JACOB ("JACK") MITCHELL | LYDIA BARRON HARBOUR

The following letters were written from New Zealand to the Mitchell family in Scotland. The full text is available to family members on request. Address requests to imitchel@uniserve.com

Jack Mitchell
1931.02.18 - Letter sent from Oamaru to Miss Mollie Mitchell

Winifred Elsie Mitchell (married name Meldrum)
1924.07.06 - Letter sent from 20 Dee Street, Oamaru, to Miss Mollie Mitchell
1925.11.20 - Letter sent from 20 Dee Street, Oamaru, to Miss Mollie Mitchell
1936.01.30 - Letter sent from 10 Conway Street, Oamaru, to Miss Mollie Mitchell
1936.11.15 - Letter sent from Delgarno, 4 Dee Street, Oamaru, to Miss Mollie Mitchell
1944.01.19 - Letter sent from Delgarno, 4 Dee Street, Oamaru, to Miss Mollie Mitchell

Lillian Helen Irene Mitchell (married name McCarthy)
1924.04.05 - Letter sent from Canterbury College, Christchurch to Miss Mollie Mitchell

Oamaru Dear Cousin Molly: Will you please forgive me for not writing to thank you all for your kind remembrance of my wife, family and myself on several occasions, and also your very nice almanacs from Dear Old Homeland. I have always been going to reply and also ask you to continue just letting us know how you all are at home.

With this letter I am posting two of our New Zealand papers, just to show you all what this wee Island home can do when it starts to play up. Thank God as far as we know there is none of our folk so far victims although we have in the North Island and I am afraid some in Hastings who are cousins of yours and mine. I mean the Cousin Runcimans. We unfortunately have sort of got out of touch with these since they left Dunedin and settled in the North Island.

My brother Dave is a landscape gardener in Hamilton and he, his wife Mary, and their only child, a girl about twenty (Mollie Mitchell) are like myself not very frequent writers. However, I am just going to say this. I do think very often of Daddy’s and Mother’s people at home and wish I knew more of them all. I have got what I prize very, very much, that is the photos of my Dad’s people for I just don’t know how far back. I may say counting from my daughter’s kiddies, a boy Ramsay, 6 years, and wee Patricia, 3 years. I have five or six generations back. I had some given me by my Dad and Mum, and when Auntie Muir died, her son Jack selected me to have her collection and posted them to me. If you folk should ever wish to see these, I would be pleased to post them to you for inspection. And also if you should have any of Dad or his folk, I too would like to see them, but most of all I would like to see your sweet self sometime in New Zealand when I promise to give you the time of your life.

My family are now sort of gone their own sweet way. Wini is married and living here in Oamaru quite near us. Lillian is now after about seven years of College, University and school teaching in Christchurch, has come home and taken a position here in Oamaru. Teacher of a school for backward children but as I know she is soon writing you herself, I will leave to her to tell you about it.

Jack my only boy has been for about nine years employed in the National Bank in Christchurch and is married to a nice wee Scotch lassie, Jean Watson, and have a nice wee home there. My baby, Melba, after taking care of our home ever since Mother’s health failed ten years ago and being to us all just a girl in a thousand, has now gone to Dunedin and joined the nursing staff of the Dunedin Public Hospital. Of course, I know Lillian will now be able to look to mother, and I am keeping a woman to do the housework so we will be all right but I do miss my (wee) mate.

Will you please Molly write me a wee letter soon just to say how your people are and please tell me if any of New Zealand friends have sought you out. There were some bowlers here who said they knew your Dad and his place of business and they promised me they would call on you on their return. I took four of them from Oamaru to Timaru (I have forgotten their names now) in my car. I have no more news now so will just close with love to all at home. I remain, your loving cousin, Jack Mitchell.

