| Title: | McIlrath (n. Atkinson), Eliza to McIlrath family, 1879 |
|---|---|
| ID | 4519 |
| Collection | The McIlrath Letters: A family history in letters from New Zealand to Ireland (1860-1915) [Bassett, McKee et al.] |
| File | mcilrath/38 |
| Year | 1879 |
| Sender | McIlrath (n. Atkinson), Eliza |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | housewife |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Kowai Pass, Canterbury, New Zealand |
| Destination | Killinchy, Co. Down, Northern Ireland |
| Recipient | McIlrath family |
| Recipient Gender | male-female |
| Relationship | daughter-in-law - parents-in-law |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 380 |
| Genre | family |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Kowai Pass May 25th 1879 My dear Father and Mother I take this little time to write to you hoping this finds you all in the enjoyment of good health as this leaves us all here at present. Dear Mother it is a long time since I have written to you and I am sure you will think I have grown careless but I can assure you it is not carelessness. Hamilton and I often have said we must write home and then it is put off day after day so now I have got all my dear little ones to bed so we shall not put it off any longer. Dear Mother and Father you will laugh when I tell you how many children we have got. Well we have just got six, 4 boys 2 girls. My baby is a girl she was 4 months old on the 12th of this month. She is so very like Jainey. We have named her Harriet Ellen. Dear Mother I wish you could see them. The two girls is so like you and the boys some of them is so like their grandfather. Little Hamilton is the picture of him. John-Robert, Hamilton-Thomas and Jainey sends their kind love and kisses to their dear grandfather and grandmother also to all their dear little cousins, both Uncle John's and Uncle William's. I hope they are all well. We are sending you a view of our house but we are not taken well ourselves. There is two of the children you cannot see at all the sun was too hot at the time and the man had to stand too far off us. I had William on my knee but it is not a bit like him. Jainey is lying at my feet James is beside her but you can not see them at all. The girls is holding the baby. Little Ham. is standing alongside his papa with his dog. John-Robert is sitting in the grass beside me but it is very badly taken. The house is very well taken because it sat still. Dear Father and Mother I must conclude tonight. Hamilton joins me in kind love to you all... Believe us ever your affectionate son and daughter, Hamilton and Eliza McIlrath. |
