Letters to Harold Edward 'Pompey' Elliott from various family members, September 1913 - September 1930 - Part 4

When we went North. we left.
the children here with friends
with whom they have speent
a lot of time & are on happy
terms. Helen enjoyed every
moment of it, I fancy, but
poor Alec was quite white
& thin, fretting for us. He
had never once complaned
however but was heard
telling Helen when in bed, that
he was longing for our
return but that it would'nt
do to say so to Mrs Davy 'in
case it made her sad'.
He is quite himself again
now & going to school quite
blithly.
We were very sorry not
to meet your sister Violet when
she came to Eng. Last Aug.
we looked for her at Low Fell 
 

& I waited there in the hopes of
seeing her, & then left a
message that I expected her
at Boston, but I believe
she went off in a hurry at
the last. They all liked her
very much.
I'm sorry I made such a
bungle of the address last time,
but I simply ^relied on what the others
said. They do not Keep an
address book & I had some
bother, I can tell you, with several
letters. However, I've got it here
alright.
The Kiddies send thousands
of Kisses to 'Uncle Harold' – ‘the
most important man in the world
- more important’, they were telling
a companion, ‘even than the King’.
Alec unites with me in
sending New Yr. Greetings
Affect Yrs. Nellie 
 

No 3 Austⁿ Cas.Clg Statⁿ.
B.E.F.
19^th Oct. 1917.
Dear General Elliott
I was most
awfully sorry to hear of poor
old George's death. He was
in every sense one of the
best, and was universally
respected and rightly So.
Please accept my very
deep sympathy. I would
be very obliged if you
could let me have Lyn
Elliott's address, also
Mrs Avery's, at your
convenience. Very Kind
Regards
Yrs Sincerely
M^r. Brendan. O'Sullivan. 
 

[* I've torn
off the address
as I want it
HEE. *]

29 Oct : 17.
My dear Elliott
My wife & I are very sorry
indeed to hear from my sister Millie
of the loss of your brother, I write to say
how very deeply we sympathise with
you & with his widow; it is dreadfully
sad losing him in such a way but at
any rate one can feel proud that he gave
his life for the Empire when so many
are still sheltering under one umbrella
or another. Millie sent me a letter
you wrote to her recently & which was
most interesting. The newspapers &
official reports always minimise
our losses but of course they cannot
be otherwise than very heavy & I am
very sad at hearing how many of your 
 

splendid fellows were lost in the advance
you described. The weather certainly
appears to favour the Boche & I suppose
the ground is now in such a condition
that until it freezes hard it will get
no better, I dare say the troops prefer
frost to mud & will be glad when it
comes. The Russian news for some time
has been very bad but I do not expect
anything from them for some time to come
Whereas the Italian disaster was unexpected
& therefore the more depressing, I wonder
to what extent it may be due to Italian
Boloism, I wish some of our Bolos could
be unearthed but I doubt whether those
in authority have the qualities necessary
to deal with it. My wife sends her
Kind regards & we hope you are very
"fit" & that we shall see you when next
you are over here
Yours sincerely
H. Loftus Tottenham
[* 2DRL/0513 *] 
 

My Dear Nephew,
I have Just had
a letter returned which I addressed
to ^you at the Australian Head Quarters
with the remark 'Address Unknown'
The above is our address pro
tem, but as the Colder weather
approaches we may probably
move down to Brighton i.e
till January 25^th next when
we shall Sail for Jamaica D.V
where we will remain till
June, and after that time 
 

2
return to London- so that our
permanent addresses are : -
Nathan & Co Ltd
Metropolitan House
Kingston Jamaica. B.W.I.
from Feby till June and
Nathan & Godfrey Ltd
25. Moor Lane
London E.C England
from June to Jany.
This address will find me
always - of Course.
We have sold our property
Elmdale - The Hyde London N.W
and got a good price for it.
the servant question became
so acute that domestic help
could not be had for love or
money - so we have decided 
 

3
to live in Hotels until such
times as the women of Britain
return to their normal senses.
One can hardly recognise
the domestics of to day as the
same ^beings as those of pre War days.
I quite think that when the
big wages that were paid
during the War are no longer
obtainable we shall find no
difficulty in getting all the
help we require, then we will
buy or rent another property
as natually we all profer 
 

4
living in a home of our own
We were on a visit to our
daughter in Newcastle a
few weeks ago and saw my
Sister Mary and the girls
they were looking fairly well
with the exception of Issa, the
poor thing had a fall and
I am afraid has injured her
Spine, the Dr thinks she will
get over it, but it will take
time which is generally "the
great healer".
I am under the impression
that you have returned
some papers of mine which
were sent away in error
in one of your wooden boxes 
 

5
Would you Kindly advise
me how and when sent
also whether sent to
Elmdale (the late residence)
or to my business address
25 Moor Lane
London E.C
The old Country I regret to say
is in a very unsettled condition
at the present time, and there
seem no satisfying the toiling
million - as they appear to want
not only a fair share of the