March 6th 1913 Florence Alice cruttenden to nelly cruttenden nee Holman
St leonards, hastings sussex to murrumbeena, Victoria, Australia
10487 miles
the message
"6/3/13
Dear Nell - I thought I would drop you a line this time. Suspect you are wondering how Clara is. Well since I wrote last she has been very bad. On Saturday she had a touch of pneumonia and Sunday we really did not know what to think about her. But am glad to say she is a little better now & her sister has come to sit up nights with her so Les can have a rest. Hope to be able to drop you a card next week to say she is much better. Do you go out to any concerts there. I suppose the weather is a little too hot for you out there. It is horrible here now raining and so mild but it was fine yesterday for Wednesday. Given my love to Alf & the girls & we are all looking forward to next letter with love from Florry & Mum.
Tell Alf I have sent his mother's sisters up."
the sender
Florence Alice Cruttenden (1890-1978) was the youngest child of Samuel Cruttenden (1838-1904) and Lydia Parsons (1846-1915). She was the sister of Alfred Cruttenden (1870-1943) and Lester Cruttenden (1877-1952) who are mentioned in the message. Lester was a dairyman and was married to Clara Burt (1877-1940) who is also mentioned in the message. In 1915 Florence married Milton Geoffrey Bridgeland (1889-1972), a stationery clerk.
the recipient
For details of Nelly Cruttenden nee Holman (1870-1965) and her family follow this link
the places
St Leonards, Hastings, Sussex
Murrumbeena, Victoria, Australia
what the card says to us
The picture is a rather gloomy view of Hastings.
This is the final of 13 cards related to the Cruttenden family of Hastings. All the others have been sent to addresses (mostly thesame one) in St Leonards, Hastings, but this one is to Australia. A portion of the family have emigrated. Alf, Nelly and their teenage daughters Norah and Dorothy departed London on the SS Geelong on October 17th 1912 travelling 3rd class and bound for Melbourne. It must have been a big adventure.
The card is interesting because the writing is small to get as much information on it as possible, and this makes some of the words difficult to read. And in typical British fashion, the message is all about illnesses and the weather. There is no evidence on the card that it ever reached Australia. It was stamped in Hastings, but there is no Australian stamp to match it. Did it ever arrive? Surely the postage to Australia was more than a penny, even in 1913.
Alf died in New Zealand in 1943. Nelly died there in 1965. Nora never married and died in New Zealand in 1989. Dorothy married Noel Blaney Boyd in 1924 and died in New Zealand in 1986 but not before visiting England at least once in 1937.