Sept 30th, 1874

2 Devons Road
2 Doors from Gale St.
Bow Common [London]

Dear Sister and Brother

We received your kind and welcome letter on the 22nd of this month, and I now take this opportunity to answer it. Well, dear sister, I am ashamed of myself when I think of it in not having wrote before. We have often talked about it and even the night before we received your last we were saying we had a little more news to add, so now we must write. But you see, dear sister, it is just the reverse to you, for you have to write yourself [end of page]

[Page 2] and not your husband. While I cannot get Elizabeth to write, but be that as it may, we ought to have answered yours before as I promised. Well Dear Sister, we were sorry to hear so sad account of father. I hope before this that you have them near to you and that his health is improved. We should very much like to see father again, but that seems almost an impossibility, but we have this hope and this our prayer that if not permitted to see one anothers faces again on earth, we may meet each other in heaven where every thing is unsullied and uninterrupted [end of page]

[Page 3] where there is no more sickness or death, for all those things will have passed away. Please give our kind love to them both, and tell father that Mr. and Mrs. Triff is comfortably cared for, they being inmates of one of the block of almshouses build on a piece of ground adjoining the alley that led to their old house. And as regards Robert, we cannot find out his whereabouts yet, for we heard from Mrs. Webb's daughter that he had left ?Hodsden and had gone to live at Enfield which is near Jotenham. She went to one of his old companions, a shopkeeper [end of page]

[Page 4] in Whitechapel to get his address for us, but could not succeed, but if spared we will go down to his old lodgings before long at Hodesdon. And by the way, Mrs. Webb has been dead about two years. And as regards James and Sarah, we have not heard from them for some time, and cannot think the reason for we have wrote twice to them and have had no answer. They sent you a little seed as you desired with their kind love to you all. And now Dear sister, with regard to ourselves, in the first place I must tell that Elizabeth was confined on the [end of page]

[Page 5] ninth of last December [12/9/1873] with a fine girl and she has now four teeth though she has been rather sadly this last few days, but is now better. She is very engaging. Her name is Louisa Margaret. Then a fortnight afterwards our eldest daughter Elizabeth was confined with her second girl, which causes some mirth with us as there being one niece older than her Aunt. Little Lizzie sends you the photo of her and her husband, and the two children. We have been waiting for to send you our two boys but they have not had them done yet. I expect we shall soon leave [end of page]

[Page 6] the eldest of them from home and be settled in one of his own. They were to be married about Christmas next, but I don't think it will be so early as that, as their trade is dull just now. He is working at Hoxton and is learning the engineering trade. I wish you all would just come over to Bow Common to see us, and to see a working model steam engine that he has made, which I think would repay you for your visit. He has taken two prizes at the Workmans Exhibition for it, and made it before he went to the business at all. His grandfather [end of page]

[Page 7] would be highly delighted to see it I am sure. You ask in your former letter whether we live near Stratford or Westham, well neither of them is very far from us, neither is the Whitechapel Road, and neither is the Commercial Road. But Bow Common more towards Poplar and not far from the East and West India Docks, which would be very handy if we made up our minds to pay you a visit some of these days, and about six minutes walk would get us to Trinity Chapel Poplar where the Rev.d G. Smith was to preach, which I dare say, you recollect coming to Merton Chapel on one or two occasions, but now gone to rest. I see by one of our papers [end of page]

[Page 8] that Mr. Thomas, whom we know and who is minister of a chapel in the Whitechapel Road, has been taken a tour to Saratoga Springs and speaking very highly of it. You ask also if we are Baptists- yes we are, and it is about 12 minutes walk from our house to Bow Chapel, which is the farthest end of Bow Church, nearest to Stratford. I've have a photo of the chapel which we will send another time. I must tell you that is was a source of great delight to me to witness your dear sister pass through the baptismal waters in obedience to our Lord command thus profess her faith in him on the 17th of the month, though we have command with them for a very long time. I was sorry that I did not mention the price of some B____ __ wanted [end of page]

[p.s.] I sent my letter to them on the 10th of September. It we had to pay 13c for this letter. We thought father would like to see his great grandchildren. Please to send this all back but if you are likely to move soon, send it after and then you can tell us how you [end of page]

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