| Title: | Ellen Dunlop, Peterborough to C. Kirkpatrick, Ireland |
|---|---|
| ID | 929 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Dunlop, Ellen/38 |
| Year | 1875 |
| Sender | Dunlop, Ellen |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | housewife |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Ontario, Canada |
| Destination | Co. Antrim, N.Ireland |
| Recipient | Kirkpatrick, Catherine |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | niece-aunt |
| Source | D 1604/276: Presented by Rev. Robert Kirkpatrick, Breezemount, The Roddens, Larne, County Antrim. |
| Archive | Public Record Office Northern Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 9012040 |
| Date | 01/01/1875 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Action By Date Document added by B.W. 20:12:1993 |
| Word Count | 2980 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | To: Mrs Kirkpatrick Hazelbank Craigs Belfast Ireland [Postmarks front of Envelope] PETEROBORO [PETERBOROUGH?] [?] ..75 [1875?] ONT [ONTARIO?] PAID DERRY JA [JANUARY?] 19 ..77 [1877?] COL [COLONIAL?] PACKET E From: Peterborough Jan 1st 1845 My dearest Aunt Shall have my first and most hearty good wishes for the new year now commenced with all its Joys and sorrows before us unknown yet we may expect them, I hope its commencement has been very joyful to your household that the event expected has been & that you are rejoicing in another olive branch added to your household & that the dear Mother & babe are doing as well as you can expect, I long to hear about it, being well over so near X'mas [Christmas?] when expected I may not hear for another week give my hearty good wishes of the day to all your belongings very much love to yourself & dear Uncle The weather is bright and beautiful - Tuesday 5th The beginning made on New Years day of my letter was written huriedly [hurriedly?] dearest Aunt - a friend of Charles & Uncle to Joss Collins, Dr Collins has been with us on a visit, it has given us a very pleasant change - he is very chatty & full of information for old, the young, the ignorant, the learned, so he suits himself to us & I am sure feels the want of the educated - he is much younger than Charles & very fresh, you will know by this introduction how I am situated, hardly calling the time my #PAGE 2 own, Charles being engaged a good deal poor old me has to sit - listening more than talking, a comfort when it is so, but Charles is such a news man he fully enjoys the companionship of one whose views on passing events are the same as his own, it is the best Medicine Charles has had for a long time, & says to me "how much better he feels since Dr Collins came" the hearty manner & laugh is such a help I can feel - however my share is only a little addition in housekeeping not difficult either by this you will see that my time is a little more taken up - I do feel so conscious for your news of dear Geraldine show trouble is over by this time, I long to hear about it & that she poor dear has recovered nicely with the reward of a healthy infant - how little Kattie's sisterly heart will rejoice over "a baby" belonging to the house what I used to wish for in my simplicity when very young as I had a jealous love for babies although never without one I may say all my youth, & was the head nurse of all my brothers - Anna received your truly welcome & cheery letter last mail we all rejoice in the health & happiness you were enjoying which I hope has continued, that Xmas [Christmas?] & new years day was very happily spent - I always think of you all at this season how very much I enjoyed it - that early walk on new years morning 1853 we rose early walking off to the school house & dear Uncle so simply & beautifully dedicated the new year of God - I shall never forget that morning I felt so full - a happiness seemed to flow out so much then on our return to see my dear every loving Aunts heart overflowing with love #PAGE 3 & good wishes - & a warm comfortable breakfast waiting - not only your household enjoying the good things but the poor about you so plentifully supplied it was all new to me, in those days we had no poor to feed about this Town - I thought it was a true picture of the life of a Clergyman the simplicity struck me so much - New Years day was very quiet Mary & I felt it was a holiday Joss took his Uncle away for a long drive we made a simple dinner as the servant had the day for herself - Kate came as usual to see me to give me her Birthday greeting - we are shut up unfortunately as our faithful old ponys place has not yet been filled we cannot in a hurry buy a horse so few are well trained so being without one I at least cannot walk, having be [been?] suffering from pain im my back Dr B found I should be careful, however his bottle did me good, I feel quite another body, but have to be careful, I have been so active it comes hard to lie by now - We are afraid poor Charley has been very ill I feel so much for dear Charlotte, but trust he will be carefulness guard against all danger of an attack which would be very hard to lay aside again With what interest Alexr [Alexander?] & [Elaine?] must watch the progress of their new house I hope you will be able to give us a sketch of it - I have the one of Hazelbank you sent dear [Mary?] when it was new I know it so well & delight to look at the lawn garden shrubbery & the very window of my [bed?] room - When Alexr [Alexander?] has one in the neighbourhood his own how nice for your sons to be #PAGE 4 settled so near each other & the old homestead for the chicks - I would like a peep now dear Aunt I must go again go off to my bright German - she is a good creature - & useful but ever so much contrary to my orders Wednesday and this letter must leave