Letter, Margaret Jones to Barry and Stewart Jones, 6 July 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 her letter, she describes the garden she is planting, the people she has seen and the film she saw with her mother in Wolverhampton (“ The Next of Kin” a British propaganda film which promotes the message “Careless Talk Costs Lives.”)
This letter was likely sent along with a letter from her husband (2017AM001.053.)
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
W Wolverhampton
6th July
My Dearest Boys,
I know you’ll be thrilled to have this long letter from Daddy. I hope you can make out all of it - - I guess Betty or Jim had better read some of it for you - - In fact seeing it is all about the farm, maybe Jim would be the best to ask –
It seems to me that it needs Daddies to give boys the news they like + my letter will ^seem to be rather dull this week, but I’ll do my best + I won’t make it too long. –
The last letter we had from you was written when Mrs Pate was in Toronto, in anticipation of Marion’s graduation. – By now the graduation will be old news, but it’ll be new + interesting to me, so I hope to hear about it. – The note by Betty at the end of the letter gave me great pleasure. -- It was fun to see her writing again - - especially when she had to write it in the midst of her hectic baking + cooking – Good old Betty! –
Yes + then last week we had a letter from Uncle Ted sent from Detroit. It was written just after he’d sent off our pistols - - you rascals!! – Have you broken them yet? - - or have they been “confiscated”? – I hope you don’t scare the district. – It was very nice of Uncle Ted you know - - He has been
(2)
trying lots of places to get them for you.
The weather is still lovely, [illegible] we had some nice rain last Friday + Saturday + I took the chance to put some plants in the garden - - winter greens, cauliflowers, cabbage + sprouts - - - I have to do most of the gardening you know + all the vegetables are really good. Next year I shall have more - - also flowers. Mr [Cockerel?] was here yesterday + he was advising me on what to do in the autumn to prepare the garden for its work next year. He is an expert gardener + his advice was very welcome – But even he said that he hadn’t seen better lettuce anywhere - - I think it must be a good garden - - Things grow quickly so [illegible], and sweet + tender.
Yes, we’ve had a lot of visitors this week. Mrs [Foveryth?] (Stanley’s mother-in-law from London) was here for a couple of days – Auntie Janette + grandma Wilson came another day - - Joan + Frank [Wiseman?] came on Sat. + Mr + Mrs [Cockerel?] came yesterday (they cycled here - - it is just a nice turn from Codsall) - - Of course they were asking about you - - Joan + Frank particularly! Mrs [Cockerel?] wishes you were nearer to her brother in Edmonton. –
I had to go to Wolverhampton one day too + I took the chance to go to see a film called “The next of Kin” - - It was a war picture about careless talk _ I was very interested + Daddy didn’t to see it so Granma Wilson + I went - - I don’t go to town often nowadays - - I’ve no coupons left to buy things with. - -
Goodbye for this week –
Lots + lots of love from Mummy. - Date of Original
- July 6, 1942
- Subject(s)
- Personal Name(s)
- Jones, Margaret ; Jones, Barry ; Jones, Stewart
- Local identifier
- 2017AM001.052
- 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
-
- 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, 6 July 1942. E. Ann McRae Personal Collection, Item No. 2017AM001.052
- 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
