FAC152/1/12

Letter from Reverend Charles Edward Searle to George Thomas Askew. Sent from Earl Stonham Rectory, Suffolk

16 October 1866

From: 1866 To: 1866

Thanks George for his previous three letters. Has visited Odell the previous month. Did not see much of George's father [James Askew] but talked briefly when he was at work in the field. Saw George's mother [Mary Askew] who was looking after her grandchild and was not pleased with the account heard about the child's father [Richard Foskett]. Saw George's uncle William and heard of his intended marriage to James Odell's daughter, who is the sister of the New Zealand emigrant that he has told George about previously [George Odell]. Also saw George's aunt Sarah who wished to pass on the news that George's cousin Ann had died from consumption. 'The village generally showed but little signs of improvement. Ragged women, tumble-down cottages, and half starved children. I grieved to see them so for they are far below my parishioners and yet I believe the present gentleman at the Castle is willing to spend freely to forward any plan for their good, but so many things are out of course and in one generation they will not come right. The fever for the time has abated' Saw a proposal in the newspapers to annex British Columbia to the United States. Also saw a notice regarding the colony in the previous Missionary Report including a extract from a sermon preached by Archdeacon Wright at New Westminster. The report also notes of a church being bulit at Comax and asks if this is the one that George is supplying timber for.

photocopy

item

Searle, Charles Edward,
Askew, George Thomas,
Askew, Thomas George,
Askew, William,
Odell, James,
Wright,
Askew, Mary,
Askew, James

Suffolk, Canada, British Columbia, New Zealand, ODELL