Showing 14 results

Mansfield House, Canning Town, E.—Sends New Year’s greetings. Describes his visit to Coblenz.

‘Tantallon Castle.’—Gives an account of his departure from Southampton and the voyage so far.

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Tantallon Castle
Tuesday July 24. 00

My dear Mother

It is not very long since I started so there is not much to relate; still as you will not get another letter from me till the end of August I send you along this interim epistle from Madeira, or rather from the ship before we get to Madeira.

The ship got away from Southampton at about 5 o’c to the strains of “auld lang syne” & with the waving of a good many pocket handkerchiefs from on shore, passed out into the ocean. About an hour and a half afterwards we passed the Needles & we had a splendid view of them before going down to dinner.

I have a good cabin on deck & as the weather so far has been excellent, I have been able to have it wide open day and night & to get all the air that there is to be had.

It is rather early days to say very much of the passengers, but I don’t think they are at all a bad lot; I sit at the Captain’s table between a man who is going out to try the rebels in Natal, & some ladies from the Argentines, & opposite to some English people from Natal, and a very decent German with whom I have quite made friends already, & have had several games of chess.

Then there are a number of other people on board whose acquaintance I have made slightly; & I have played quoits, buckets, & a sort of deck croquet; all of which do fairly well pour passer le temps.

We have had awnings put up over the whole deck, the sea has begun to assume a sub-tropical blue & I expect soon it will begin to get awfully hot, but at present it is a cool contrast with London during the last hot weather.

With best love & all good wishes for a pleasant trip on the continent

Your affte Son
Fredk W Lawrence

I shall very likely send an encyclical home to Mans. Ho. from Cape Town. This will be copied, and a copy forwarded on to you which you can keep, as I am having other copies sent to A.J.L. {2} and Aunt Edith.

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{1} Followed by ‘P.T.O.’ The postscript is written on the front of the sheet.

{2} His sister Annie.

Oriental Hotel, Kobe, Japan.—Describes his arrival and activities in Japan, and encloses part of his sixth ‘encyclical’ (5/30f, pp. 205-20).

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Transcript

Oriental Hotel | Kobe
Aug 3. 98

My dear Ellen

Here you see us actually arrived in Japan, having had a day at Nagasaki & a day here; so far we have found the Japanese a pleasing little people.

I forget whether I told you I had arranged to have a guide here, as in this way we should be able to do more in the time at our disposal; F. Takagaki met us this morning on the Belgic & seems a very pleasant man.

I enclose you part of my 6th encyclical; {1} the first 4 pages have gone to Lady D.L. & the rest of the encyc shall follow in due course; the part you have not begins with an account of the voyage up from Brisbane & takes you as far as Townsville where we are supposed to be on page 205.

We expect to get to Yokohama via Kiyoto in about 10 days, & then we go off to Tokio.

There will probably be no mail from here for another 2 or 3 weeks.

Glad to hear of plans as to 26 & look forward to meeting Annie.

With love to all

Your affte Brother
Fredk W Lawrence.

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{1} PETH 5/30f, pp. 205–20.

Trinity College, Cambridge.—Discusses the privileges to which he is entitled as a Fellow. Refers to his recent examinations, and to a map he is preparing for an economic lecture.

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Transcript

Trin. Coll. Camb.
Oct 15. 97

My dear Tante.

I am now a full blown duly admitted fellow with power to walk on the grass, to come in and out at any time of the day or night, to make use of the fellows’ gardens and to dine at the high table, not to mention all the other sundry & minor priveleges† which fall to my lot! It seems funny to have got all these things at last after wondering for 6 years whether they would ever be mine. Perhaps the walking upon the grass though the most trivial is yet the most realisable portion of the performance, & though it is not considered etiquette for junior fellows to make much use of this privelege† (!) yet somehow it is the one thing which in the undergraduate mind is inseparably connected with the possession of a fellowship.

In your original kind letter of congratulation you suggested a rest, I have arrived at that stage now, but when I received yours I was just at the commencement of a very stiff piece of grind. Tuesday I had 6 hours of heavy exam & after this was over had to do several hours of looking up of work for Wednesday. And Wednesday after spending most of the day being examined & in looking up for the exam, I spent a large part of the night in making a map which was required at once in order that it might be reproduced before my Economic Lecture Nov 5. So you will see that the obtaining of a fellowship has not made me lazy.

