june 25th 1915 annie to Charlotte Selina payne nee carter

Cambridge to horsleydown, london

60 miles

the message

"Dear Lena

Shall be home tomorrow Saturday by the 4.54 from here arriving at Liverpool St about 6.20. If not convenient to meet don't worry as I have wrote to Mrs Owen but I shall be pleased to see you all the same. Love to Charlie

Annie"

the sender

The sender is almost certainly, although not 100% definitely Annie Pettit nee Carter (1890-?) who was the younger sister of the recipient. In 1911 she was working as a bottle washer. In 1912 she married Henry Mark Pettit (1880-1925) who was a lighterman.

the recipient

Charlotte Selina Payne nee Carter (1881-1962) was the daughter of Benjamin Charles Carter (1854-1907) and Alice Mary Jones (1858-?). Benjamin was a labourer. Charlotte married Robert Henry Payne (1875-1935), a flour miller, in 1912. Henry was the son of Frederick Payne (1853-1932) and Margaret Carter (1852-1906) and hailed from Cambridge. Henry and Charlotte had a son called Charles Henry (1912-?).

This appears to be one of the occasions where a sibling of the husband marries a sibling of the wife. Benjamin, Charlotte's brother married Violet, Henry's sister.

the places

Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

Horsleydown, London

what the card says to us

The picture shows King's Parade in Cambridge and that is where the card was posted. In 1915 it is highly unlikely that Annie Carter, three years married, was a student. The probable reason why Annie was in Cambridge was to visit family as that is where the Carter family originated.

Charlotte is addressed as "Lena" which is short for Selina, her middle name.

Quoting the train timetable is unusual but it does tell us that in 1915 the journey from Cambridge to Liverpool St took about an hour and a half. It is not much different today.

There are no clues to the identity of Mrs Owen.

It is safe to assume that the Charlie referred to is Charlotte's son.