My mum Rene (Alice Irene Flitney née Harding) died in 1999. When my brother, sister and I went through her things we found an envelope full of old newspaper clippings and other bits and pieces. We looked through the papers and put the envelope away, but those yellowing pieces of paper keep whispering of half-forgotten times and places. Places like Butlers Cross, Stoke Mandeville, Aylesbury, West Wycombe, Little Kimble, Wendover, Ellesborough, Southcourt and Princes Risborough.

Wednesday 24 June 2015

Postcards from my collection

I hope you enjoy this set of postcards sent from Charlie to Maudie in 1904. There is a previous post about Charlie and Maudie here

Dear Maudie, I'm sure this sweet set will please you. très bon! With love Charlie


Dear Maudie, only 7 weeks to Easter!!! It’s pouring with rain again and I’ve been playing all the funeral marches I’ve got to cheer me up. It seems like sacrilege to play anything more lively in Godalming. Metcalf has just started on an eight mile tramp through the mud, so we’re all happy. Adieu pour joyous! Charlie. 


Dearest Maudie, I was quite overwhelmed with gratitude to receive such a beautiful card from you this week. It’s too kind of you and I shall never forget it. (You don’t mind me mentioning that I had that one already, do you?) Easter is getting nearer and nearer. Doesn’t the tempus seem to fugit?  Metcalf went to a dance last week he can’t dance, so he wallflowered and talked scandal with all the other old women. With love, Charlie.


Dear Maudie, the C. M. will do very well, thank you. I haven’t quite decided yet what I shall send you when this set is finished. I’m not going out at all on Monday, as I’m sure to be in great demand. Who is the luckless wight you mean to fix? Love Charlie. 


Dear Maudie, only four weeks to Easter! I suppose it wasn't you who wrote to Metcalf on the 29th? He didn't have a chance of accepting, as he could not recognise the writing. Isn't the weather simply lovely? With Love Charlie. 


Dear Maudie, this is the last of this sweet set. How quickly the time does go, doesn't it? With love, Charlie.


The six cards featured here were sent to Maudie at her Brighton address, whilst the set in the previous post were sent to an address in Hove



 I have an earlier set sent in 1903 to addresses in Guildford and London.


The clues on the postcards proved too tempting to ignore, and a little online searching revealed the following;

Maude Alice (Maudie) Anscombe was born in Brighton, Sussex, England in 1884 daughter of Henry Anscombe and Alice Anscombe née Hacker. Henry and Alice also had a second daughter Gertrude Mary (Gertie) born three years after Maude. Sadly, Gertrude died a few months after her fifth birthday in 1892. I don’t know the cause of death, although it may be reasonable to assume it was influenza.  The first great flu pandemic to be widely recorded was the Russian flu of 1889–1893, which returned annually until 1901. In Great Britain, the winters of 1891 and 1892 were the worst. The epidemic was characterised by huge morbidity. In 1891, 125,000 died from influenza, and in 1892, there were 250,000 flu deaths in Great Britain. Brighton suffered with exceptional severity. 

When Gertie died the family were living at Belmont Villa, Prestonville Terrace, Brighton.  Henry was employed as the assistant manager at the Gas Works, Croydon, London. Which may explain the London address on one of the postcards. Is it possible the family had a London home and a home in the country?

1901 finds the family still living at Belmont Villa, Brighton. They now employ a servant (Mabel Whyborn born in Worthing, Sussex). Sometime between 1901 and 1911, they move to 2 Granville Road, Hove, Sussex. Maud is now 27, unemployed, unmarried and living at home with her parents. 

1915 sees an interesting development when a Miss Maude A Anscombe marries a John W Metcalf at Steyning in Sussex and in 1922 they have a child - John A Metcalf. (The registration of birth records his mother’s last name as Anscombe.)

Did Maude choose 'Metcalf' over Charlie?  It certainly looks that way.  

Maud died in Guildford, Surrey in 1971 and approximately 30 years later I purchased her postcards from an auction. There is obviously a lot more to this story, and I hope to delve further as time permits.

Do you have any thoughts or questions? I would love to hear from you.

This is my contribution to Sepia Saturday 285 : Postcards / Hotels / Buildings

Please pay a visit to Sepia Saturday for more postcards, hotels and buildings.





Source documents
Postcards as described above.
Census records 1891, 1901, 1911.
Birth, marriage, death and parish records.
East Sussex Family Database.

28 comments:

  1. Hi Barbara, a fascinating story and you tell it so well. Not surprised she chose Metcalf over Charlie. Charlie seems rather rude and ungrateful to me. ( Saying how kind she is to send him a card then complaining that he already had that one.) Did you, like me, count the remaining petals on the daisy to see what the result would be?
    Lovely tale, thank you for sharing.

