Letters to Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott from various family members, September 1913 - September 1930 - Part 18

3.
Trevor Hall,
Trevor. Nr. Wrexham.
Chris Ringroses Sister,
'Effie' Patty's great friend
Vags Son have been very
kind to him. which is 
very nice if you. He has
stayed with us & I
thought him a very nice
fellow. Though Effie is
my 'Second daughter' it
was many years before we
met Chris -
I went down & stayed
with Martha for a week
in the late autumn. She
seemed very well, but while
I was there one old Governess
Miss Ottaway got ill & rather

frightened us but she soon
got better. She is over 80! & well
she may be as she was
my first Governess & I reach
the allotted span this year.
All the same I am fairly
agile still.. & can play
a game of tennis in the
Summer still with probably
more pleasure to myself
than to my companions!
Lloyd & Patty send their
love & best wishes for
1929 & Please give my
love to Violet also &
kindest Regards to your
Mother, D. Avery etc.
& with love to yourself
Y. affect Cousin
E.I. Lloyd Edwards.
[*2DRL/0513*]

141 Halifax Old Rd 
Huddersfield
19/1/29
My dear Cousin
Your most interesting letter came some
weeks ago & I meant to write straight away
but on Xmas day Mother took very ill & since
then has required constant night & day attention.
She is now our of danger, Im thankful to say,
though very frail & it will be a long time
ere she is up & about again.
During this time too the household has been
down with colds (there is quite an epidemic
in the country at present) & you can imagine
my time & strength have been taxed to the full.
Now all is going well & the home atmosphere
is getting to be cheerful once more.
Fxxst of all then I must thank you for the
Sxxre certificates which you enclosed. To have a
share. even a small one in anything certainly quickens

ones interest & the children are constantly pretending
to swagger over the fact that now they own a stake in
the Commonwealth.
You must lead a most interesting life with all
your parliamentary & military duties in addition
to your ordinary legal ones. Does a 24 hr. day
suffice or have you a secret means of expanding
them over there. I could do with a hint if
there is.
Mother was delighted with the nice magazine
Katie sent. She will be writing to thank her
when she is able. The 'Australian Travellie'
which came to hand yesterday is full of
interest too & beautifully illustrated. There
seems a big future for great districts not yet
opened out. This no doubt is being somewhat
frustrated at the moment but by the labour conditions
but these must be firmly dealt with you as with
us both in your country & in ours if any kind of
real progress is to be made. The awful set back
to trade in this country is largely due to the

miners being allowed too much sway during &
just after the war.
I'm glad your boy & girl are working so
hard at their studies We all feel a great
interest in them here & hope some day we
may have the pleasure of seeing them over
here. Alec is working hard & Helen
leads a busy life too, for when not at college
she gives me much help in the home - for which
particularly just now, I am very thankful.
Alec Senr is well & keeps plodding along.
We are amongst nice people here & our time
is practically taken up over church matters.
Mother asks me to tell you in case you
haven't heard that her brother, Mr James Scott whom
you visited in London I think, died recently. His
wife died & was buried at sea about 2 years ago.
I wrote to Charlie & sent on the certificate. He
& his wife are well also Minnie & her family.
With affect regds to you, Katie & the
children.
Nellie Peaston
[*2DRL/0513*]

"Wynthorpe", Barnfield, Urmston.
Manchester. 19th Jan. -29
My dear Cousin,
Your very welcome letter arrived several
days ago & should have been answered
long ere this had it not been for illness,
which claimed me first as a victim &
now in these last days as a nurse.
I have first to thank you for the
long & interesting story of your active
life & again for the gift you have
made me of a holding in your
company, which needless to say I hope
will prosper abundantly.
Your official position, your deep
interest in affairs, & your own wide
concerns in Australia, must all help
to make your life a busy & valuable one,
& I am sure your letters, ranging over
so many subjects, would make interesting
reading to any Britisher not less than to
us your actual relatives & correspondents.
As you no doubt know I have an
insatiable passion for travel & if ever

