Letter from Florence
Feb. 6th, 2005 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
slemslempikeWhile tidying my room (I really did!) I found something my grandfather gave me ages ago. It's a typescript of a letter my great-grandmother (I think that's the right generation) sent to a cousin of hers when she was studying at Reading University in 1910. I like the letter for a number of reasons - firstly, despite being a time when women's participation in higher education was the exception and not the norm, her description of her actions at university are very modern; writing letters in lectures, ridiculing her lecturers and far more interested in the social life. It also has a short description of a Suffragette meeting she attended, which again she doesn't take too seriously, though she agrees with the Cause. The letter also contains some abysmal poems.
St. George's Hostel
Shinfield Road
Reading
Nov 27th 1910
Dear Essie,
I was delighted to hear from you the other week and I am afraid you will think I have been a long time in answering you. However you must forgive me for you are not the only one who finds fault with me in that respect. Now to a serious business. I should very much like to know Miss Gaunt, your opinion of me if you think that I could fall asleep while reading such an interesting letter as I received from your ladyship. Just explain yourself & at once if you please, for I tell you plainly I feel by no means flattered. We will now leave this painful subject & try to banish it into oblivion.
I have stopped away from Chapel this morning as it is raining heavily & I seem to have reams of letters to write. I have got to such a pitch with the letter writing business that sometimes (this is strictly confidential) I write them during lectures I can't stand. For doing this sort of thing my favourite lectures are Maths & Psychology. The Maths lecturer for our year is Miss Ashcroft (this is her Sunday name. She is usually referred to as "Fair Lucy".) She has a round face, which usually wears a seraphic smile, is the proud posessor of a pair of eyeglasses, which she puts so far down on her nose that she looks over the top, & has a very prancing style of wlking. She gets wild now and again & can't bear us to talk during the lecture. She tries to be very emphatic but fails miserably. her favourite form of amusement is explaining infinities, (I suppose you will know these to your sorrow.) how they come in at one end & go out at the other, all the while trying to impress it on our memories by cantering across the platform to the subdued admiration of the men behind. We have got tired however of watching her practice the pedestrian art. So now we amuse ourselves by writing letters, inspecting the poems & drawings done by the men who pass them to us to while away a weary hour. One of these poems ran as follows.
When Lucy on the board does "Trig"
You should not say "don't care a fig",
They say 'tis good to learn such stuff
For me I say I've had enuff.
Don't you admire the spelling of the last word but it was spelt thus in the original MSS. Sometimes one or two of the men have poetry spasms so bad that we have time for nothing beyond reading their attempts in the literary line. We sit & stifle our laughs in the folds of our gowns & it is about as well we don't wear our caps, otherwise mortar boards, regularly or they would be shaken off in our attempts to compose ourselves.
You would enjoy a Psychology lecture. Mr Wolters, alias Baby Boy, the Lecturer is killing. He has such an innocent smile, big blue staring eyes, looks as if he couldn't say Christmas & can't sound his r's. He can talk of nothing but "fwogs bwains", "thwobs of engines" etc. Indeed the following "spasm" sums him up very well.
Big staring eyes & innocent smile,
Are 'Baby Boy's attraction
And if you talk wiht him awhile
'Twill end in stupefaction.
For he will chat of fwoggies bwains,
Of woses wed & wailway twains
Until you think you'd like to swear
And wish that her were - well - in THERE.
Don't you think I'm blossoming into a poetess.
We had a roaring time at the Suffragette meeting last week. Mrs Pankhurst was a splendid speaker & I enjoyed her speech very much. She seemed very hot against the Liberals calling them "the all or nothing gentlemen. Those who want to give you everything but won't give you anything to be going on with." Very good descirption don't you think? She got shouted down when she referred to "that great democrat Lloyd George."
