Letter, Margaret Jones to Stewart Jones, 4 August 1941
Description
- Creators
- Jones, Margaret, Author
- Jones, Stewart, Recipient
- Media Type
- Image
- Text
- Item Type
- Correspondence
- Description
- A 2 page letter (folded in half and then written front and back to create 8 pages total) from Margaret Jones to her son Stewart. She thanks Stewart for his letter and was very pleased with the report card he had enclosed (she states: “Don’t you remember that you + I had no brains? I don’t know how you’ve managed to grow yours!!”) She asks him whether he remembers the family’s August Bank Holiday from last year when they went to Church Stretton. She informs her son that little had happened that holiday since Daddy’s ankle has been stiff and sore that weekend and he’s needed to walk with a stick. She tells her son that last Sunday they had a ‘mock’ invasion of Codsall. Part of the Royal Dutch Army invaded and the R.A.F did dive bombing and the home guard defended. It was very exciting since they had at least 40 Dutchmen in their year and the aeroplanes came just over the chimney pots. She provides family updates including his two-year old cousin Alan who has been in Scotland for a year with his mother because of the London bombings.
The letter was provided by E. Ann McRae. - Notes
- The Pate-Jones Collection consists of some photographs of the family members and a large group of letters. The majority of the letters are written by Margaret nee Wilson, and some by her husband Howard Jones, to their sons Barry and Stewart Jones, or to Mr. and Mrs. Pate. From 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, Barry and Stewart lived with Margaret’s second cousin Andrew Wilson Pate and his wife Mary Herron nee McClure at the Brantwood Farm. The original farm was founded by Andrew’s father James Pate, and was situated on the south side of Powerline Road and Gretzky Parkway, which at that time, was considered part of the County of Brant.
The correspondences cover from detail Margaret Jones’ dilemma in settling her boys with virtual strangers, her return trip to England to rejoin the war effort there, news of farm life in England, the concern that England might lose the war, and the anguish of both families when Andrew Pate died in 1944, leaving his teenage son to run Brantwood Farms. These letters are therefore a fascinating way to conceptualize how the war affected daily life in Canada locally, and in England.
In recent decades, the original Brantwood Farm that was situated on the south side of Powerline Road was sold by the Pate family for development. The farms are now located on the north side of Powerline Road, and consist of several farms belonging to several Pate families, mostly within the County of Brant, remaining a thriving local establishment to this day. - Date of Original
- August 4, 1941
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Jones, Margaret ; Jones, Stewart
- Local identifier
- 2017AM001.021
- Collection
- E. Ann McRae Personal Collection
- Language of Item
- English
- Geographic Coverage
-
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Ontario, Canada
Latitude: 43.1334 Longitude: -80.26636 -
England, United Kingdom
Latitude: 52.63333 Longitude: -2.2
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- Copyright Statement
- Copyright status unknown. Responsibility for determining the copyright status and any use rests exclusively with the user.
- Recommended Citation
- Letter, Margaret Jones to Stewart Jones, 4 August 1941. E. Ann McRae Personal Collection, Item No. 2017AM001.021
- Terms of Use
- The information and images provided are for personal research only and are not to be used for commercial purposes. Use of this information should include the credit "provided by Ann McRae"
- Contact
- County of Brant Public LibraryEmail:digitalhistory@brant.ca
Website:
Agency street/mail address:County of Brant Public Library (Paris Branch)
12 William Street
Paris, ON
N3L 1K7 | @brantlibrary