I am fairly sanguine about the result of my law exam, but the preparation running together with so much other work has been very difficult, & the papers were tricky & their method of marking is peculiar

The stonemasons opposite are still at work on the buildings.

I suppose a formal acceptance for Nov 10 is unnecessary; at present I have not thought of anyone to ask; but then I have not thought very hard, & if I subsequently think of someone I will let you know. It should be a v. jolly affair. I should like to come some day this month, but have not made my plans as yet, & will write in a few days again.

I have a sea of correspondence.

Your affte Neffe
Fredk W Lawrence

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† Sic.

Calcutta.—Was delighted to hear of his uncle Edwin’s baronetcy. Has decided to go to Sahdol to view the eclipse. Refers to his activities at Calcutta.

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Transcript

Calcutta
c/o Thos Cook & Son
Bombay
Jany 12 98

My dear Tante

It was ripping news to hear of Uncle Edwin’s getting his baronetcy. I was tremendously delighted.

Ever so many thanks for all your good wishes for Xmas, Birthday & New Year. Letters get a good bit delayed in coming to me but if you send them to Cook’s at Bombay I shall get them very much sooner.

I have only just settled to go to Sahdol for the eclipse; it is a small place somewhere near Jubbulpore; if you have a map of India showing the railways you will find it on the line from Katni to Bilaspore. Campbell is going there with the Astronomer from Madras; {1} & I fancy Christie & Dr Common are to be there also. But by the time you have got this letter, the eclipse will be a thing of the past, and you will know how far the observations of it have been successful.

I have been generally “sloping” round in Calcutta. Last week I went to the State Ball, yesterday I went to an evening party at Government House, & to-morrow I am going to see the ceremony of Investiture; the natives are very resplendent in their jewels, & their costumes are interesting. I have also been to the Botanical Gardens where the trees are very fine; one Banyon tree has a circumference of 926 feet at its crown! You know it puts down fresh trunks in different places.

One way and another I have a fair number of friends here & I go out to dine with them some evenings.

I have been to see Mozoomdar whom you may possibly remember as a leader of the Bramah Somaj; & on Sunday afternoon I am going to meet a number of their people and talk a bit about Cambridge. Then on Monday I leave for Sahdol, & after the eclipse go back for a few days to Mozuffapore, then to Darjiling to see Mt Everest, then Benares, Delhi, Agra & down to South Canara, back to Madras, & so to Colombo some time in April & from there to Australia!

This afternoon I am going “slumming” with a member of the Oxford Mission.

With love to all & kisses to Dora

Ever your affte Neffe
Fredk W Lawrence

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{1} Charles Michie Smith.

Bombay.—Sends part of an ‘encyclical’ (part of 5/30b), and responds to her news of family members and neighbours. The plague at Bombay presents no danger to Europeans.

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Transcript

Bombay.
Feb 23. 98

My dear Tante

I am sending you with this the conclusion of my second encyclical {1} which gives all my movements up to date so that there is very little to add.

I think it is a capital plan of yours taking the name of Durning-Lawrence, and I, for one, thoroughly approve. (Not that my lordly approval was in the least required!)

I am glad you think Harry getting on a bit but one is always so afraid that it is only a case of up & down; from a letter which I have from him this week I understand that he is now at Cannes & is going on to Nice.

You seem to have been losing several Ascot neighbours Sir R Mead &, old Dean Liddell; it was strange that he should have died so shortly after Lewis Carroll; I think you used to say Alice in Wonderland was written for one of the Dean’s children.

Out at Fatehpur Sikri I met 2 Cambridge men, brothers, of the name of Reckitt {2}; I did not know them before, but I understand the elder is MP of N. Lincolnshire & knows Uncle E a little bit.

You will probably have seen that Bombay is somewhat stricken with plague just now, but there is not the smallest danger for Europeans. Even among those brought into close contact with plague stricken people it is exceedingly rarely that anyone is affected at all.

With best love to all, hoping Uncle E is in great form in the House.

Ever Your affte Neffe
Fredk W Lawrence.

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{1} PETH 5/30b, probably pp. 91–106.

