Friday, April 07, 2006
The letters of Admiral Blackler OBE 1889-1925,letters to his wife Margaret and others
The naval letters of Admiral Blackler OBE ,grandfather of Gillian Hammerton,written from 1889-1925 mainly to his wife Margaret.These display an insight of the Admirality,the inside feuds ,the court marshalls,the quarrels between Admirals and their skullduggeries,some high adventure and mentions often of his contempoaries who he met including Winston Churchill and George the Fourth who was entertained on the ships.
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35 comments:
brilliant
excellent
These letters are really interesting and human and good historical record. I look forward to you adding more.
A fascinating glimpse into a world that now seems so distant. So many intriguing references - why did he take "ammoniated quinine" for 'flu? Was it malaria? Did he get a KCB? And what was the parcel of washing he sent her? Didn't they do their own on board??!! Looking forward to you posting more letters
A fascinating glimpse into a world that now seems so distant. So many intriguing references - why did he take "ammoniated quinine" for 'flu? Was it malaria? Did he get a KCB? And what was the parcel of washing he sent her? Didn't they do their own on board??!! Looking forward to seeing more
Really excellent letters.Please publish the earlier ones.Immediately.
An opportunity to glimpse an era that has passed, very intriguing
So they were an excellent read,I so hope you will publish more.
Really amazing letters I was sad to come to the end of those provided,more more please.
You must put up more of these letters, Gillian. It's illuminating to read about (naval) life on board from a personal view point, and wonderful to gather glimpses of life at home from casual remarks. The letters are easy to read because of the intimate and affectionate nature of the correspondence. One wants to follow these two characters through their lives and learn more of their reflections on the events through which they lived.
Gillian this is wonderful. Please do publish it!
this is an amazing idea, i hope that you publish your grandmothers letters.
Thank you.
I really do think that these letters are excellent and that this enterprise is an excellent archicial idea.Perhaps publish them in a book ?
Really excellent letters and very atmospheric,and I do especially like the picture.
I really sincerly ask yopu to publish more of these letters.They are a treasure trove,in this world of uncaring money insited elites to read his stunning morality is a priveldge.You are lucky to have inherited the letters and the genetic makeup of this admiral grand father,but more to the point publish the grandmothers letters.They will present an amazing interactional anaysis.
I have visted this site to see if you have any new letters,will you consider putting the other ones on this site,especially the granmother.They are a window to the past a casement to another age.
May I suggest that you gather all these together and do some editing and create a book publication.If you have some photographs this would enhance this.
Actually you should put some photos
on this site.It would bring it to life,which is already achieved by the words.Dont lose this treasure ,this golden opportunity!
Maura said...
It was easier than I thought to enlarge the images! Just a double-click on the pages.
As the copy editor of the Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle letters (for Edinburgh and Duke University Presses), I can attest to the value of letters as a fascinating and vauable resource. Read in sequence, they're better than any novel, and better too than many histories and biographies, in their voice, detail, and drama. Even the handwriting tells us something about this man's character and his world, orderly nd fluent as it is.
Maura said...
It was easier than I thought to enlarge the images! Just a double-click on the pages.
As the copy editor of the Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle letters (for Edinburgh and Duke University Presses), I can attest to the value of letters as a fascinating and vauable resource. Read in sequence, they're better than any novel, and better too than many histories and biographies, in their voice, detail, and drama. Even the handwriting tells us something about this man's character and his world, orderly nd fluent as it is.
well done in the old nice time.
I do think these letters are enlightening because they show this man not just as a member of the navy but also a family man and a thinking member of church and society.Please put the other letters up.
And put the granmothers letters up as well so that there is a deeper interactional complexity added to the landscape of memory.
These letters are so precious and so rare and the photo gives a dream like complexity to it.
I look forward to other letters in the series. I like the juxtaposition between comments about whether he would get a KCB and inquiries as to whether his parcel of washing was received.
so many mentions of historical figures and events.. he certainly lived an interesting life!
Looking forward to the new instalments dealing with these adventures!
Very tender and sweet, written by a young man whose eyes are probably still to look in the face of the realities of battle, the agony, the taste of dust and the smell of death.
It is always interesting to read the private correspondence of officials, nothing really prepares one for it. You see "Rear-Admiral", or "MP" or "Chancellor of the Exchequer" and you immediately (and subconciously) create an image of an office-holder, rather than a live person. (Kings and Queens are often spared such a treatment of our minds, because their lives, in all their glory and scandal are often presented to us, with the help of both professional historians, and those awful popularist/ entrepreneur writers like Radzinski.)
And then you read the tender words of a young man in love, and the comments on mutual acquaintances or family friends, glimses of the private life so to speak... Little things, small details, like a mention of a bet, a truly English sport. He's expecting a child, she's concerned about her beloved's health. The little things... And reading about those in a letter is much more lively and real, than reading them in an often tedious modern scholarly work, that follows the trend of the past twenty or so years - history as sociology. Few people would find the history of the kettle fascinating, but take the casual mention of an incident that includes a particular kettle, and you have history in motion, it's alive, you can almost touch it, breathe it, taste it.
This reminded of the memoirs of Russian officers en route to Tsushima. The everyday routine of the boat trip, the expectations, the comments and whispers about the high command.
My great-granduncle died in that war, general count von Keller, cut down by 36 pieces of shrapnel wile riding in front of the Japanese positions in the battle of Motien Pass (Yanzenski Pereval in Russian). What a pity there are no letters of private nature surviving in the family archive. The style and spirit must have been very similar to these...
This provides a true insight into the past.
I enjoyed these letters !
nice and very interesting from a different world and time.
Amazing!
These letters are really interestinfg and good
a good blog
Amazing
Excellent
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