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Samuel May to Edward Harris Strange and Priscilla Strange 12 Sept 1839 Aldbrough. 9 Mo 12.1839 My dear E & P
By Charles's letter you will be informed of our date of arrival at Ipswich, but I concluded he did not tell you any particulars of our Voyage. I will therefore begin where I left off in my letter from town to Edward - after finishing my business I went to Kennington where we supped slept & breakfasted the next morning at half past six, Sister H. Emily & Edward all accompanying us to the Steamer in their Carriage, they went on board with us & continued till the bell rang for the deck to be cleared of company who were not voyagers, we were off at eight o'clock & had about 150 on board, the morning was rather gloomy & a very little rain fell but not enough to keep your Mother below deck many minutes, about eleven the clouds cleared away & we had a most delightful passage, the early part if the day being rather misty deprived us of the view of the scenery on the banks of the river, but the weather was fine when we got into the open sea & we enjoyed it much, the company were very agreeable amongst them was John Beaumont of London - who was very sociable & pleasant company as he could inform us what places we passed, the vessel goes so steady that we could scarcely perceive any motion, & not one out of all the company was sick, having breakfasted so early I became very hungary [sic] by ten o'clock & not having any provender with us, I applied to the Steward to know what he had to eat, & found the remains of a nice round of beef - Your Mother hesitated about having any so early as Eleven but at length joined me & made a hearty meal as well as myself & with the addition of a glass of Porter I was quite refreshed & was glad to get on deck again where we stayed the remainder of the day, except that your Mother having got scent of some hot joints thought, as her appetite was come again, she would take a second dinner, but mine was not ready for hot meat, so she accompanied a gentleman who we had made an acquaintance with to the Cabin & was the only female there & between twenty & thirty Gentlemen, however she made a good meal & seemed all the better for it, about 4 o'clock we got to the small steamer in which we & our luggage all got - the tide not serving for the Iron Steamer to get up to the dock - where we arrived at 5 o'clock.
Charles met us with his chaise & took us & our luggage to Carr Street & after a nice cup of tea & some shrimps we were nicely refreshed, & the next we did was to see the garden which has a fine show of nectrines [sic] & some Peaches of which we partook. In the evening R.Ransome called (& it was concluded for Charles's groom to take us to Aldbro next morning) he pressed us to take dinner with his wife, which we accepted, we got home about 2 o'clock, & found Sarah better than we expected.
We had a pleasant ride as the morning was very fine, but the afternoon was dull & foggy, so that we could not see much of the vessels - & the day has not been clear & at times some rain, so that your Mother has kept house pretty much today, but I have been out many times & seem already to feel stronger, but to return, after dinner we went to our lodgings, which our kind friend R.R. had partly engaged for me, & as our guide approached them we settled in at once, there is only one Cottage between them & us in which lives our landlady - our lodgings consists of a nice parlour about the size of ours & a kitchen similar to our little one a washhouse, & Pantry, two bed rooms very comfortable, one of which our Servant occupies, we have also found all our kitchen utensils & crockery - the Servant who is very agreeable & competent is paid by our landlady & we keep her, all this accommodation we have for 34/- a week, we have brought Linen &c from Charles's -
Our House overlooks the sea in front & at high tide the water is about 20 or 25 yds from us - one window in our bedroom looks towards a Watermill about 200 yds from us & is a pretty object - indeed we could not be better suited with a house - provisions are not much higher than with us.-
We expect R.R. & Charles here on 7th day to spend the next day with us, & wish we could have you to complete the party. Mother desires me to say you must not let Mary Ellen forget us. We hope you will write by return of post (directed for me at E.Butcher's lodgings).
You will send word of all that has occurred that is likely to interest us - I hope Ward will take special care of the girls, I have received 50/- of Charles which sum he wishes thee to give Margaret after paying Ward their fare & half a crown for himself --
I must now bid you farewell and with our united dear loves believe me
Your affectionate Father Samuel May.
I forgot to mention when I wrote from town that I purchased 2 ends of Black Velveteen at one price because they had not the price I wanted, that being the case, they offered to take off a penny a yard by taking both I thought one rather better than the other & I think them cheap at the price -
Since writing the foregoing last night your Mother has had but an indifferent night & at breakfast time complained of pain in her back, about eleven o'clock we walked out & she did not seem the worse for it, but before dinner time the pain increased. She took some gruel & a dose of medicine which did not operate, & the pain continuing with sickness she has just repeated the dose which should have the desired effect, I think we must have the Doctor, we cannot account for this attack as she has not had any symptoms of cold - nor has she ate anything likely to disagree with her, I very much feel the loneliness of our situation under present circumstances, both on her account as well as my own as I fear it will end all the benefit I have desired since leaving home. It being just post time I must close this unwelcome information - if she should not be better tomorrow I intend writing again, but should you not receive a letter you may conclude favourably.
May & Strange Postmarks : ALDEBURGH B
Ampthill 14SP14
E.H.S. Bedfordshire 1839