A loving message from Maudie

The Postcard 

My first postcard in this series depicts the Shrine of Edward the Confessor, in Westminster Abbey. Posted from Stoke Newington on 8 September 1904, it carries a touching message from a young woman named Maudie to her neighbour and mentor, Miss E. M. Booth, who was staying at a seaside boarding house in Hunstanton. 

The message reads: 

"My loving Teacher, very pleased to hear from you. I did not go to School on Sunday, as I caught a cold in the week, and my tonsils were swollen, and I could not go out. I am going next Sunday. 

Come home soon won't you dear. 

Love from Aunties and loads of kisses for yourself. 

I remain yours ever lovingly. 

Maudie." 

At first glance, it is an ordinary postcard. But with a little research it reveals a fascinating glimpse into the lives of the women connected by this brief and affectionate correspondence. 

Who Was "Maudie"? 

The sender signed herself simply as Maudie, but census records suggest she was Maude Harland, a young woman of twenty-one who lived next door to the Booth family in Paddington. 

In 1901 and 1911, the Booth sisters were living at 12 Bathurst Street, Hyde Park, Paddington, earning their living as dressmakers. Maude appears to have been associated with the household professionally and may have been training under Miss Booth. Records describe her as a servant and trainee dressmaker. 

The warmth of the postcard suggests that Maude and Emily Booth enjoyed a relationship that went beyond a simple employer and apprentice arrangement. She addresses Emily as her "loving Teacher" and expresses disappointment at her absence, ending the card with affectionate, good wishes and "loads of kisses". 

Even more revealing is the concern over her missing Sunday school due to illness. A swollen throat and tonsils kept her indoors; a reminder of how common such ailments were before modern antibiotics. 

Miss Emily Matilda Booth 

The recipient, Emily Matilda Booth, was born in Westminster and baptised on 14 March 1858 at St Mary, Bryanston Square. 

By 1904 she was forty-six years old and unmarried. She lived with her two younger sisters: 

• Eliza Booth, aged 34 

• Nellie Booth, aged 31 

All three sisters worked as dressmakers from their home in Bathurst Street. Like many single women of the period, they supported themselves through skilled work and occasionally supplemented their income by taking in boarders. 

The postcard was addressed to: 

Miss E. M. Booth Avondale House Cliff Terrace Hunstanton 

It appears Emily was enjoying a holiday on the Norfolk coast when Maude wrote to her. Hunstanton was a popular seaside resort by the turn of the twentieth century, attracting visitors seeking fresh air and a break from London's crowded streets. 

Maude's plea, "Come home soon won't you dear”, suggests Emily's absence was keenly felt. 

The Booth Family Story 

The Booth sisters had experienced significant family losses before this postcard was written. 

Their father, Thomas Booth, was a cabinet maker who died in 1874 at only forty-five years of age. His death occurred sometime between the 1871 and 1881 censuses and must have been a devastating blow to the family. 

The sisters' mother, also named Emily Booth, remained with her children in Bathurst Street for the rest of her life. She died in 1902, aged seventy, just two years before this postcard was sent. 

By 1904, Emily Matilda Booth and her sisters were managing both their household and business without either parent. 

The family also included two brothers who had established households of their own: 

Edward Booth 

By 1904, Edward was thirty-seven years old and living in Sinclair Road, London, with his wife Rosa. He worked as a builder's clerk. 

Frank (or Frederic) Booth 

Frank was forty years old and lived in Ashmore Road, London, with his wife Alice. 

Both brothers had married and moved away, leaving the Booth sisters together in the family home. 

A Missing Sister 

One intriguing mystery remains. 

The 1881 census records another sister, Mary Madelene Booth, who was approximately two years younger than Emily Matilda. However, after that census she seemingly disappears from the readily available records. 

Did she marry and change her surname? Did she die young? Or has she simply proved difficult to trace? 

At present, her story remains one of the unanswered questions raised by this postcard and may be the subject of further investigation in the future. 

A Snapshot of Everyday Life 

What makes this postcard so appealing is not the famous shrine pictured on the front, but the ordinary life preserved in the message on the reverse. 

A young trainee dressmaker writes to her teacher while recovering from a cold. A middle-aged dressmaker enjoys a short holiday beside the sea. Three sisters continue the family business after the deaths of their parents. Brothers have moved away and married. Neighbours become friends. 

For a few moments, more than 120 years later, we can glimpse the affection and companionship that existed between these women. That is the real magic of old postcards. Beneath the stamps, addresses and fading handwriting are real people whose lives, hopes, illnesses, friendships and daily routines survive in just a few lines of ink. 

And thanks to Maudie's loving message, Emily Booth's seaside holiday has not been entirely forgotten.