october 11th 1916 pat to annie douglas burns nee pilkington
boscombe, dorset to melton Mowbray, leicestershire
192 miles
the message
"THANK YOU SO MUCH for the Nice pcard. We are so HAPPY here.
PAT"
the sender
There are clues to Pat's identity or how old Pat is or why there is a curious mix of upper and lower case in the writing. And is that an early form of emoji?
the recipient
Annie Douglas Burnsnee Pilkington (1874-1945) was a member of the family that created and owned the Pilkington Glass company (http://www.pilkington.com/) which today still has an international reputation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilkington) although it is now owned by a Japanese company. In 1916 it was a major industrial power in North West England.
Annie was the daughter of Thomas Pilkington (1836-1925) and Catherine Carmichael Scot Douglas (1846-1929). Despite her obviously Scottish name, Catherine was actually born in Calcutta, India. Thomas was the son of William Pilkington (1800-1872), one of the founders of the glass business in St Helens. All their children have the middle name Douglas.
In 1903 Annie married a member of a prominent Scottish family, John William Burns (1863-1950) who was an officer in the Royal Dragoons. In the 1911 census they are living at Leesthorpe Hall in Melton Mowbray, a 29 room property, with their 2 children and 9 servants. They are listed as having private means.
the places
Boscombe, Dorset (formerly Hampshire)
Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire
what the card says to us
The picture is a painting of a Skye Terrier by Maud West Watson who seems to have made a career by painting dogs. A Skye terrier has obvious links to Scotland as does the family, but this could be coincidental.
As sometimes happens, the card is addressed to the lady of the house using the husband's initials.
The card was sent is October from the South coast of England and so it is probably not a holiday postcard. The family does have links to nearby Bournemouth and so it may be a family card, but that link has not been found.
The writing is curious and in a different hand to the address.