Tuesday, August 2

Reviewing the situation over the stove and a pipe


"your humble reviewing the situation over the stove and a pipe - there is a shortage of seating in the house"

This is a photo of one of my old friend Vincent's correspondents, taken at home either in Ticehurst, Sussex or Saskatchewan, Canada in the 1920s. So far all I know is that his first name is Harold and from the reams of letters I've got covering 1920s to 1940s he appears to have been a deacon, (if not a preist or bishop even), in the Catholic Church as he writes of 'sermons to work on' and often dates letters with St Someone-or-other instead of the day and month.

No doubt I'll discover more as I read through them all but that'll take some time and I suppose I should do something useful over this summer break. I do just love this image, though, the fellow seated on a Quaker White Rolled Oats tin, the gas lamp and milk bottle in the background. although it looks like an electric light bulb in the ceiling. He writes brilliantly and I shall endeavour to reproduce sections on this blog from time to time as, despite his apparent church role, in private he takes a delightfully maverick viewpoint of much of what goes on!

Like Vincent, he did not marry or have children but would have had an influence on many and will similarly not have failed to make a significant mark on the communities where he did reside. 



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