The "Hungry Forties" 35 Original Handwritten Family Letters (1840s/1850s); A rare Victorian phonetic record of daily life, health, and hardship. Liverpool, Withnell, Chorley etc

The Guest and Wilding Families, Kirkdale, Liverpool

Published by Not published, Liverpool, Chorley, Withnell etc, 1848

About this Item

This is a unique collection of 35 handwritten letters from the early Victorian era. They all centre around a Liverpool family in the Kirkdale area, and extend to Withnell, Chorley and where work could be found. This collection represents a rare survival: a primary record of the 19th-century working class, whose letters were rarely preserved in such quantity. They are a fascinating glimpse of everyday life in the late 1840s (the "Hungry Forties" at the height of the European potato failure) through the vernacular correspondence of one family, as they focus on the everyday search for work, of illness and death, and asking after other members of the family. The letters were sent to and among the Guest family, they are mostly to Priscilla Guest, the eldest daughter who was born in 1829 and died in 1863. She was the daughter of William (1803?1873) and Esther (nee Brooker, 1803?1881). Priscilla had six brothers and sisters, only two of whom made to adulthood. She married William Wilding in 1853. The majority of the letters were sent to No 1 Alcock Buildings, Morley Street, Kirkdale nr Liverpool, an earlier address is 35 Portland Street, Vauxhall Rd, Liverpool, and most are a single sheet of paper, the correspondence on one side, and in some cases the address, postmark and occasionally, the remains of a seal to the other side. The style of handwriting is from neat to rushed, with the spelling being Victorian phonetic where the word is spelt as it sounds, offering a rare linguistic record. Most of the letters are from William Wilding, who Priscilla married in 1853. Others are from suitors, her parents, brother, or one or two from her to William Wilding. **For extracts please see the Cox & Budge site as there isn't the room here**. Condition: The letters remain in readable condition, two have torn along the folds into two parts and one or two have corners or addresses torn off with loss of text. There is significant edgewear, and plenty of burn marks where perhaps they were read by candle (one mentions being written after midnight). A grouping of letters such as these is rare; they offer a sustained glimpse into a segment of society seldom seen in such quantity.

Seller Inventory # 016815

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The "Hungry Forties" 35 Original Handwritten Family Letters (1840s/1850s); A rare Victorian phonetic record of daily life, health, and hardship. Liverpool, Withnell, Chorley etc
• Publisher: Not published, Liverpool, Chorley, Withnell etc
• Publication Date: 1848
• Language: English
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Good