Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 25 March 1916 Letters 1916-1923 Dorothy Duffin

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Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria. Dorothy writes to her mother about the frustrating search for work in London. She does not want to work long hours for small pay and her preference would be a job in the Admiralty. Unfortunately she has found that there is no point in applying without a letter of introduction. She has asked a Mrs. Arnold-Forster for such a letter but she hasn't received a reply.This letter is part of a rich correspondence between various members of the Duffin family, a large prosperous family living in Strandtown, Belfast. Several family members served in the war, including Major Terence Duffin, who served as a staff officer with 107 Brigade, and later with Royal Irish Rifles; Major Charles G Duffin MC, Royal Field Artillery; and their sisters Emma, Celia and Dorothy who served as Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADS) in Egypt and France, and with the YMCA.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Duffin Papers, D2109/10/1/C/30 https://letters1916.ie/item/644 English Dorothy Duffin 1916-03-25 Ardeevin, Epsom, England Maria Duffin Dunowen, Belfast, Ireland Female World War I (1914-1918) Personal Relations

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 March 25th 16 Ardeevin Epsom Dearest Mamma Your letter just arrived I was so glad to get it. Please thank Ruth & Helen for theirs also. I have just been writing letters about posts but dont feel at all hopeful about them & I am disappointed at not hearing from Mrs Arnold Forster. I heard it was useless to approach the Admiralty without a letter of introduction to some definite person as being on the list counts for little so I wrote to her but got no answer. Yesterday I spent a nightmare day going from 1 one Bureau of Association to another. Miss Sharek started me with two letters & each seemed to send me on some place else I started at Victoria St then made my way into the heart of the City then Baker St & Oxford Circus ending up at South Kensington. There was some amusement in discovering routes & on the whole everyone was agreeable but such dreadful women all asking me the same questions my shorthand speed especially & telling me to be willing to start with little pay. I said I would prefer a private residential post but am told they are practically nil since the War & moreover it was so much better to carve out a career(!) I have joined the Association of Clerks & Secs: & various people have written down my name on forms & promised to write but I have not much hope of them & have a feeling that I should detest anything they offered me! I have made up my mind that I will not be an office clerk working from 9 —6 on small pay. I struck one rather decent man in an office off the Strand who gave me an address of a Capt Stil who wanted a Secretary for a hospital at Camberwell and I have written to him One of these official ladies told me so many incompetent women had got them into Admiralty work through influence that the authorities are disgusted & probably most of them will be turned out as incapable. I dont know what they are disposed supposed to do exactly. I was glad to meet Celia at South Kensington foreign offices typewriters! We called on Mrs Macleod but she was away so we went to Pontings where I bought a hat & we into Bakers for tea. I shall meet Celia again for a half day next week & expect to go to Eastbourne on the 1st Celia is always cheerful & uncomplaining. Aunt Fanny & Uncle Edmund are kindness itself but you know how long days can be but I smile cheerfully at her all day & sing to him in the evening. We had a wee dinner at the Clubrooms where the women attempted to dress so were frozen in a miserably cold room the men remained in morning clothes smoked pipes all night till I was nearly suffocated. I have avoided walking into the town with Aunt F this morning in order to write to you but this afternoon we are to have a good constitutional. Baby is very well but her health is almost entirely the only subject of conversation. It is so funny to see her dancing with her grandparents. Uncle E kicking up his heels. Aunt F hopping with a face of intense misery. Uncle E looks just the same & is still talking of his golf swing and of ' a man I know' Tomorrow we walk over to Cormac Janet has been poorly & so has Harry but both are better. Janet has come into money it seems. The other day we went for tea at the Bayshaws in the creepy underground house. The drawing room chairs were all covered with white calico. Mrs B is so fat she cannot sit down but she leans against a solid seat. The other visit was the other of one I paid years ago & was asked exactly the same questions about the Souths & Corrys as before. I felt I was dreaming! I am sorry about Charlie's training being a farce it seems very stupid. I would join Marjorie if she wanted me & come back to London. I'm glad you have Ruth at home & hope to hear of Emma soon. I feel my brains cooking in this little study. Epsom is the most bilious place I have ever been in . I hope you wont find it so & that you will make up your mind to come over. Best Love Dear Dorothy. Ardeevin, Epsom, England Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 25 March 1916Letter from Dorothy (Dussie) Duffin to Auntie B, 27 March 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 30 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria DuffinLetter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 22 March 1916 Dunowen, Belfast, Ireland Letter from Helen Duffin to Celia Duffin, 22 December 1915Letter from Terence Duffin to Maria Duffin, March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 15 March 1916Letter from Helen Duffin to Celia Duffin, 16 March 1916Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 25 March 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 30 March 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 13 February 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 9 January 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 27 February 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria DuffinLetter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 19 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria DuffinLetter from Emma Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 5 March 1916Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 22 March 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 31 July 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 27 March 1916Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 22 November 1915Letter from Terence Duffin to his father Adam Duffin, 10 November 1915Letter from Terence Duffin to his mother Maria Duffin, 26 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Adam Duffin to his daughter Dorothy Duffin, 7 November 1915Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 8 November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, November 1915 Dorothy Duffin Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 25 March 1916Letter from Dorothy (Dussie) Duffin to Auntie B, 27 March 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 30 March 1916Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 22 March 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 31 July 1916Letter from Terence Duffin to his sister, Dorothy Duffin, 12 November 1915Letter from Adam Duffin to his daughter Dorothy Duffin, 7 November 1915Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 8 November 1915Letter from Dorothy Duffin to Ruth Duffin, 29 November 1915Letter from Dorothy Duffin to Maria Duffin, 28 November 1915 Maria Duffin Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 24 January 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, February 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to Maria Duffin, 5 February 1916Letter from Terence Duffin to Maria Duffin, March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 15 March 1916Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 25 March 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 30 March 1916Letter from Terrence Duffin to his mother, Maria Duffin, 31 December 1915Letter from Emma Duffin to Maria Duffin, 29 December 2015Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 8 December 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Adam Duffin, 9 December 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, January 1916Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, circa 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 8 January 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 13 February 1916Letter from Terence Duffin to Maria Duffin, 29 February 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 6 February 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 9 January 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 27 February 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 14 February, 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria DuffinLetter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 19 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria DuffinLetter from Emma Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 5 March 1916Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 22 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 10 February 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 31 July 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 27 March 1916Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, 28 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, April 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother, 15 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 3 November 1915.From Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 9 April 1915Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 22 November 1915Letter from Terence Duffin to his mother Maria Duffin, 26 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 8 November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 26 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Dorothy Duffin to Maria Duffin, 28 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, 1 November 1915