Sample

SAMPLES  OF  WRITING

 

MARGARET RUDSTON OF YORKSHIRE ...

 

Margaret Rudston’s husband Walter was to die in 1650 in the middle of a court case. The Rudstons had been caught up in the Civil War in England; Walter was an unwilling participant. After the execution of the king, Charles I, Walter was charged with ‘delinquency’, and was threatened with the sequestration of his estate. This meant that the property could be seized by the state, divided up, leased to other people, or sold. Margaret’s task was to save the estate on behalf of her oldest son and the heir, Thomas, who was only a child; otherwise, the family would have nowhere to live, and no means of support. ...

While the king and his entourage were on their way from York to Hull in April 1642 to demand possession of the port, the king called in at the Rudstons’ as he passed by, and dined with them. This would later be held against Walter when he was charged with delinquency, but a person could not refuse the king. ...

In February 1643, the queen arrived on the coast at Bridlington, just north of Hull, with arms and money she had raised on the Continent for the king. She was escorted to York early in March.
     On 3 March, a contingent of the king’s army, commanded by Captain Mason, marched uninvited into the Rudstons’ property at Hayton, and took control of it by force for the billeting of ‘1000 horse’. They were part of the Earl of Newcastle’s cavalry under General Goring, and would remain quartered there for over a year. The soldiers occupied the house and made use of the amenities, including food, drink, firewood and coal. Margaret Rudston was trying to take care of her five children, the youngest only a baby.

*

 

MARIA BARSTOW OF DANZIG ...

 

My sister-in-law often asked me to jot down my reminiscences of my grandparents, and some of the stories I had heard of the troubled times in which they lived. She was particularly anxious to know the history of a beautiful diamond ring which was left to her, as the wife of the oldest son, by my mother. My mother and I were visiting my grandmother in Danzig in the year 1840, when my grandmother gave her the ring.
     ‘Here Ann,’ she said, as she slipped the ring on mother’s finger, ‘here Ann, this ring ought to belong to Tom’s wife. It was given to me by the Queen of Holland when she thanked me so prettily for my great kindness to her and hers.’
     The future queen of Holland and her daughter had found refuge in my grandmother’s house in the Langgarten in 1806. They fled their country when Napoleon made his brother Louis king of Holland. The queen came to Danzig because she was a member of the Prussian royal family.

 

THE STORY OF LITTLE ANN ...

 

On 23 August 1798, while Mr Jones and some of the neighbouring gentlemen were dining with Colonel King, Mrs Jones and her sister Mrs Duke went to drink tea with their Aunt Letty. Aunt Letty was an old lady of seventy years, who lived in a cottage called ‘Palmyra’, situated close to the banks of the river near Ardnaree. The tea tray had just been brought when a messenger rushed in with the dreadful news that the French had landed at Killala. The ladies were in the greatest consternation, debating what they should do. Robert Jones’s brother, Charles, appeared on the scene with the further news that the French were marching on Ballina. He bade them instantly flee.

 

*

 

THE KELLY SISTERS OF IRELAND

 

The young Kelly sisters resided sometimes at Kellyville, near Athy, the home of their paternal grandfather while he was alive, and sometimes at Rossana, in county Wicklow, the ancient and beautiful abode of their maternal grandmother Mrs Tighe. There were seven children, and four were girls: Sally was born in 1803, Fanny in 1805, Elizabeth in 1807, and Caroline in 1816. The names of the older two were really Sarah and Frances; the younger two were often called Bessy and Cassy. They always lived as part of a larger family group. ...

Mr Kelly was a nonconformist minister, who preached the Gospel in farm houses or halls, or wherever he could gather a congregation. For this he suffered disapprobation, and was banned from preaching in the churches. It was a time of religious revival. He believed that Christians were justified by faith alone, and that the authority for their beliefs and practices lay in the Bible. He wrote hymns, and the saying of prayers and the singing of hymns were regular practices of the family at home.
     But Mrs Kelly chose to bring up the children in the Church of England, and Mr Kelly deferred to her wishes even though he had left that church. Mrs Kelly was simple and unpretentious in her piety; she abhorred cant of all kinds, and only used religious language at appropriate times. She felt that the service in the established church was so beautiful and scriptural that it would be wrong to deprive her children of it.
     Bessy remembered that when she was a small child the whole family went on a missionary journey to London. It was a serious undertaking with such a large family. They travelled slowly through Wales, stopping to see every object of interest, and collecting congregations to preach to. Mr Kelly was to preach a missionary sermon in London.

 

*

 

MY MOTHER, JOAN WEBBER

 

Joan Webber and her three daughters escaped from Malaya early in 1942, just as Japanese forces overran that country from the north with unanticipated speed. Two of the daughters were taken to Australia by ship in the care of a friend; I was one of the daughters. Joan remained behind, expecting to give birth imminently; she sent some letters to her sisters in Sydney. One of the letters was written from India, where Joan and her two-week-old baby had reached a temporary safety. She wrote ‘The Last Two Months in Malaya’, the story of the escape. I will return to this story.
     Joan taught English in Malaya (now Malaysia) at Penang in the north, and at Muar. She married a rubber planter, William Webber, who was the manager of ‘Jorak’ estate, near Muar. They were going about their daily lives on the rubber plantation with their two children, aged seven and four, and the third expected soon, when William was mobilised for military action. He was a trained volunteer in the civil defence forces. He would become a prisoner for a time, and the family would be fragmented.

 

*

   

View Synopsis View Reviews View Information Purchase Options