Peterborough today so my dear Aunt I hope you will forgive the shortness of every thing of interest there is in it - Mary was at the Hays yesterday & saw them all, she says " Aunt Hay looks splendid" health & spirits looking in "good order & very Jolly - I have not seen her for some time as the deep snow & inability to walk fast makes me remain at home how truly grateful we should all feel when the blessing of health is granted the beginning of another year nothing known to us in our circle scattered now to give painful anxiety or sorrow - The ther [thermometer?] was 12 below zero last night but a heavy fall of snow has commenced falling giving warmth to the air my boy Cecil has been with us for the Christmas holidays and Walter came today so all together we have our branches among us - As the end of 1874 closed, we as a Macpherson society were able to forward to the Marchmont [?] [?]elliviles $58 - with a box of clotheing [clothing?] to be made over for the children, that is half worn things that will be made up to suit the little ones - this work is very interesting as the children so far turn out remarkably well, & the good friends who devote themselves to the cause should be assisted when we are benefited so much then the social pleasure to ourselves is a great thing drawing us together in one cause, one interest #PAGE 5 one work - it is but little we can do, as there are many calls in our surroundings not to be neglected, I wish you & your good head & heart were among us - Again I must send my hearty good wishes to all - dearest Aunt accept the same favour your ever loving child Ellen Dunlop The newsletter came safe thank you in Charles name for it he reads it all over I send this to shew [show?] you how our interest is kept us [up?] in the work LETTER FROM MISS MACPHERSON. -------------- "His banner over me LOVE." THE REV. CANON BALDWIN'S TORONTO, Jan. 22, 1874. MY DEAR FELLOW-HELPERS, Feeling it is due to you, however brief and inadequately written, a few lines to express my deep and heart-felt thanks, that though absent from our little toiling match-box makers and widows, through other arduous duties, not one of them have been forgotten. Warm garments sufficient to give each one; extra gifts for the needy ones well known to us; and more than all, loving, voluntary helpers to carry on all the various classes and efforts in and around our great Bee-hive. The blessed Master we all are seeking to serve will shortly give us each one His own sweet approval up to the full measure of our having done it unto Him. In the past few weeks my way has been hedged up, but, as a child led on day by day by a loving Father, why should I murmur or wish it otherwise? The driving about from home to #PAGE 6 home among the children is no longer a joy, but has to be given up owing to a nervous fear about horses I cannot overcome. Last week Miss Bilbrough and I had an interesting tour by railway some forty miles back, sleeping in different homes each night, all Christian families belonging to different sections of the Church of Christ - all longing for a deeper baptism of the Spirit, causing us to pray the Lord to scatter the saints that have been filled, that the far-off places where Christians pine for the communion of the saints may behold their shining faces meet for prayer, and another country longing for a wave of blessing be blest [blessed?] by our God also. The week of prayer has been recognised in most places in Canada; but there is no wide-hearted liberal, religious, paper like The Christian to bind hearts together and let each know joys, sorrows, and experiences of special blessings. We go from place to place like birds of passage, often uniting the dearest Christians unknown to each other by a few miles, and telling them what the Lord is doing elsewhere. What a blessing to this land if the ministers of Canada could have The Christian sent to them for three months! Everywhere, from Quebec to Toronto, the cry is, "We are so dead we want power; why are we not winning more souls?" ___________________________________________________________ 2 Our way has been in each place to ask for the elder girls' Bible classes, and there plead for special blessing. Our Lord said to the sister, "Said I not unto thee, if thou wouldest believe, thou should see the glory of God." We have seen many precious souls in whom the seed had been sown brought to a full decision, and the teachers of the whole Sunday school quickened. Both my companions, one in the east, the other in the west, are being used mightily and seeing souls saved. Our song is praise. Our faith is strong that the Lord will send across this land such men of God to witness to a risen and a coming Lord, they shall be reapers for His glory. In the meantime, while hearing the sound of abundance of rain, "let us pray the Lord to baptize His own children with a spirit of deeper longing for His glory in Canada." Our 1800 little men and women athwart the land are the means of circulating thousands of silent messages, and introducing the bright new hymns of the day, which are fraught with truth as it is in Jesus. The two hundred copies of Mr. Blackwood's valuable books he so kindly sent us are now in the hands of mimisters. May they prove the means of #PAGE 7 great spiritual refreshment! If, instead of storing up such books on library shelves after being read, they were sent to us, what thousands of opportunities we get in these back country places where a new book is a boon indeed! He that scattereth [scatters?] increaseth [increases?]