| Title: | McIlrath, Eliza Jane (Jennie) to McIlrath, Sarah, 1908 |
|---|---|
| ID | 4535 |
| Collection | The McIlrath Letters: A family history in letters from New Zealand to Ireland (1860-1915) [Bassett, McKee et al.] |
| File | mcilrath/54 |
| Year | 1908 |
| Sender | McIlrath, Eliza Jane (Jennie) |
| Sender Gender | female |
| Sender Occupation | unknown |
| Sender Religion | unknown |
| Origin | Springfield, New Zealand |
| Destination | Killinchy, Co. Down, Northern Ireland |
| Recipient | McIlrath, Sarah |
| Recipient Gender | female |
| Relationship | cousins |
| Source | |
| Archive | |
| Doc. No. | |
| Date | |
| Partial Date | |
| Doc. Type | |
| Log | unknown |
| Word Count | 796 |
| Genre | gifts, wedding, engagements, family, fires, weather, social events |
| Note | |
| Transcript | Thorndale, Springfield January 25th 1908 Dear Sarah Your lovely present came as a great surprise to me, also Minnies to Emy. I do not know which is the more lovelier of the two. They are both beautiful. I appreciate them all the more coming from Ireland. The sideboard cloth is too large for our sideboard, so I am putting it away until I get one to fit it. I have already been promised a sideboard when I get married and one that the cloth will fit too. Emy is putting hers away. Everybody admires them. They think both of you must be very patient to work them so nicely. The table centre is pen painted is it not? When they were forwarded on to us, it just said from Cousin Sarah and Minnie. I guessed they would be from you, as we have no cousin named Sarah in New Zealand. To make sure I wrote to Lakeside and enquired who sent them. You must go in a lot for fancy work. I do very little of it, but Emy does a lot. She is doing a lot of things for my sister Edith. Edith is engaged to be married to a Mr. Syd. Gillett. He is a neighbour of ours and a farmer. He is 31 years of age and is very nice. Edith is the fourth girl. Jim my third brother is engaged to a Miss Olsen. She lives in Kumara 110 miles from here. Jim teaches school at the Christchurch Training College. He gets £300 a year. He is an M.A. and also L.L.B. He is thinking of giving up teaching and becoming a lawyer. The other boys work at home. We have two farms, and we girls are all at home. We are just in the middle of harvest now. We have two reapers and binders going. The weather is terribly dry. Everybody is afraid of big fires starting. Last harvest was very dry too and a big bush fire started a few miles away from our other farm. The smoke was so dense and hot that the boys had to knock off reaping. The ash came in thick to the house. It burned hundreds of acres of bush. Thousands of sheep got burnt, also peoples houses. Had it crossed the river it would have burnt us clean out. In fact it would have gone right to Christchurch 40 miles distant. There would have been nothing to stop it, but plenty of ripe crops, dead gorse, dry grass, broom etc. to encourage it. One night our boys with several others stayed at the river putting out live embers that blew across. Several times it nearly got the best of them. This year a most disastrous fire occured about 20 miles away from us. It was a grass fire. It burnt 8 different people out. All their feed, sheep and even horses being burnt. Altogether it burnt over 3000 acres of grass. The fire travelled at the rate of 60 miles an hour, and the flames leaped over 6 ft. high. It had been a station and last year had been broken up and sold. They were all new settlers on it One young fellow we knew. All his grass was burned and 700 sheep and 3 horses. The people around here are starting a subscription for him. There are fires over nearly all New Zealand. It is not safe for anyone to drop a match. Two days our thermometer was 100° in the shade and several days it is 92°. Today is very cool and raining slightly. Our crops are very good, the wheat especially. We got a good deal of rain in the Spring. I suppose you are having winter now. I hate winter. We had a great exhibition last year. All the world sent exhibits to it. It lasted six months. I went down several times to see it. It looked lovely at night time. The Royal "Besses 0' the Barn" band played at it. They also played one night at Springfield. They were lovely. We all went to hear them at Springfield. They charged 5s/ each admission. The hall was not half large enough for the crowd who wanted to hear them. They are supposed to be the best band in England. I heard them 3 times altogether. Do you collect postcards? I do. I would like if you would exchange with me. I have got some nice ones. Father and Mother are in the best of health and so are we all. I hope you are all enjoying good health. Give my kind regards to all at home. Again thanking you and Minnie for nice presents and heaps of love. I remain your affectionate cousin Jennie McIlrath. Write soon. |