Our men kept asking silly questions which made the house roar. Mrs Pankhurst had been talking about men who won't work, having their vote while their wives who kept them hadn't. She said that where the woman kept the house going, she was in reality the head of the household & should have a vote as such. One of our men then asked if in such a case the man couldn't have a lodger's vote. The crowd simply yelled & Mrs P. got rather angry and said that such a question was too silly to need an asnwer. our election day here is fixed for next Saturday & we hope we shall have lively times in Reading this week. As yet all is peaceful.
I must thank you for your kind wishes that I should enjoy myself at our last dance & am glad to inform you that your wishes were fully realised. I had a few exciting but withal pleasant experiences. (Nuff said.) The Dance was given by the "Shells" a society to which all our men students with few exceptions belong. They invite all the women students & it's a lovely affair altogether.
I had my programme full up within five minutes of entering the Hall & so was in a position to feel sorry for those who hadn't partners for many. One girl, at St George's Hostel, didn't get a single partner & so went home after sitting an hour waiting patiently. She was swanked up in a low cut silk white frock, had her hair "merry widow" curled and padded until it was a sight to behold. She has been here three years & so it wasn't that she didn't know anybody but she is so conceited & stuck up. Anyway it will be a warning to her. Well now for the dance. All the committee of the "Shells" turned up in their purple robes of office which were rather a nuisance when dancing, as I found out by experience. I had the first dance with the Vice-President (he is in the same German Class as I am. There are only 2 men & 3 women in it.) and I couldn't take his arm until he pulled his sleeve above the elbow. Then we sailed down the cloisters all serene. We take a walk down the cloisters or round the gardens after nearly every dance if we like.
After some dances though we have music or in the case of last Saturday we had the "Initiation Ceremony" of the Shells Committee. This was killing. We had all got nicely settled among the palms etc in easy chairs with the partner we had had for the last dance when suddenly the lights were all switched off. The room looked absolutely weird with white frocks in the dim distance. We were all wondering what was going to happen next when a candle was solemnly lighted by the committee, who were all at the upper end of the Hall. Silence for about 1 minute & then the candle was just as solemnly blown out. Then to break the silence, a dirge of some kind was chanted forth. It was horror of horrors. When all was quiet once more a terrible voice came out of the darkness & asked the Committee to take their oaths. This done the committee took off their purple robes, the lights were switched on & we heaved sighs of relief when we found the ceremony ended.
It's a wonder I'm alive to tell the tale of the supper I had at the dance. My partner seemed to consider that is was our duty to try everything there was & in spite of my prayers & entreaties he insisted on my fulfilling that duty. He made me eat sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, sweet load, jelly, custard, mixed fruits, trifle, etc to the accompaniment of coffee & lemonade. he wouldn't take the plates away till I had had some, so I had a bit of everything & talk about enjoying myself - I really haven't time to tell you all my experiences & am afriad you wouldn't hear them all if I had.
You might mention to Henry, when he is in a very good temper, that I am in need of a nice picture for my cubicle. I charge you to seize the best opportunity for making this announcement. Give my best regards to Alice & to Uncle Charlie & tell them I hope they are enjoying the awful weather you talk of. We had snow for the first time yesterday for about half an hour but talk about cold. it's a sort of damp cold here which sticks to your bones & I fancy you will be frozen if you have to sit & read much more of this tommy rot.
So with best love, I remain
Your loving cousin
Florence.
Both sides of my family like to tell me stories about our female ancestors - it's part of their support of my women's studies interest. My grandma told me about her mother (I think) who, in the 1920s, refused to give up her teaching job once she married, and cycled to work every day through a crowd of protestors outside her front gate. In the 1930s, my grandfather won a scholarship to a good boarding school. Although my great-aunt was not as academically minded, her mother insisted that "what you do for the boy in the family, you do for the girl", and so she was sent to a boarding school as well, at greater cost than the boy's education. It must have been quite a sacrifice actually, for they weren't well off. (Well, probably substantially wealthier than the majority of people, but very far from rich.)