. To the gatherers, rescuers, cleansers, clothers, feeders, teachers of our little Canadian's to be, all I see or hear encourages me to thank God and work quietly on, saying to you, Sow the seed, "precious seed," in faith; the reaping is being done by one and another; we shall all rejoice together in due time. A letter just received from a mimister tells me that H. B. has lately joined our Church membership, adding, " I believe him to be a true child of God; he has a great fondness for the Scriptures, and is a singer of sweet hymns." H. B. was a pale-faced boy, acting as a messenger to a very large licensed lodging house, homeless, friendless, ignorant, and subject to a wasting disease. Now he earns a dollar a day, sawing wood, and makes the manse his home. We found the orphaned Henry had a small brother, Evan, of five years, who was sent out by a wretched woman to sell lights under a railway arch near London Bridge. Our missionary found him on a bed of shavings, in a most wretched condition, one cold day before Christmas: it was many days ere [before?] he was fit to go near _________________________________________________________ 3 the other boys. Oh, ye who are sceptical, and sneer, and call our work for the fatherless and motherless a romance, and ye who, to grace your northern towns with handsome orphanages for visitors to while away an idle hour, spend ye your thousands and educate the little ones many years; ye do well, but grudge not to us toiling women the wee wild waifs of the fetid wynds [winds?], but join us in one struggle to place these solitary isolations containing precious souls in families such as the following:- Mentally step into our home sleigh, the air is keen and biting, the skies high and clear, the way we are passing is now a good roadway for traffic. Step out into this farm-house, acknowledge warmly the greeting of the bashful farmer's wife. You are now seated by the warm stove, when soon the object of the call appears; it is no other than the toothless Evan, now twelve months older, once the forlorn five-year-old among your mighty millioned throng. Watch closely the scene. Ye manly sceptics who grudge the bone and sinew leaving your manufacturing cities, because, mayhap, it may lessen your own increasing hoard of treasured store, #PAGE 8 see ye not ahead that these children will become consumers, instead of idle vagrants to be swept into some reformatory, and thereby supported by taxation. Evan at once recognises his old friend, who asks him if he would like to return with her, when he shouts, "I can't, I can't!" and flies to the loving arms of the farmer's wife, who receives him and is flattered by the preference. A quiet talk ensues as to his birthday, and if she might allow him to call her "mother", then followed story upon story about his affectionate, child-like, cheery ways. All this while, mother-like, she had taken him on her knee, and taken off his moccassins [moccasins?] and warmed his feet. At a respectful distance I was shown what Santa Claus had brought Evan at Christmas, the new primer, &c., and then to hear how many letters and words he had learnt in it, but nothing would induce him to leave his new-found mother's side. The door opens again, and in walks a tall lad of seventeen summers, now the hired boy. With difficulty I recognise Hughie M'Dermot, one of the first six we housed in the experimental Home at Hackney, six years ago. At eleven years he could not be kept under control by a poor widowed mother, who toiled by making cigars to support five children, aged mother, and insane sister, all of whom I found in one room, and only one bed. Seeing her eldest boy was her sorest trial, and knowing that to put ____________________________________________________________ 4 him in a way of life to earn his own bread would be the best way to bear her burden, thus Hughie got a year of discipline, became an emigrant, and is now a manly Canadian citizen. In due time, I trust, he will be a protector to his poor struggling mother. Humanly speaking, when first found, another few months and the police court would have been his end. From each of the three Homes our 1873 balance sheet is sent home to our accountant, Mr. Lewis, audited by men of business and position. The past year will be our heaviest as to expense on this side, having had to build proper dormitories at each Home. Our care still is to be careful not to go before the Lord one step, and to keep praising Him for mercies ever loving and tender received, day by day, from His loving hand. No undue anxiety has been permitted to weigh us down, sufficient day by day. Many beloved sister labourers in India, whose hearts the Lord has knit to ours, also in Central Africa, during the past year has helped us. To our Lord be all the thanks. #PAGE 9 My present plan is, if the Lord will, to return in a few weeks, hoping to visit the Homes in co-operation, becoming acquainted with those gathered in during the past six months, and now under loving influence. It rejoices me to hear that Mr. Muir has opened a Boys' Emigration Training Home at Leith, and that Glasgow, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and Dublin Homes are filling up. May the result of the wave of blessing be, that from Scotland shall come forth a multitude of true, brave-hearted followers of the meek and lowly Jesus, to show a God-defying world the power of a practical Chrisianity! Truly then would we be known by our fruit in holy bonded union of witnessing to a faith and love in action, as did our blessed compassionate Lord. Instead of ones and twos going to and fro, we should hear of hundreds speaking the glad tidings, by being fresh voices for many a toiling, weary, longing pastor, and the fainting missionaries would be refreshed by timely aid from warm hearts in the midst of their toil. Gratefully yours, dear fellow-helpers, affectionately, ANNIE MACPHERSON. HOME OF INDUSTRY, COMMERCIAL STREET, SPITALFIELDS, E. [England?] |
