Peter to Caroline, Point Ellice House, Victoria, July 31, 1888

Point Ellice
31st July

Thank you my dearest Carry for two letters recd this morning dated 10th & 13th July – they have come very quickly whereas your letter of the 2nd inst. only reached me yesterday. Unfortunately you were not able to tell me anything definitely about Franks movements & this, I need not say, is disappointing. I shall not be able to hear again from you for about three weeks. The Douglas is now at Nanaimo taking in a supply of Coal, & I leave in the morning by Rail to join her, the boat has been at my disposal since 25th inst. but I kept putting off my start, until I could hear from you. You must not worry about money. I know well you wont spend anything that is not required, & that I would not more than approve of. I am afraid I said too much about these matters to you, & I must again impress on you that I never intended to object to getting anything you want or like for otherwise, what I intended to say was that there is a great necessity for Keeping a correct entry of what you spend & to get what you want as cheaply as you can. Now dont worry more on this point or I shall be much more worried & annoyed out here. I have tried to put this very clearly and it is a great grief to me if you worry yourself more on this subject. I feel deeply that I am not with you when possibly you are parting with Frank with all our faults, we should try to be together as much as possible, I miss you all greatly but you were right to remain in England on account of the children, particularly as I must be away so much of the season. —

Now to your letters just recd. I cannot thank Sir Michael sufficiently for all his efforts in behalf of Frank & for his unfailing kindness to you. I have just written him an

unsatisfactory letter (for I am greatly pressed for time) I cannot express how deeply I feel indebted to him – therefore I have not tried. If Frank is to go to Buenos Ayres It is a pity he could not have gone with Mr. Sherman, but I suppose that time was too short – I am very glad he is learning Spanish, I wish he could have had some special instructions, even a few lessons, in taking out & measuring quantities &c, so that he could have talked more fluently on the subject. I hope you have supplied him with a good dictionary & everything requisite. Too large an outfit for him would be a mistake, he does not take care of his things & they would be in his way, there are piles of his things here many of which would be useful to him. I.E. a new flannel suit. I had them taken out of his drawer a few days since & aired lest moth might have got into them. they are quite safe – my clothes have suffered more than anything else. Get what Bedroom furniture you require.

Mr. & Mrs. Ward (no children) will leave for England about 10th Oct. for 6 months.

Have the books I sent to Frank from N. York reached him, are they what he wanted? Of course I dont know much about either Spain or Buenos Ayres – but I fancy the Latter would be the best place that there would be better chances of advancement. How long did Frank continue to work in Kinipple’s office after I left?

I am glad you are going to call on the Bishop. I know he will be greatly pleased to see you. I have not had a line from Jack since I left Queenstown – he is very thoughtless, & I am afraid we shall not hear much from him, it is such a pity for he could tell us much about himself. Make him write a good long letter at least once a week – it will be good training & must be of use to him. I hope also that you will be able to arrange that he shall work at his studies for an hour or two each day with a tutor if necessary – if he will do this, he will be at the top of his class next term. Puss, I hope is taking lessons in Music, & trying to improve herself, she will regret it hereafter if she allows the present opportunity to pass. I am dead beat – it is 11-O.C. PM – I must be up at 5 O.C. as I go to Nanaimo by the 8 O.C. train. I have written a long, but I fear an unsatisfactory letter. You must not worry if you dont hear regularly in the future, but you may be sure I will write by every opportunity.

[written vertically over the above]

My love to you all – May God bless and guard each and all. Remember me most kindly to Sir Michael & Lady Seymour and to the young ladies also to all our friends Hughes included write to him & thank him for his kindness & assistance. I had intended to write to Frank by this mail will do so next opportunity. do you know where the keys of the new Dispatch Box are? I would like to send it to Frank if I get an opportunity. — Good bye my dearest wife

Always your devoted loving husband.

P. O’Reilly

What wretched weather you are having – here it has been delightful till today there was a thunder storm followed by heavy rain.

 

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This collection of letters has been digitized from an earlier transcription project and is for informational purposes only. This transcription has not been verified against the originals. Researchers interested in these letters should consult the original documents housed at the BC Archives.

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