{2} Harold James and Philip Bealby Reckitt. The former was the MP.

In the train from Madras to Tuticorin.—Explains his views on titles of honour, and encloses part of an ‘encyclical’ (part of 5/30b?). Refers to his stay at Madras, where Michie Smith showed him the results of the eclipse work.

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Transcript

Train from Madras to Tuticorin
April 27. 98

My dear Tante.

I have been meaning to write to you for a long time to answer your letter of March 3, but somehow I have always had something to write to the Vunculus about, on business, & so have waited till now.

There is only one point in your letter to which I want to refer; you say you had feared I shared my sister’s prejudices on the subject of title. No: I have always believed very strongly that a title is one of the few recognitions of desert which a grateful nation can bestow. What I am somewhat opposed to is hereditary title, though I am always prepared to admit that it is not without its advantages. Personally however I am very glad that none ever fell to my lot.

The sheet of my encyclical which I enclose tells the tale of my stay at Nellore, altogether I had a very jolly time there, & some of my equestrian experiences were great fun. I think I had a glimpse of the feeling of those who have said that they wanted to spend their life in the saddle & die at last by breaking their neck at a fall, a sentiment which I never understood at all before,—& one which even now I have no intention of attempting to put into practice!

I had a very pleasant two days in Madras, & saw most of the people I had met before. Michie Smith was very kind to me, & showed me all his instruments & the results of the eclipse work, he also gave me some prints of the corona taken by our instrument, one of which I have sent home to Mother. It was exposed 4 seconds very nearly at the commencement of totality. You will see, looking round the edge of the sun, one very bright point, this is a prominence, & should be set to the left hand; the approach of the moon was from the bottom right hand corner, & you will notice that though it has covered the whole body of the sun proper, yet there is a white rim in left hand top, the portion of the solar atmosphere not yet covered. The corona shows extended some way.

I also have a group of the Madras party which I will send home later. A miscellaneous collection of photos has also gone home, mostly representing different places out here, but there are one or two of Cambridge which Booty gave me.

M. Smith has a very large compound, & by joining with his neighbours, he has made one of the best golf links I have seen out here. I played Monday morning with him & 2 of his friends all of whom were rather good; fortunately I played up & did not make a fool of myself. That is really the great thing at golf, that the better people you play with, the better you play: you see while you learn by watching their good strokes, their play does not in any way interfere with yours.

I am now journeying steadily South, & am in lower latitudes than I have been before, I expect to reach Tuticorin this afternoon & then I go on board a boat which should land me in Colombo to-morrow morning. As I shall have a day or two to spare in Ceylon, I shall run up country, to Kandy & shall try & get a glimpse of J. Parkin who has just come out; he is a Trinity man of my year, & tried for a fellowship last October.

I hope to send a word to some one before I sail; after that as I shall not send a wire from Australia, you will not hear from me for some weeks. But I daresay that will not be much of an affliction after this train-written scrawl. I enclose a slip for E.L

With love to all

Your affectionate Neffe
Fredk W Lawrence.

The Oriental Hotel, Kobe, Japan.—Encloses part of an encyclical (5/30f, pp. 1-4), and refers to his visits to China and Japan.

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The Oriental Hotel, Limited, Kobe, Japan
P.O. Box 55
Aug 3. 98

My dear Tante.

I send you a few lines from here to accompany the commencement of my 6th encyclical {1} which treats of China; the 4 pages which I send you, however, are, I am afraid rather ancient history, but you will get the later pages from home. I find a tremendous lot to write about China though I was only there such a short time; of course any opinions I have formed are in consequence liable to great error. Those who are on the spot do not seem very well satisfied with the action of the home government, & seem to think England ought to have taken some definite principle on which to stand, & to have stuck to it; of course they cannot see altogether the difficulties at home. I shall make further allusion in the end of my encyclical.

Japan is a very bright pretty country & we hope to have a very jolly time here under the able auspices of our guide F. Takagaki.

I hope Aug 1 bank holiday was a great success; we spent the day in Nagasaki.

We are off this morning (Aug. 4) to Kiyoto & after travelling about a bit get on to Yokohama in a few days more.

Hoping you all flourish including Dora

With love to all & kisses to her

Believe me
Your affte Neffe
Fredk W Lawrence.

