Letter, Margaret Jones to Barry and Stewart Jones, 14 February 1942
Description
- Creators
- Jones, Margaret, Author
- Jones, Barry; Jones, Stewart, Recipient
- Media Type
- Image
- Text
- Item Type
- Correspondence
- Description
- A single-page (front and back) handwritten letter from Margaret Jones to her sons Barry and Stewart. In it, she discusses the weather in England and how they have been thinking of Mr. Pate quite a lot since the boys mentioned in their last letter that he had been in hospital for 3 weeks on January 7th. She says that when she sends a cable for Stewart’s birthday she expects a cable back with some news. The last page of the letter is missing.
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. - Inscriptions
- Copley
Pattingham
(Sunday) 14th Feb. 1942.
Dearest Boys,
I sat down to write to you on Friday evening + then I thought I’d like to wait just one other day to see if there might be some mail from you – yes – on Sat. morning 2 letters arrived – Partly what made me wait was that I had a note from Mrs. Edmondson on Friday + it so often happens that all the Canadian + American mail does not arrive the same morning. I feel we might get another letter tomorrow –
Well anyway it was lovely to have your letters – you must be delighted to have your toboggan - - + very lucky don’t you think? I hope you’d plenty [illegible] for it - - because do you know, we have had o real winter weather here eh! - Such a lot of rain + strong gales but no snow or frost – in fact today is nearly mild again – The [illegible] or wheat is growing fast - - there are buds on the trees + every-thing is growing far too quickly for
(2)
This time of year + when frost does come (+ it is most probable that it will) a lot of damage may be done – lots of farmers will start planting this week - - Daddy may, but some of the ground is a bit wet. –
We have been thinking about Mr Pate such a lot - - + really we have had no news much - - Just in one letter received about 3 weeks ago you said he wasn’t well but of course that might just have meant a cold or anything – but several times I’ve felt quite anxious to hear! And now your letter says he has been in hospital for over 3 weeksonJan 7th -- + must have been there for Christmas. Barry says he is some better but next week when we cable Birthday Greetings to Stewart we shall get you to cable back giving us the very latest news.
Yes, Stewart will be 9 before this letter reaches you - - if you remember I told Barry when he was nine, that
[rest of the letter is missing]
- Date of Original
- February 14, 1942
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Jones, Margaret ; Jones, Barry ; Jones, Stewart
- Local identifier
- 2017AM001.044
- Collection
- E. Ann McRae Personal Collection
- Language of Item
- English
- Geographic Coverage
-
-
Ontario, Canada
Latitude: 43.1334 Longitude: -80.26636 -
England, United Kingdom
Latitude: 52.5891 Longitude: -2.26538
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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 Barry and Stewart Jones, 14 February 1942. E. Ann McRae Personal Collection, Item No. 2017AM001.044
- 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
