Author Topic: Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!  (Read 471 times)

Offline Peter L. Mitchell

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Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!
« on: Thursday 20 August 20 08:22 BST (UK) »
Hi folks.

I have a letter written by Matilda Mede to William Menere in 1842. They married on 20 March 1843. The parts of page one of the letter that I have worked out are below, together with the part that simply eludes me.  It's taken me over a year to get to this point, and I'm stuck. The attached screenshot begins with the words, " . . . found the light so (loving?)." I will be very gratefully for any help received.

Thanks,
           Peter

                           Cheltenham,
                               September 8th,
                                    1842
My dear William,
           I sincerely congratulate

  you upon the miraculous state of your

  health after so much fatigue. May it be
 
  continued. I was happy to hear you

  found the light so (loving?). When I received

  your letter and found you well (then?)

  I felt the distance between us  _____ separated

  (from?) each other ________ _______ ________.
 
  talking with the language of the Poet Scott

  saying (at least for the present)
 
   ________! (It?) is the (pending?) __________;

  yet I musn’t (try?). __________ !


  __________ my (parents?) wish to (hear?)

  then/then safely (back?).

Offline Bookbox

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Re: Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!
« Reply #1 on: Thursday 20 August 20 11:09 BST (UK) »
The extract as posted begins ... the distance

=====
... the distance [we were?] separated from each other

would permit my talking after[?] the language of the

Poet [but?] saying (at least for the present)

Farewell! it is a pensive word;

Yet I must say farewell!

But if my fervent wish be heard

Thou wilt in safety dwell.



The above can probably be refined.

The last 4 lines turn out to be a published poem, which may help slightly with identifying the letter-forms of the rest.
https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zfUDAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA208-IA17&lpg=PA208-IA17

Offline Peter L. Mitchell

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Re: Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!
« Reply #2 on: Thursday 20 August 20 11:21 BST (UK) »
WOW! Bookbox, what fantastic detective work! It would never have occurred to me that it would be lines from a poem! Thank you SO much!

Peter

Offline Karen McDonald

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Re: Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!
« Reply #3 on: Thursday 20 August 20 12:24 BST (UK) »
I was wondering whether it might be taking up the language (with an extravagant "k") and simply of the Poet and saying...
In the later lines, the "a" and the "d" are written in the same way as in "and". If indeed it is "and"...

Best regards,
Karen
McDonald MacDonald M'Donald McGregor MacGregor M'Gregor Twilley Wells Fentiman Carrington Rowe Needham Mitchell Mackie Collingwood Fuller Maides Shilton Hagon Budd


Offline Bookbox

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Re: Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!
« Reply #4 on: Thursday 20 August 20 12:27 BST (UK) »
I was wondering whether it might be taking up the language (with an extravagant "k") and simply of the Poet and saying...

Agreed, Karen. Looks much better.

Offline Peter L. Mitchell

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Re: Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!
« Reply #5 on: Thursday 20 August 20 12:30 BST (UK) »
Yes, That looks spot on. I have gone on to the second page of the letter and just realised that the poem identified by Bookbox is continued. Matilda wrote out three verses of it. I'm just amazed and absolutely overwhelmed by how it has all come together so quickly! Thank you!

Offline Vance Mead

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Re: Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!
« Reply #6 on: Friday 21 August 20 05:03 BST (UK) »
I'm curious about one thing. Have you traced Matilda Mede's ancestry farther back?
Mead - Herts, Bucks, Essex
Pontifex - Bucks
Goldhurst - London, Middx, Herts
Kellogg/Kelhog - Essex, Cambs

Offline Peter L. Mitchell

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Re: Matilda Mede letter 1842 - some help, please!
« Reply #7 on: Friday 21 August 20 07:23 BST (UK) »
Hi Vance.

Not a great deal because the Mead side of the family only comes from Matilda, who is my great-great grandmother on my mother’s side. Here’s what I do know:

Henry Meshack Mead (Information from Ancestry):
Birth:           13 May 1796 in Bath, England.
Occupation:   Plumber (source: Matilda and William’s marriage certificate).
Death:           16 March 1863 at Red Rover Inn, Gloucester.
Marriage:           3 October 1816 at St. James, Bath.
Spouse:           Elizabeth Gardiner (1788 – 27 December 1850 at 8 Park Street, Charlton Kings,
                        Gloucestershire).
Children:           Mary Ann (1817 - ).
                   Matilda Frances (1820/1 – 7 March 1890)
                   Elizabeth Gardiner (1822 – 1911)
Address in 1834: Possibly 1 Albany Place, Cheltenham, Bath.

Matilda Frances Mead:
Birth:   1820/1in Bath.
Death:   7 March 1890 at Wallan, Victoria, aged 69 years.
Spouse:   William Francis Menere.
Birth:   2/3 August 1809 in Grosvenor Square, London.
Death:   13 September 1861 at Keilor, Victoria, Australia.   
Occ:           Merchant tailor.

Marr:   20 March 1843 at St. Mary’s Church, Cheltenham, Gloucester, England. (both living at 1 Olney Place, Cheltenham, Gloucester after marriage). Fathers Joseph Menere (gentleman) and Meshack Mead (plumber). Married by William Hawkins (Curate). Source is a copy of the marriage certificate).

Children:   Henri William (1844 – 27 September 1891 at North Carlton, Melbourne) Born at Dundalk,
                Louth, Ireland. Married Evalina Benson in 1867.
                Elizabeth Mary (1846/7 – 3 April 1905 at 9 Post Office Place, South Melbourne) Born at
                Dundalk, Louth, Ireland.
           George Edward (1847/8 – 1885) Born at Dublin, Ireland.
                Fanny Matilda (1848/9 – 1898 at Prahran, Melbourne) Born at Dundalk, Louth, Ireland.
                Louisa Sarah (1850 – 13 December 1926 at Taradale, Victoria) Born at Dublin, Ireland.
                Eveline Emma (15 October 1851 – 5 November 1931 at Footscray, Melbourne) at sea off
                the coast of Sulawesi Tengah, Indonesia on the barque “Ameer” sailing to Australia from
                the UK. Christened 16 April 1856 at Wesleyan Chapel, Prahran.
                Frank Charles (1855 – 1856) at Prahran, Victoria, Australia.
                Marion Frances (1857 – 1954) at Keilor Plains, Victoria, Australia.
   *I only have the baptism record for Henri.

Arrival in Australia: 1851. They lived in Melbourne first, then moved to Keilor (outer western suburb of Melbourne). My late mother often related an anecdote that asserted that Marion was born in Keilor (no birth certificate available) and that it cost five pounds for the doctor to ride out from Melbourne to deliver the baby. I’m not sure of the accuracy of this, but it’s probably true.

Additional:
            I have the framed letter, parts of which I posted on this site. It is dated September 8, 1842 and so far it seems to be a personal letter from Matilda to William Menere.
                 I haven't used Ancestry for over a year, so there might be more information if you use it. The Mead and Menere information there appears to be well researched (some others are shockers).
                 The marriage certificate records their address as 1 Olney Place, Cheltenham, but I can't find that on Google Maps. However, there is a 1 Albany Place (now Road) in Cheltenham, and I'm reasonably confident that this is the correct address. It is likely that there was an error on the marriage certificate.

I hope that helps.

Peter