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{1} PETH 5/30f, pp. 1–4.

In the train from Ogden to San Francisco.—Has parted from Alden and met Annie (his sister). Describes his crossing of the Pacific and visits to Yosemite, Salt Lake City, and Yellowstone Park.

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Transcript

In the train from Ogden to San Francisco
Oct 3. 98

My dear Tante.

We are coming back from the Yellowstone Park, & at last after all this delay I start to write you a letter.

The great meeting took place at Salt Lake City & seemed to me the most natural thing in the world; Annie was brisk & shining & had enjoyed her voyage across with her triple escort, I had parted from Alden only a few hours before at Ogden.

I don’t know how far I shall write an encyclical of all my doings in the States, but in any case as I seem to have got rather behindhand, you will probably like to hear something in advance.

A capital voyage across with a day’s stop at Honolulu brought us to San Francisco where we only remained long enough to get a squint around & then went down to the Yosemite. After a day and a half’s coaching we arrived smothered in dust, & spent our time in the valley climbing up to different points of observation. The valley is tremendous with its great slabs of rock, & must look even finer when there is water flowing over the different falls. From Yosemite to Wawona & the giant trees, then back to San Francisco & away to meet Annie at Salt Lake.

There we viewed the Mormon tabernacle & were shown the various points of interest, bathed in the sulphur springs, & floated in the dense waters of the lake. The city is splendidly laid out with streets 150 feet broad & shady avenue trees; & you can ride your wheel on the sidewalk whenever the road is bad!

The week we have had in the Yellowstone has been very jolly; If Japan is pretty, & Yosemite is grand the Yellowstone park is handsome & the geysers are captivating—the memory of Old Faithful is quite that of a departed friend. Perhaps 70 miles in a coach in driving snow is not the happiest method of spending a day; still we did get to Monida, the railway station, whence we returned to Ogden & now I am on my way to the west coast once more.

To the 5 hours which the train started late it has added 2½ more, owing to the buffet car becoming somewhat damaged; it has been quite an excitement watching the broken part being repaired; the loss of time will only mean that we spend to-night in the train instead of at the Palace Hotel.

Many thanks for all the letters received at San Francisco; I sent Sir E.L a scrawl from Yosemite, & Dora a letter from the train, & now this tardy recognition of your own. Somehow with a biweekly mail one does not make it so imperative to get a letter off! I expect Annie & I shall look up the Cohens shortly after our arrival, & then after a few days in S.F go down to Del Monte & Los Angeles & then slowly work our way across[.] We have not quite made [up] our minds about staing the States over Xmas but of course if we do, we shall gladly accept Dr Collyer’s invitation; in any case we will send him a line in a few days’ time.

c/o T Cook & Son. New York will probably be the best address for letters for either of us all the time we are over here.

With love to all

Your affectionate Neffe
Fredk W Lawrence

Mansfield House, Canning Town, E.—Thanks her for her kindness.

13 Carlton House Terrace, S.W.—Invites her and Fred to spend a few days at Ascot before she (Emmeline) goes to Egypt. The differences between Fred’s views and those of herself and her husband have prevented them from being close in the past, but ‘time … has passed on’.

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13 Carlton House Terrace, S.W.
Oct 27

My dear Emmeline

In response to your letter we shall be glad if you & Fred will come down to Ascot next Saturday & stay till Monday or the Saturday after or if neither of these proposals are possible can you run down for the day so that we may see you before you leave for Egypt—

If you come for the day do not come Monday or Tuesday as I am changing the monthly to the permanent nurse on those days

I shall always retain my love for Fred & so will his Uncle, but our thoughts & views have gone in such opposition† directions that intimate intercourse seemed difficult

Time however has passed on—Baby goes on well & you will like to see her & her surroundings before you leave

Believe me

Y[ou]rs affect[ionatel]y
Edith J. Durning-Lawrence

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† Sic.

87 Clement’s Inn, W.C.—Emmeline cannot accept her invitation (6/86) as she is engaged till the eve of her departure (for Egypt). In any case, he would rather come and see her alone first.

‘Tantallon Castle’.—Describes conditions on board ship, and his fellow-passengers. Will send an ‘encyclical’ from Cape Town.