St. George's Hostel
Shinfield Road
Reading
Nov 27th 1910
Dear Essie,
I was delighted to hear from you the other week and I am afraid you will think I have been a long time in answering you. However you must forgive me for you are not the only one who finds fault with me in that respect. Now to a serious business. I should very much like to know Miss Gaunt, your opinion of me if you think that I could fall asleep while reading such an interesting letter as I received from your ladyship. Just explain yourself & at once if you please, for I tell you plainly I feel by no means flattered. We will now leave this painful subject & try to banish it into oblivion.
I have stopped away from Chapel this morning as it is raining heavily & I seem to have reams of letters to write. I have got to such a pitch with the letter writing business that sometimes (this is strictly confidential) I write them during lectures I can't stand. For doing this sort of thing my favourite lectures are Maths & Psychology. The Maths lecturer for our year is Miss Ashcroft (this is her Sunday name. She is usually referred to as "Fair Lucy".) She has a round face, which usually wears a seraphic smile, is the proud posessor of a pair of eyeglasses, which she puts so far down on her nose that she looks over the top, & has a very prancing style of wlking. She gets wild now and again & can't bear us to talk during the lecture. She tries to be very emphatic but fails miserably. her favourite form of amusement is explaining infinities, (I suppose you will know these to your sorrow.) how they come in at one end & go out at the other, all the while trying to impress it on our memories by cantering across the platform to the subdued admiration of the men behind. We have got tired however of watching her practice the pedestrian art. So now we amuse ourselves by writing letters, inspecting the poems & drawings done by the men who pass them to us to while away a weary hour. One of these poems ran as follows.
When Lucy on the board does "Trig"
You should not say "don't care a fig",
They say 'tis good to learn such stuff
For me I say I've had enuff.
Don't you admire the spelling of the last word but it was spelt thus in the original MSS. Sometimes one or two of the men have poetry spasms so bad that we have time for nothing beyond reading their attempts in the literary line. We sit & stifle our laughs in the folds of our gowns & it is about as well we don't wear our caps, otherwise mortar boards, regularly or they would be shaken off in our attempts to compose ourselves.
You would enjoy a Psychology lecture. Mr Wolters, alias Baby Boy, the Lecturer is killing. He has such an innocent smile, big blue staring eyes, looks as if he couldn't say Christmas & can't sound his r's. He can talk of nothing but "fwogs bwains", "thwobs of engines" etc. Indeed the following "spasm" sums him up very well.
Big staring eyes & innocent smile,
Are 'Baby Boy's attraction
And if you talk wiht him awhile
'Twill end in stupefaction.
For he will chat of fwoggies bwains,
Of woses wed & wailway twains
Until you think you'd like to swear
And wish that her were - well - in THERE.
Don't you think I'm blossoming into a poetess.
We had a roaring time at the Suffragette meeting last week. Mrs Pankhurst was a splendid speaker & I enjoyed her speech very much. She seemed very hot against the Liberals calling them "the all or nothing gentlemen. Those who want to give you everything but won't give you anything to be going on with." Very good descirption don't you think? She got shouted down when she referred to "that great democrat Lloyd George."
Our men kept asking silly questions which made the house roar. Mrs Pankhurst had been talking about men who won't work, having their vote while their wives who kept them hadn't. She said that where the woman kept the house going, she was in reality the head of the household & should have a vote as such. One of our men then asked if in such a case the man couldn't have a lodger's vote. The crowd simply yelled & Mrs P. got rather angry and said that such a question was too silly to need an asnwer. our election day here is fixed for next Saturday & we hope we shall have lively times in Reading this week. As yet all is peaceful.
I must thank you for your kind wishes that I should enjoy myself at our last dance & am glad to inform you that your wishes were fully realised. I had a few exciting but withal pleasant experiences. (Nuff said.) The Dance was given by the "Shells" a society to which all our men students with few exceptions belong. They invite all the women students & it's a lovely affair altogether.
