Letter from Gertrude Bell to her stepmother, Dame Florence Bell

Letter from Gertrude Bell to her stepmother Florence Bell, estimated to have been written in or around 1880.

About this item

Summary

Undated letter estimated to have been written between 1875 and 1885 in which Bell provides a brief update on her activities and those of her brother, Maurice. She notes that Maurice has been receiving latin lessons from their Uncle, Thomas Marshall and that she has been knitting. She enquires after her half-sister, Elsa, asking if she has learnt to walk yet.

Reference code

GB/1/1/1/1/1/23

Recipient

Bell, Dame Florence Eveleen Eleanore

Creator

Bell, Gertrude Margaret Lowthian

Creation Date

1 January, 1875 - 31 December, 1885

Extent and medium

1 letter, paper

Language

English

Location

England » Leeds

53.831437, -1.511312

Transcription

Dear darling Mother. I am having great fun here. Maurice has caught 3 fish. There is a whole wood full of bilberries. If Papa likes them we will bring a lot home with us. I go with the boys fishing every day. Can Elsa walk yet? Uncle Tom is giving Maurice 20 minutes Latin a day. Will you send Maurice's flask. I do a lot of kniting [sic] here for I take it with me every. I am so sorry this is badly written. Give my love to Papa. I remain your loving daughter Gertrude.

Enhanced transcription

Evolving Hands is a collaborative digital scholarship project between Newcastle University and Bucknell University which explores the use of Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) and Text Encoded Initiative (TEI XML) to enhance cultural heritage material. In this project, we have applied these methods to a selection of letters from the Gertrude Bell Archive.

https://cdm21051.contentdm.oclc.org/iiif/info/p21051coll46/6678/manifest.json

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/