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Dee Street, Oamaru Dear Cousin Mollie, Just a few lines, even though you owe me a letter, to tell you of the arrival two months ago (30th April to be exact) of my little son. He is such a dear wee soul and so good - sleeps all night and in the mornings and I either take him out or devote most of my time to him in the afternoons and he lies and kicks while we have tea and then goes off to bed. He is a strong wee chap and is growing so fast - was 9 lbs when born and is now 14 lbs! He has big dark blue eyes and brown hair which will be curly like his Dad's I think and tho' he is dark (or nut-brown) and Jack fair, I think he is more like him somehow than our folks.

Really he is a dear wee soul and I wonder how ever I did without him - I also wonder however I filled my days, for I have to fly around now to get through my work. However, it is worthwhile, and it will be better when the better weather comes and I can start earlier for one really can't do much pottering around before daylight, and then it is dark at teatime. You will be enjoying mid-summer weather, I suppose, but never mind, we have it to look forward to, and it will soon be here now we have passed the shortest day. I must confess, however, that we have had a very mild winter so far, but will probably get some rough weather yet. We never get snow in Oamaru, having really a rather temperate climate, and being on the coast, we do not get such severe frosts as inland.

We have called our wee son "Norman John Ramsay" and are calling him "Ramsay". The two former names are after his two Grandads (Dad is always called "Jack" tho' his name is Jacob really), and the "Ramsay" is the name of some relations of Jack's in Scotland, but we really liked that anyway, as it is out of the ordinary run of names, and is a good name for when he grows up.

Jack's father (who was born in Scotland and is very "Scotch") is keen on making Ramsay a Scotchman, and whistles the bagpipes and sings Scotch songs to him, until the wee scamp already knows who it is who makes a fuss of him.

There really isn't much news of our family. Mother is much the same - she will never be well, you know, and the rest of the family are O.K. Lillian is still at College at Christchurch and hopes to be a "B.A." this year - Jack is still in the National Bank and Melba at High School. I hope you are all well, and that you will write me soon. I have not had a letter since Christmas and I know it is your turn to write.

Well, I must stop. Heaps of Love, Yours sincerely, Wini Meldrum.

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20 Dee Street, Oamaru Dear Cousin Mollie, Just a line or two as the Xmas mail closes tomorrow and I thought I’d send you some snaps to let you see how my wee man is growing up. We seem to be very busy these days as Jack is Registrar and Treasurer. for a Bible Class Conference of over 1,000 to be in Oamaru at Xmas. It entails a lot of work – but also a lot of fun, so heigh-ho – such is life.

Ramsay is running everywhere and is beginning to talk. He will be 19 mths. old on the 30^th. And we were married three years last month. Doesn’t time fly? Mother is still much the same. Melba is home nursing her, and we have a Scotch girl as housekeeper (she has been out about 4 months) and she is splendid. We love to hear her talk.

Dunedin Exhibition opened this week and of course visitors are flocking down South. We will probably motor through (we have a car now) for a short holiday in January. or February.

I will describe the photos on the backs. Hope you think Ramsay is a fine wee man! Well must stop. Much love, Yours, Wini Meldrum

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Conway Street, Oamaru Dear Cousin Mollie, I received your letter between Xmas and New Year, and I've written to Miss Thomson. I really meant to write to you sooner, but we were away to a seaside cottage at Kakanni (about 7 miles from Oamaru), for the school holidays, and are only just now returned home.

It was a great holiday for the children but not such a holiday for Mother, believe me!! However, after we came in from the crib, we left the children with their Grandparents (Jack's father and mother), and he and I went for a few days' holiday together in Dunedin. Jack is an only child and so my children are made a great fuss of. We are exceedingly fortunate in having such good grandparents on both sides. Dad adored the children, but wee Don was only 6 months old when Dad died. I often think how he would have enjoyed him now. He was three the other day and is just at the most interesting age, full of fun and mischief.