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    1. I did try but I kept changing my mind. If you count the one she is holding then “she loves me” if you discount that one “she loves me not” but then how many has she already discarded? Life is such a conundrum! Thanks for reading the post and for retweeting it.
      It’s another beautiful day, enjoy! x
      PS. Poor old Charlie I felt sorry for him, and I do hope Metcalf wasn’t a bounder!

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  2. The postcards are great, but knowing Maudie's background makes them even better. Don't you wonder what she sent to Charlies and who he was. One thing's for certain - he had a great sense of humor.

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    1. I wonder about it all the time. I’ve tried searching for Charlie online but with just his first name and a postcode it’s very difficult. I have a feeling that Charlie loved Maudie, but it wasn’t reciprocated – seeing her postcards to him might prove or disprove that. I will keep on digging around and see what else I can find. Thanks for visiting me here I really appreciate it, Barbara.

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  3. What a fascinating story! I love the way Charlie used the series of postcards to write notes to Maud. - Trish

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    1. Hello Trish, I've only just found this comment - sorry for not replying to it sooner. I wish we still wrote postcards - rather than emails! Barbara

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  4. Loved the postcards as delightful postcards. But most of all, I loved how you brought Charlie and Maude and Metcalf to life. I am joining the ranks of those who are waiting for your next installment of this story. Isn't it strange how we can get so interested in the lives of folks with whom we have no family relation Good story, good work.

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    1. Hello Joan, thank you for those kind words. I rather felt I was letting Charlie down as I know so little about him but your words have encouraged me to keep digging. I really enjoyed your Sepia Saturday post this week. Barbara

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  5. It is interesting that you have the set all together with interesting messages and can trace the people involved too.

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    1. I was delighted to find them and very glad they had stayed together as one lot in the auction.

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  6. When I started reading, I assumed Charlie and Maude were your family. This story reminds me of a movie that's shown frequently on the Hallmark Channel called "The Memory Book." Are you familiar with it? A girl buys a scrapbook at an antique store and becomes obsessed with the couple whose courtship is captured in photos and mementos. She sets out to reunite the book with the couple. Her journey of detective work is much like yours.

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    1. Hi Wendy, I don’t know the film at all, but I would love to watch it. I like the idea of returning the postcards to the family but the fact they put them into action rather suggests they don’t want them.
      Charlie and Maude feel more like my family everyday. I guess that’s what happens when you start delving into people’s lives.

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  7. I agree, Charlie sounds like a conceited, cynical and critical pain in the ... and I'm not surprised that Maudie chose John Metcalf over him.

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    1. Harsh Jo, harsh. I think Charlie was madly in love with Maudie and probably very jealous of Metcalf, and it looks as though he may have had good reason to be.

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    2. Yes, just before I read your reply I was thinking, maybe I was a bit harsh, but still, he does sound a bit too smart for me.

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    3. He certainly had a way with words perhaps he was trying to impress Maudie. If that was the case, it looks as though it rather backfired.

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  8. Well gosh, I hope Charlie was able to find someone who could love him back. It does seem he was smitten with Maudie but the feeling wasn't reciprocated - at least not enough. Poor Charlie. Unrequited love is tough.

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    1. You are not wrong there. Thanks for leaving a comment. Barbara

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  9. It was the postcard where he said thanks for the card, oh I've got that one already, that gave her the final push towards Metcalf. Metcalf wasn't nearly so dreary as Charlie tried to make him out to be.

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    1. I think all that about Metcalf was Charlie’s way of trying to put Maudie off! It obviously didn’t work. Thanks for your visit, Barbara.

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  10. What a charming set of postcards and it was fascinating to read the background from your research into Maudie and Charlie.

    Family History Fun

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  11. An intriguing story woven through these rather stilted messages and, like everyone else, I was somehow pleased to read that Maudie married Metcalf rather than Charlie. His every word seemed to drip with cynicism and self absorption. However, your detective work has whetted my appetite, and now I want to know what happened to Charlie. Great work

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    1. Hello Brett, I think Charlie is/was misunderstood – poor chap I feel rather sorry for him. I must try to put some time aside to track him down. Thanks for coming over, Barbara.

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  12. Oh I do love a mystery. Well done you for unraveling it and telling a great story.

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    1. Thanks Alex, I had a lot of fun, and it’s lovely being able to share it.

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  13. What a shame these lovely postcards did not stay within the family, always makes me sad and such a lovely story. Xx

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    1. Hi Sue, it is a shame, but I will be sure to give them a good home. Wouldn't it be funny if Charlie or Maudie turned out to be relatives of ours – anything is possible? :-)

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I really appreciate your comment. Thank you!
Barbara x

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