Here below is the third of the letters written by Elizabeth Eaglesfield to her son John. This again is dated only with day and month but judging by its content, it was written in 1868. John was working as a plate layer in Durham for the North Eastern Railway (not the Great Northern as I stated previously). He had obviously written to his family about his intended emigration to the USA. Further to the recent comments on this forum about literacy. Although I don't have the antecedents of Elizabeth, the letter writer, I do have them for her husband George. Although he was an agricultural labourer, and shown throughout the period of these letters to be lacking in work and quite poor, he was educated. His father Joseph was a tenant farmer in Greetham and also the Parish Clerk. George's eldest brother, Thomas, was a business man in Birmingham; sister Susannah married a farm owner, and both of these are mentioned in later letters. Another brother, William took over his father's farm tenancy in Greetham; sister Maria married the shoemaker of Market Overton, and another brother John George emigrated to America. Oddly that his emigration is not mentioned in any of these letters. He fought in the American Civil War and was the Flag Bearer of his regiment, the 89th NYVI, at the battle of Sharpsburg in 1862, and was killed still holding on to the Regimental Flag. Anyway back to this letter. Again it has been typed exactly as written, with no punctuation and no capitalisation at the start of a sentence. I should also add that Elizabeth's handwriting was very good - it's a pity that I cannot send attachments to show this - despite her sometimes bad spelling. It appears to me that the letters were written in ink rather than pencil. Sep 18 Wymondham Dear son daughter we recived your leter an was glad to hear from you but sory to hear you are going a broad we have thought it very strange you have not wrote lately I should wrote to you before now but I had lost your address I have been very ill but I ham beter then I was I have worited myself about my three sons an not one that ever wrote to us my dear son if you have nothing to send us I should like to hear from your wile I live I have never heard nothing of William one thing an another I shall not live long I would rather you had staid hear but you know your biseness best I have not seen your wife nor one of your children nor I never shall nor yet you no more may the lord be with you an protect you safe over I hope you will wright when you get landed has your wife got a sister their your father dos not think a deal about you going your brother George had no luck it is not for all to do well their no yet heare John Bursnal his on hear with the Cooks I sopose not far from were you was susan has been to Derby to see George she says he his altered he his going gray she says he was the only brother she could get at I hope you will not disappoint us of your likeness my dear son if I had berid you I should knowen the end of you but I never shall now we talked about you at the feast lizy an hir husband was hear your brother George has got a fresh place in the telergrem oface he has more to do your father sends his love to you he his afraid you will find many difecultts he his very peorley betimes an only gets a few od days work but we hope it will proves the best you have been a dutyfull son to us an may the Lord bless you all an give you long life an happyness in this world an the world to com Oddly, this letter is not signed, but added to the first page is this message: good by an bless you all my love to your wife an give the children a half a dozen kisses from me Now for the amended version with full stop and explanations, though this time I have left many wrongly spelled words, as it can be easily understood. Sep 18 Wymondham Dear son daughter we recived your leter an was glad to hear from you but sory to hear you are going a broad. we have thought it very strange you have not wrote lately. I should wrote to you before now but I had lost your address. I have been very ill but I ham beter then I was. I have worited (worried) myself about my three sons an not one that ever wrote to us. my dear son if you have nothing to send us I should like to hear from your wile I live. I have never heard nothing of William. one thing an another I shall not live long. I would rather you had staid hear but you know your biseness best. I have not seen your wife nor one of your children nor I never shall nor yet you no more. may the lord be with you an protect you safe over. I hope you will wright when you get landed. has your wife got a sister their. your father dos not think a deal about you going. your brother George had no luck it is not for all to do well their. no yet heare John Bursnal his on hear with the Cooks. (I have double checked this, and this is how it is written, but I still can't understand it. Bursnal was a surname in Wymondham and I guess that he too left to work in the Durham area as this next line suggests) I sopose not far from were you was. susan (John's sister Susannah) has been to Derby to see George (the eldest brother) she says he his altered. he his going gray. she says he was the only brother she could get at. I hope you will not disappoint us of your likeness. (John had obviously told his mother that the family was going to have their photograph taken, as the following letter shows) my dear son if I had berid you I should knowen the end of you but I never shall now. we talked about you at the feast. lizy (sister Elizabeth) an hir husband and was hear. your brother George has got a fresh place in the telergrem oface. he has more to do. your father sends his love to you. he his afraid you will find many difecults. he his very peorley betimes an only gets a few od days work but we hope it will proves the best. you have been a dutyfull son to us an may the Lord bless you all an give you long life an happyness in this world an the world to com Oddly, this letter is not signed, but added to the first page is this message: good by an bless you all my love to your wife an give the children a half a dozen kisses from me Footnotes: Despite John's mother claiming that she had never heard from William, she must have, as she sent his address to John in a previous letter. He worked in service and had since married in London. He reappears in a later letter. The above suggests that elder brother George had previously emigrated to America and came back, although I have no evidence of this. Perhaps he just applied but was refused? He married in Harby, Leics, in 1850, and had his first 2 children there, before moving to Derby, where he had at least another 8 children. He worked for the Midland Railway, latterly as a signalman, before retiring and becoming a Publican. Also, despite mother Elizabeth's worries over daughter Elizabeth (Lizy) in a previous letter, she was not at death's door and obviously survived. She married Alfred Hull (hir husband) in Leicester in 1867, where he was a brewer. The reference to "the feast" they attended, given the date of this letter was presumably a Harvest Festival - unless anyone out there knows better about festivals in Wymondham? Given some of the poor spelling, at least the writer wrote it as spoken, which makes me think that the word "worited" was actually the way they spoke. Was this therefore a dialect word for worried? Also, as she did in another letter, Elizabeth uses the word "betimes" to mean at the current time. Again possibly a dialect word. And finally, although I admire her showing her feelings honestly, I find the comment "if I had berid you I should have knowen the end of you but I never shall now" rather disconcerting. As I did her comments in a previous letter about the trouble that a sick child was. Brian Binns _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2012.0.1913 / Virus Database: 2112/4782 - Release Date: 02/02/12

Hi Brian Leicestershire born and bred, I have always know worrit or worriting Meaning either to worry or be worried and also to tease or pester I had always thought it was a colloquial expression so imagine my surprise when I find in the OED :- worrit, n. Etymology: < worrit v. A state of worry or mental distress; a fretting care or anxiety. Also, a person that worries others or himself. And worrit, v. Etymology: Apparently a vulgar alteration of worry v. Compare wherrit v., werrit v. a. trans. To worry, distress, vex, pester These are not recent entries So what can't speak can't lie :-) Great letters by the way They certainly give a flavour of life in the period, not least the difficulty of keeping in touch We take so much for granted these days, imagine their surprise if they knew what can be done these days, talking to people around the world as if in the next room Nivard Ovington in Cornwall (UK) > > Given some of the poor spelling, at least the writer wrote it as spoken, > which makes me think that the word "worited" was actually the way they > spoke. Was this therefore a dialect word for worried? Also, as she did in > another letter, Elizabeth uses the word "betimes" to mean at the current > time. Again possibly a dialect word.