I had my programme full up within five minutes of entering the Hall & so was in a position to feel sorry for those who hadn't partners for many. One girl, at St George's Hostel, didn't get a single partner & so went home after sitting an hour waiting patiently. She was swanked up in a low cut silk white frock, had her hair "merry widow" curled and padded until it was a sight to behold. She has been here three years & so it wasn't that she didn't know anybody but she is so conceited & stuck up. Anyway it will be a warning to her. Well now for the dance. All the committee of the "Shells" turned up in their purple robes of office which were rather a nuisance when dancing, as I found out by experience. I had the first dance with the Vice-President (he is in the same German Class as I am. There are only 2 men & 3 women in it.) and I couldn't take his arm until he pulled his sleeve above the elbow. Then we sailed down the cloisters all serene. We take a walk down the cloisters or round the gardens after nearly every dance if we like.
After some dances though we have music or in the case of last Saturday we had the "Initiation Ceremony" of the Shells Committee. This was killing. We had all got nicely settled among the palms etc in easy chairs with the partner we had had for the last dance when suddenly the lights were all switched off. The room looked absolutely weird with white frocks in the dim distance. We were all wondering what was going to happen next when a candle was solemnly lighted by the committee, who were all at the upper end of the Hall. Silence for about 1 minute & then the candle was just as solemnly blown out. Then to break the silence, a dirge of some kind was chanted forth. It was horror of horrors. When all was quiet once more a terrible voice came out of the darkness & asked the Committee to take their oaths. This done the committee took off their purple robes, the lights were switched on & we heaved sighs of relief when we found the ceremony ended.
It's a wonder I'm alive to tell the tale of the supper I had at the dance. My partner seemed to consider that is was our duty to try everything there was & in spite of my prayers & entreaties he insisted on my fulfilling that duty. He made me eat sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, sweet load, jelly, custard, mixed fruits, trifle, etc to the accompaniment of coffee & lemonade. he wouldn't take the plates away till I had had some, so I had a bit of everything & talk about enjoying myself - I really haven't time to tell you all my experiences & am afriad you wouldn't hear them all if I had.
You might mention to Henry, when he is in a very good temper, that I am in need of a nice picture for my cubicle. I charge you to seize the best opportunity for making this announcement. Give my best regards to Alice & to Uncle Charlie & tell them I hope they are enjoying the awful weather you talk of. We had snow for the first time yesterday for about half an hour but talk about cold. it's a sort of damp cold here which sticks to your bones & I fancy you will be frozen if you have to sit & read much more of this tommy rot.
So with best love, I remain
Your loving cousin
Florence.
Both sides of my family like to tell me stories about our female ancestors - it's part of their support of my women's studies interest. My grandma told me about her mother (I think) who, in the 1920s, refused to give up her teaching job once she married, and cycled to work every day through a crowd of protestors outside her front gate. In the 1930s, my grandfather won a scholarship to a good boarding school. Although my great-aunt was not as academically minded, her mother insisted that "what you do for the boy in the family, you do for the girl", and so she was sent to a boarding school as well, at greater cost than the boy's education. It must have been quite a sacrifice actually, for they weren't well off. (Well, probably substantially wealthier than the majority of people, but very far from rich.)
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 10:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 10:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 10:27 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 10:56 am (UTC)I really haven't time to tell you all my experiences & am afraid you wouldn't hear them all if I had.
Oo-er, Great-Granny!
no subject
Date: 2005-02-07 04:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 11:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 12:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-06 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-07 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-07 02:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-07 06:50 am (UTC)On a scavenge through a used book shop a few years ago, I found a copy from 1912 illustrated with posed photographs depicting key scenes from the book. I seriously adore the clothes of that era. I should do some scans.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-07 04:41 pm (UTC)I second the Daddy-Long-Legs suggestion, if you've never read it. It's fun.
no subject
Date: 2005-02-08 01:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-02-12 02:00 am (UTC)