I find my way across the world to Australia,
I think the pictures conjured up by your
letters will have had something to do
with the attempt.
I can, for example, imagine the wonderful
experience of the plane-flight over your
country : it would be like focusing
the aspirations of a new civilisation into
a living picture.
I fear I am not much of an Empire politician,
but of course we read in our newspapers
of the Australian dock disputes last year
& similar attempts at home here completely
failed, thanks to the reasonable attitude of the
mens' leaders. Indeed we had a peaceful
year industrially in England, but most forms
of business are still terribly depressed,
especially iron, coal & the textile trades.
Herbert has been exceptionally fortunate
in being attached to the electrical industry
which is flourishing in all branches.
As you remember he was chemist &
consultant before the war & until 1921 to

Cooksons' the great lead concern & was then called
in in an advisory capacity on one aspect of the
lead trade, viz electric accumulator manufacture.
He is now research Manager to Oldham & Sons Ltd, Storage
Battery mfrs of Denton, Manchester.
Our boy Philip will be seven in April & is growing
into a sturdy little fellow of wonderfully sweet
disposition. He is doing well at a near-by
School & we shall probably keep him here for
another couple of years before sending him
away to a public school.
My own health has been improving in a general
sense during the last two years but we have
all & I especially, suffered chronicallly with
catarrh since coming to Manchester. We spent
Xmas at Newcastle again, with Herbert's people, but
first I & then he found it necessary to lie up with
influenza & we are only just now recovering.
Mother also, who is at present with Nellie at
Huddersfield, has had a most serious
illness - indeed her life was despaired of
just at Christmastime. I am relieved
however, to tell you we must have much

more favourable news these last few days.
Poor soul, she is finding her 78 years a burden at
last, but her troubles weigh all the heavier now
that Issie is not in the flesh to cheer & nurse
her. Issie's passing has been a terrible
sorrow to us & mother must have been keenly
aware of the anniversary of her death, which
came early this present week.
I hope that the business negotiations to which
you refer in your letter will have been concluded
to your great satisfaction & that your plans &
provisions in other directions may be very successful.
It is good to hear of the health & progress of your
family - I wonder whether good fortune in the future
will grant us a meeting : I hope so, at any
rate, even if there is no oil in Queensland!
The new year so far has brought us a fair
amount of frost & snow, an epidemic of
influenza & a victory for the England cricketers;
we look with quiet confidence to the future
With affectionate regards from us all.
Yours Minnie
P.S. Very many thanks indeed for the
beautiful magazine, which has just come to hand by this post.
[*2DRL/0513*]

141 Halifax Old Rd,
Huddersfield
19.1.29
Dear Uncle Harold,
It was exceedingly kind of you to send me
the share in your new company. I was very interested to hear
of your work in the political life of Australia and to know
that you were already beginning to do active work in
connection with the new capital. I have now the feeling of
personal interest in connection with its growth and I shall
watch with interest all that occurs there. We have
all enjoyed reading the magazines you sent and have been
particularly pleased with xthe pictures of Australian life - so
different from the busy industrial areas in which we live.
Your climate, too, must be delightful - I only wish you could
transport some of your sunshine to our rainy country.
Everyone here has been following the cricket with the greatest
enthusiasm, and naturally we are proud of the result.
Sutcliff is a Yorkshireman who was born not far from
Huddersfield, while both Rhodes and Holmes are Huddersfield
men. The former presented a cricket cup to mythe school a short
while ago.
Mother was pleased to hear of the success of your
old college. My own xschool has a fairly good soccer and
cricket team. Most of the boys at school are more interested
in the former as, owing to the frequent occurence of first class
football matches, more local attention is given to football
than cricket. A few months ago the directors of "Huddersfield
Town" presented a cup to the school. The school is not an
old one but it has had quite an adventurous history during
its 90 yrs. of life. At one time the late Earl of Oxford and
Asquith was an old "Collegian" and shortly before his death
he paid a visit to the school. The town is quite a pleasant
one, considering its size and the number of woollen mills.
I have been visiting the old halls and churches in the
district, and a year ago Mother and I went to Howarth where
the Brontie sisters wrote their novels. During the summer I
hope to visit York Minster and go to the Marston Moor place near by
where Cromwell defeated the Royalist troops in 1644. During the
summer holidays I went with the school camp to North Wales
where I visited the wonderful old Castle at Carnavon which
was built by the first two Edwards. A friend and I
then went to the remains of the old Roman