[black (mourning) border]

16 Eskdale Terrace
[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]

April 11th. 1901.

My dear John

We were deeply grieved to hear today of your dear wife's death & our hearts have gone out to you & your family in heartfelt sympathy. For you dear Cousin it is an irreparable loss & how sadly the children will miss their Mother.

Had she been long ill? We have often spoken of you this year & wondered how you all were. I always look for your name in the "News of the Churches", & only last week I remarked to Richard that I did not see it, & hoped all was well with you, little knowing you were passing through such deep waters.

When you are able to write I shall be glad of a few lines from you. I do hope you are keeping fairly well.

Words seem such poor comfort to send you in your trouble, but it will assure you that our thoughts and prayers are with you. With kindest remembrances from us all to you & your family. Your affectionate cousin

Margaret Heslop.

12 Eskdale Terrace
[Jesmond]
[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]

Dec 28th. 1910 -

My dear Cousin John.

We all unite very heartily in wishing you many very happy returns of your birthday (the 31st Dec[)]. May you have a very happy day with your dear ones & may you long be spared to them is our earnest prayer. Thank you all for the kind Xmas greetings you sent us, which we very heartily recipercate [sic]. It has made our Xmas all the brighter to feel that we have such good friends in Guernsey. & I can assure you it has been a great pleasure to me to have renewed the correspondence with my dear Father's beloved nephew. How pleased he would have been, but I think as you do, that our loved ones who have gone before are still loving us & caring for us, & will be ready to welcome us when our call comes.

I expect you are clear of all election excitement in Guernsey. We have had a lively time in Newcastle, & greatly rejoice in one victory. It was a very hard fight, the most anxious one I ever remember. I am sending you a little book of views of the old Town which I think you will enjoy. It will enable you to show Kate the dear old place & perhaps Winnie & Clifford will like to see where their Grandpapa lived for some time. I hope you have not already got one the same.

With kindest love to you all from all of us.

Believe me dear John
Your affectionate cousin
Maggie Heslop

[printed letterhead]

12 Eskdale Terrace
Jesmond
Newcastle-upon-Tyne

Dec. 29th. 1911 -

My dear Cousin John.

We all unite in wishing you many happy returns of your birthday. We hope Sunday may be a very happy day for you with your dear ones & that the New Year may dawn brightly for you all & bring you much happiness. We shall be thinking affectionately of you all & remember you in our prayers.

Please give my love to Kate & thank her for her very kind letter & all the good wishes it conveyed. I was so pleased to hear of the arrival of Nance's little daughter & that all was well with both Mother & Babe. Please give them, Father & Mother, my heartiest congratulations when you write to them.

Kate tells me of the engagement of Robert Watson of Sunderland. I expect that will be Cuthbert's eldest son. I trust it will be a very happy marriage. Our daughter Agnes & her Husband have not been able to spend Christmas with us. It is a long cross country journey, & as they could only stay three days, we thought it better to be patient and wait for their summer holiday when they will have a better time to stay with us. But we sadly missed our dear girl. She had never been long away from us before & she was just the sunshine of our home. However we must not grieve over her happiness. We feel assured she has gone into safe keeping in the home of a truly good man, & a man of culture & refined taste & I believe one who truly loves her.

I hope your cold is now quite better & that all your home ...

[remainder of letter missing]

12 Eskdale Terrace
[Jesmond]
[Newcastle-upon-Tyne]

Dec 28th. 1912.

My dear Cousin John.

I feel sure Kate will forgive me for addressing this letter to you for your Birthday, instead of answering her very kind letter received yesterday, & I shall hope to write to her soon. I want you to have the kindest of good wishes from all of us for your own special New Year, your Birthday on Tuesday. May it be a very happy day for you, & a very happy year to follow! We shall think of you affectionately on the day. You, dear John are always so closely associated in my thoughts with my dear Father, who loved you as his own Son, & was always so proud of you, & so thankful to know of the grand work you were doing for your day and generation. There must be many hundreds who have thanked God for your devoted life.

I was very sorry to hear from Kate that you have not been well lately, & hope this may find you stronger. It must have been a great pleasure to you to have both your dear Daughters with you for Christmas, & I suppose Nance will have her little baby with her, which will be a delight to Kate's little girl. Give them all my kindest love & wish them a very happy New Year.

I have not been able to send any Xmas Greetings this year, as my time has been so fully occupied in nursing my two sons, who have both been ill with measles. Noll[?], the elder, began on Nov 1rst. & when he was recovering, Harry, (Cuthbert Harrison) took them & was dangerously ill with them & a month in his room. He just got out of the sick room before Xmas & then had to clean & disinfect the house which made pretty hard work for our cousin Sarah & me, & left no time for writing or sending cards, so you will all excuse. I often wished I had a little leisure to send Kate a line, but I could not manage it. I thought it was so sweet of her to spare time to write to me, when she must have had her hands very full. Do thank her for me.

The day on which Noll[?] took ill, we had a very sad letter from Charlie in Johannesburg. His good little wife had died on Oct 13th. She had long been ill, & suffering, but was such a brave, bright little woman, she was just the light of his home, & it has made a sad Xmas for him. He has two daughters, both married, & five sons, all steady & industrious lads. He is going [to] live with his younger daughter & her Husband, so it will not be quite so lonely for him. Do you remember him in the old days. He was so interested in hearing of you.

I think I told you Agnes & Phebe are living in Jesmond now. Agnes is still very poorly & poor Phebe has just lost her eldest son. A very promising young fellow. All these things have made us feel very quiet this Xmas.

Now I fear this [is] rather too much in the minor key for a birthday letter, but I thought you would like to hear of your cousins. Kate tells me you have such a strong memory for the past. I think it is our way as we get older to dwell upon old times. I have such a vivid recollection of your old home at Ireshopeburn & how good you all were to me. I was just seven years old when I was there, & Grandfather Harrison was living. Your sister Jane & I were great playmates, & I had my first experience as a town child, of haymaking, & what a delight it was. I never can feel the scent of hay without the remembrance of that time, & you & Cuthbert (your brother) were so good in pandering to my delight by giving me rides on the hay cart. Oh! such a treat to a child who had never had such a thing in her life before. & I am sure you will remember the "Popett Hill" (is that correct?) with the little seat on the top made by a hollow in the sods. What a chat we could have about all the old places if we could only meet.

With love to all (in which Richard joins[)] & again best wishes,
Your affectionate cousin
Maggie Heslop