabeth Pickett and Ann Picket (1843-1928). Not only that, but Robert’s brother James Mansbridge (1879-1942) married Helen’s sister Margaret Louisa Wickersham (1883-1975) making two pairs of married cousins.
the trees
Stacey
Mansbridge
Wickersham
The places
Nunhead, London to Horsham, Sussex
Nunhead, London showing Gibbon Road
Horsham, Sussex showing Park Street
what the card says to us
The picture is entitled “Hot Spiced Gingerbread, Smoking Hot!” is from a series called “Cries of London” by Francis Wheatley (1747-1801). There does not appear to be a direct connection with the families or the message.
Emily and Helen are obviously friends. Perhaps they met in the early 1900s when Helen was living in Camberwell before she returned to Horsham. The Frank referred to in the message is presumably Frank Mills, Emily’s brother-in-law, who may also be a friend of Robert and Helen.
Beyond that, the card appears to be an example of keeping in touch. Secrets are hinted at but nothing is revealed. The conversation will continue somewhere.