| Title: | Earl of Ava to his Mother Marchioness of Dufferin & Ava |
|---|---|
| ID | 940 |
| Collection | Irish Emigration Database |
| File | Earl of Ava, Archibald/1 |
| Year | 1894 |
| Sender | Archibald, Earl of Ava |
| Sender Gender | male |
| Sender Occupation | army officer |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Destination | Europe? |
| Recipient | Hariot, Marchioness of Dufferin & Ava |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | son-mother |
| Source | D/1231/G/2/114: Deposited by Lady Hermione Blackwood |
| Archive | The Public Record Office, Northern Ireland |
| Doc. No. | 9808504 |
| Date | 01/01/1894 |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | EMG |
| Log | Document added by LT, 19:08:98. |
| Word Count | 963 |
| Genre | |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Ottawa. Monday. Aberdeen 1894 My dear Mama. I have been here a week now and have seen a good many people, though most of them for such a short time that I cant tell you much about them. There is lots going on as I have been to two dances & suppers, one play "La Maseotte", & any number of tea-[-----?] besides some lunches, & curling. Nobody has begun to skate yet but the rinks open this week. Hockey is all the skating men think of now I believe & the ladies do not do as much figure skating as they did in your time. Ottawa is evidently a great place for teas, & it is the only way they entertain much as most people dine in the middle of the day & the men go out in the evening curling & skating, the rinks being lit by electricity. All the ladies have then "days" & expect their friends to turn up between 5 & 6.30. If society skates they go in the morning but the skating begins this week so I have seen more of it yet. There is nothing I hate more than sitting with a crowd of people in the same room but to get to know people & pay calls I have been round every day with Mr Dixon. At first all introductions brought about the same conversation condensed as follows. Delighted to see you How are Lord & Lady Dufferin We never have had anyone like them. The older people all end with It does not seem possible to be 16 years since they went away. They all take me to be about twenty and I think that many men here look much younger than they are. I remember some of them very well & their faces do not seem to have changed much namely Mr Haycock who used to skate so well, Col. McPherson, Mr Hamber & a few more. Then they go on to ask after Uncle Fred & to say they wish you would pay them a visit if it was only a flying one. There is a rumour that you go to Washington but I do not believe it. There seem to be a great number of pretty girls in Ottawa & not many young men, though the latter must be somewhere. The Aberdeens have done nothing yet & the people are waiting anxiously for them to begin. I lunched there one day & from what Ly. [Lady?] Aberdeen said I think a start will soon be made as they have only been resting after their travels. Lady Aberdeen was very kind to me asking me to stay as long as ever I liked & to make Govt. [government?] House my home while I was in Ottawa. I leave Mr Dixon & go down there this afternoon but Mr D. [Dixon?] expects me to come back here some time. Their staff have kept down at Govt [Governmnet?] House altogether so far & have not made the acquaintance of any one yet, but they are just going to lunch out too. I met Miss Kingsford almost the first day & recognised her directly. She looks very young & pretty. What a pity that she has never married. She must be rather dull too at her home. Miss Housworth that was is here but I have not seen her & also Miss Lemoyne that was. Yesterday I lunched with Sir Adolphe Caron & his wife & daughter. He asked a great deal about Fred & offered to lend me his horses & was delighted to hear of you & father. Mr McIntosh just made Lieut. [lieutant?] Gov. [govenor?] to the north west gave me a dinner at the Club. He proposed my health & made an awfully kind speech about father. He has some very pretty daughters & they all go off today on the C.P.R. Last night we had supper with Sir James Grant, just returned unopposed for Parliament. I think that his waistcoat below the belt has had to be considerably let out but other wise he is much the same. He told me he felt "stronger" than he did in your time. He kindly asked me to go in there as often as I liked. The daughter "Harriet" called after you in not pretty but a pleasant girl & the unmarried son is a good sort. Lady Grant thinks a tremendous lot of her photographs & has rows of them hung up & framed in the drawing room. I did not notice any good ones of you so I expect they would be glad to have them. Of course so far I have about only seen people for a few minutes & so not know any one particularly well. On the curling rink there was Mr Greer, Col. Anderson & a whole lot of men who knew you. We paid a visit to Mr Gilmore & Mr Wickstead but they are both so deaf its almost impossible to talk to them. I look forward to beginning hockey this week & am going to do all the curling I can get in. The A.D.C's about at Govt. [government?] House are all keen luckily about it. I thought Bob Ferguson was looking very delicate. "La Mascotte" was well done. There was a minnet in it introduced & danced by the girls here. They were well dressed & looked lovely some of them. Mr Miles the hair cutter, Peter Connelly a waiter & the bookseller at the corner were all delighted to see me. The only other bit of news I can think of is that Mr Pope is writing the life of Sir John Macdonald. With love to father. I remain my dear Mama Yours affcetly [affectionately?] Archie |
