Catalogue description Postcard collection of the Catt family of Hamlins Mill, Hailsham

This record is held by East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office (ESBHRO)

Details of AMS5888
Reference: AMS5888
Title: Postcard collection of the Catt family of Hamlins Mill, Hailsham
Description:

David Catt and his wife Eliza came to Hamlins Mill, Hailsham between 1878 and 1881; both had been born in Herstmonceux, he in about 1853 and she in about 1856. They were nonconformists, probably attending the Hailsham Baptist chapel. The cards addressed to David Catt are mostly of a business nature - orders for flour and notes from company representatives. Mrs Catt's cards are mostly from her children and other members of the family when away from home

 

Of the Catt children the eldest, Ebenezer Catt (born in Eastbourne in about 1878), is represented only by a card written to his sister Lottie Martin from hospital or convalescence in Eastbourne in 1910 (AMS5888/2/178 below). Charlotte (usually 'Lottie') was born in Hailsham in about 1880; she married Ernest Martin and went to live at Tharp Road, Wallington, Surrey in 1906. After a long courtship (profusely chronicled by post cards), Mercy ('Moo') Catt married Wilfred J Maryan of Balcarres House, Hailsham in Aug 1914. He worked for one of the Hailsham rope and twine makers as a travelling salesman, specialising in sacks, nosebags and webbing. Both Charlotte and Mercy collected post cards as well as using them as a means of communication. Other members of the family whose existence can be gathered from the collection is a Lilian Catt, living in Hailsham

 

Although the correspondence is mostly of an ephemeral nature, it forms a fascinating cross-section of the daily life of the daughters of a lower-middle-class family in the early years of the century and illustrates the use of the post card as a medium of communication and contemporary tastes in the visual arts

Date: c1900 -c1930
Held by: East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Record Office (ESBHRO), not available at The National Archives
Language: English
Immediate source of acquisition:

Documents given 20 October 1982 (ACC 2914)

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