Letter from Mary Jones to her brother and sister, 23 July 1860 [image 1 of 4]

Description

Letter sent from Mary Jones, a native of Llanfihangel-y-Pennant, to her brother and sister from Ballarat, Australia, 23 July 1860.

Mary's grief for her child, who recently died, features prominently in this letter. She asks her brother and sister to take good care of a picture of William Henry which she sent to them, because, 'that is all you will ever see of my dear little child'. They are about to put a stone on his grave and a palisade of iron. She is grateful that they have the means to give him a respectable burial. William, her husband, still grieves terribly for him, the child had been fonder of his father than of his mother.

Mary mentions that they have sold a house for £500. They own three 'diggings' which pay well, they are called 'Llanberis', 'Seventy' and 'Last Chance'. They now live in a brick house and she often imagines her mother and sister having tea in the parlour. She has not employed a maid since the death of her baby, William Henry. There is very little to do and she neither bakes nor washes. She suffers from no illness despite being weak, and hopes eventually to be able to do something for her parents and all those who have been good to her.