Dad was ill, off and on, for about 18 months before he died. I can't exactly tell you what was the trouble. He had an operation in Dunedin. in April 1932, and it eased him, but he kept taking turns again and had severe bouts of Hospital - bronchial asthma was part of the trouble, but all this developed after his operation, before that they reckoned he had a form of diabetes and was on a very strict diet. For the last 8 months of his life, he was a very sick man, and my sister who was training for a nurse got leave of absence and nursed him - towards the end we three girls took turns of sitting with him - night and day. I had a capable girl to keep house for me and mind the baby during my hours on. They also had help in the house at Father's. He suffered terribly and one could not have wished him to stay on as he was. His heart was affected by all the drugs they had to give him, and he passed quietly away one morning about 10 o'clock - very suddenly.

Melba (my youngest sister) went back to her training in Dunedin Hospital, and is now a fully qualified nurse, having passed her exams very well. Lillian is now teaching at a Junior High School in Chch. and has quite a good position. She has her degree of course. Jack is married and is in the National Bank of N.Z. Ltd. in Chch. His wife is a Scotch girl, and they have two little girls, Shirley aged 4 and Margaret 2 1/2 years old. They thought Chch. would be best for Mother to make her home, so they shifted there when Dad died and their address is now:- 116 Edward Avenue, Shirley, Christchurch, NI.

Mother is quite an invalid, you know, and has been for the last twelve years. For the last ten years she has had to be fed and dressed. She can walk and has even travelled down to me by car, but she has not the power or use of her arms at all. She can read but one has to sit beside her and turn the pages when she signals with her hands. We have a special stand to hold her books. It is really one's work, but she is very patient and sweet, and never a cross word passes her lips. We have a capable housekeeper who also looks after her while Lill is at school - she is a partly trained nurse in fact. If she gets confined to bed (she get up about 11:30 a.m. till about 9 p.m.), Melba will come home to nurse her, but funds are not too plentiful, and it is more profitable for the girls to work, for they are both able to command good salaries now.

You asked about my family now. Well, I have three now. I don't remember if I've written much since Don was born - what with Dad being ill, and our shifting into a bigger place as you will see by the address (owing to lack of rooms), I don't seem to have much spare time.

Anyway, I've Ramsay (or at least Norman John Ramsay) aged now 11 years. He is at Waitaki Junior Boys' High School, and sits his proficiency exam this year, when he goes in to Senior School. The year before last, when he left the primary school which goes up to Std. 4, he was dux of the school and won the gold medal. He was 2nd at Waitaki for last year, which considering he was up against the pick of several schools, we considered very good. He is going to have a "go" for the Junior High dux medal this year, but there are about six good boys, and it will be a good race whether he wins or not. Patricia, my only girl, was 8 years old last month. She is in Std. 2 now and doing quite well. She favours the "Mitchell's" in both looks and nature. Then wee "Donald Winston" called Don, was three on 27th January - 4 days between Pat's and Don's birthdays. He is a dear wee chap with big dark brown eyes and fair curly hair and the most adorable lisp at present. He is a hard case and good company while the others are at school. They are all well and healthy, so that is one thing to be thankful for.

Ramsay was wondering if your nephew, Norman, was interested in stamps and if he would care to correspond with Ramsay, who would tell him all about N.Z. if he liked.

Wasn't it sad about the death of King George? We listened in on the Radio to his service and funeral, and the burial service at Westminster. It was lovely but sad - especially when they sang "Abide with me". Isn't it wonderful that we can hear so plainly away over here? It was not so clear for the funeral as it was for the wedding of Prince George and Princess Marina. We sat up to hear it 11:30 at night, our time, and it was just glorious, especially the bells. It was 3 to 3 in the morning when we went to bed after hearing King George's funeral, there being exactly 12 hours difference between your time and N.Z. time. Radio is a necessity in the home now, isn't it?

Well, it is Sunday night and a glorious summer evening so I think I'll close off and go for a short walk before bed. With much love and hoping to hear form you soon again. I did enjoy your letter and must thank you for your kind remembrances to us all. I'll try to get a print of the children's photo to post in the next letter. Yours sincerely, Wini Meldrum.

P.S. Will make your friend very welcome here, but we are a long way from Invercargill here - a day's travel by express train.

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1999-01-10