O’Reilly Letters 1869
Notes and Observations
This series of letters from Carry (Caroline) O’Reilly to her husband Peter covers the time period from July 1, 1869 to December 28, 1869. The scene shifts from Yale to Point Ellice House & Fairfield in Victoria. There are some rare glimpses into the daily domestic life of a family separated at a “trying” time.
Several letters in this series are very hard to read due to what appears as poor quality ink or fading. Names have been spelled the same throughout the documents, and the list shows the first time they appear.
Artificial letter numbers and headings have been added to provide reference points. Letter numbering is used so that the recipient could determine the order in which they were written when one or more of the parties are traveling and mail delivery is uncertain.
All letters are cross written, a technique used to save paper and postage, but make for difficult reading. Missing unreadable information is shown as _______.
The author of the letters uses ( ). Artificial letter numbers, missing dates or information and artificial headings are enclosed in [ ].
Pages of the letters are separated by blank lines.
“&” is used instead of punctuation marks and capitals, these have been added to make the letters easier to read.
“Mrs. S” or “Mr. M” are frequently used as short forms, either the person is well known to the author and the recipient or they have been mentioned by name in the first part of the letter. Example: Mrs. S is Mrs. Seymour.
People are referred to by their surnames, except for family, servants, or close friends.
H.E. occurs in both series of letters and my assumption is that it stands for His Excellency, at this date it would be Governor Musgrave as Mr. Seymour died in June of this year (1869).
It appears that the O’Reillys maintained an establishment in Yale as well as Point Ellice House in Victoria.
The household staff includes Ellen the maid, Mashell the groom and groundsman, and Tom the “Chinaman” in the kitchen.
How difficult it must have been for Carry to be left to cope with two small children, another on the way, the servants, the household management, and even some business concerns when her husband was working in the wilds of the vast territory we know as British Columbia. Transportation and communication were very primitive to our modern standards.
Carry is pregnant with her third child who is born some time before November 29, 1869 (Letter No. 5). This appears to have been a very hard birth.
It is difficult from the writing to determine if the new baby is a she or a he, this is the first time the sex of the child is mentioned in this series of letters, perhaps it was included in the telegram which was probably sent when the baby first arrived.
Throughout this series there are clues and phrases used to describe her condition. In addition to the terms used in the 1867 letter series the following were found:
- time of suffering
- crippled state
- confined
- laid up
Political climate, the two colonies have been amalgamated under Governor Musgrave. The entry of British Columbia into Canadian Confederation is the most significant topic, although Carry does not seem to be concerned with this problem.
The “steamers” schedule and the telegraph being down are still a concern to the family. There are notes regarding the time involved when traveling up from Westminster to Yale.
Back to List of 1869 Letters