january 24th 1914 marcella legge macan (aka patricia horrocks) to elsie winifred duke
hastings, sussex to ticehurst, sussex
15 miles
the message
“Well! I call that lucky to get chicken pox for the holidays! It is just like you! I hope you are getting on all right now. Do be a good girl in the evening & do not danse the tango on the landing at night! Hoping it is never too late to mend I send you now my best wishes for 1914
Much love
Marcella Macan
Am forward Maccy’s card
Heaps of love
Mary”
the sender
Marcella Legge Macan (1891-1955) was born in Hendon, Middlesex. Her parents were Richard Thompson Macan (1863-1939) and Wilhelmina Colquhoun Carey (1868-?). Richard was an Engineer in the Photographic Materials industry. Wilhelmina was a Nurse. She and Richard divorced in 1900, which is also unusual. Wilhelmina is present in the 1901 census but cannot be traced in 1911 or 1939. No death record can be found. She did make a number of trips to America in the 1910s.
Marcella was living with her parents in 1891, in Harrow, Middlesex. In 1901 she was living with her grandparents, Hugh O’Donaghue Macan (1837-1918) and Marcella Legge Thompson (1840-1923), in Willesden, Middlesex, her parents having divorced. In 1911 she was still with her grandparents in Harlesden, Middlesex. She is listed as being a Musician. It is assumed that at some point between 1911 and 1913 she worked at the Mountside private girls school in Hastings which was located at the original address that the card was sent to. In 1913 Marcella gave birth to daughter. She was not married. This was presumably why she left the school.
At some point in the 1930s Marcella was living under the name of Patricia Horrocks with Joseph Phethean Horrocks (1885-1969), a married Civil Servant, in London. In 1939 they were together in Dorking, Surrey. In 1944 Marcella changed her name by Deed Poll to Patricia Horrocks. During this time she became quite a prominent activist in a number of causes according to the newspapers.
Marcella/Patricia died in Fulham, London in 1955.
the recipient
Elsie Winifred Duke (1899-1985) was born in Broadwater, Sussex. Her parents were Frederick Duke (1859-1943) and Henrietta Rowe (1865-1939). Frederick worked in Market Gardening and was a Postmaster.
In 1901 Elsie was living with her parents in Broadwater. In 1911 the family had moved to Worthing, Sussex. According to newspaper clippings, Elsie attended the Mountside private school for girls in Hastings and must have been a pupil in 1914 when the card was sent.
In 1925 Elsie married Frank Jago Gammans (1896-1983), a Carpenter and Joiner and in 1939 they were living in Worthing.
Elsie’s death is recorded in Hayward’s Heath, West Sussex in 1985.
the trees
Duke
Macan
the places
Hastings, Sussex to Ticehurst, Sussex
Hastings, Sussex showing Laton Road
Ticehurst, Sussex
what the card says to us
The picture shows a view of Menton on the French Riviera (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menton) and appears to have no link to the message or the families.
The message tells us that Elsie Duke, aged 15 has had chicken pox, which can’t be fun. The card has been sent to her school but she appears to have gone elsewhere, presumably to recover in peace. The identity of Mary, who has forwarded the card is not known.
The real story id about the sender. Marcella seems to be a free spirit. A musician and teacher whose parents divorced when she was 10 when not many people divorced. Did she dance the tango on the landing at night? A single mother at 23. Later forming a relationship under an assumed name with a married man and eventually changing her name legally but not marrying. An activist. She sounds like a really interesting person.