Letter from John Lynn to George Hackney, 26 September 1916 Letters 1916-1923 John Lynn

This work was originally published by Maynooth University in Ireland in 2017. In 2026 this data, stored in a relational database was extracted and converted into this TEI/XML document.

 Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities Vienna, AT 2026

This is an open access work licensed under Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC 4.0).

A letter John Lynn to George Hackney (1889-1977). In the letter, Lynn hopes that George is recovering speedily from the shell-shock he suffered in the trenches. He hopes that George will be able to visit home soon 'for a while', and mentions a recent visit to George by a mutual acquaintance, a Reverend Sam McKenzie. He says that all the staff in the Depot wish George the best. He refers also to the health of George's mother, stating she is 'very much as usual'.This letter is from the papers of George Naphthali Hackney , a Lance Corporal from Clifton, Belfast. Before his time in the army, he worked as a book-keeper for a florist. He was the youngest in a Presbyterian family of six, with three older sisters. In 2014, his collection of photographs taken in the trenches were made available to the public in an Ulster Museum exhibition, and his life and photography became the subject of a BBC documentary, 'The Man who Shot the Great War'. In 1916 he was injured and spent some time in Wharncliffe War Hospital, Sheffield. The author of the letter, John Lynn, was the manager of the Bible and Book Depot of The Sabbath School Society for Ireland, a Presbyterian Sunday School. The Depot was an Agency for Colportage, i.e. the distribution of religious texts.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Papers of George Hackney, Belfast, D3503/5/1-6-2 https://letters1916.ie/item/728 English John Lynn 1916-09-26 FIsherwick Place, Belfast, Ireland George Hackney Ward 31, 'D' Block, Wharncliffe War Hospital, Sheffield, England Male World War I (1914-1918)

The data in these XML files was generated based on a data dump from the Magellan database (https://github.com/Maynooth-Center-for-Digital-Humanities/Magellan). Each database record has been converted to a JSON file (https://github.com/letters1916static/letters-data/tree/main/json). The element section of the JSON file contains the TEI-encoded contents of the letters. The TEI XML has been cleaned and made well-formed using a Python script (https://github.com/letters1916static/letters-data/tree/main/src).

 Telegrams 'Sabbath, Belfast' Telephone:Belfast 1323 from The Sabbath School Society for Ireland BIBLE AND BOOK DEPOT Fisherwick Place, BELFAST. agency for colportage J.L. J LYNN, MANAGER 26th September, 1916 My dear George, A few days ago I heard that you had got the length of Sheffield, and that you are now in hospital suffering from shell- shock. The last communication of yours that I saw was one you had written to Mr. Russell, and I think you were then in France. I hope, now that you have got back to Blighty, your health is improving, and I don't suppose you have any objections to being a little nearer your native land. As a result of your trying experiences, I hope you will not be permanently injured. When you get well enough I suppose you will be allowed home for a while. We should all like very much to see you on your return. I wrote the Rev. Sam McKenzie when I heard you were in a Sheffield hospital. You will, no doubt, remember him. I think he was a student when you were here. He is a native of Bangor. I had a post-card from him saying he had called on you. I suppose a visit from every anyone whom you know is acceptable at any time. All the staff here were sorry to know that you were unwell, but we all hope you will soon be quite fit and able to got about as usual. I sometimes see your sister, but I have not been speaking to her for some time, The last time I saw here she said your mother was very much as usual. I am sure your home people will be glad if you get home even for a short time. With kindest regards from all the staff, and trusting your health will soon be fully recovered, I am, Very faithfully yours, John Lynn BIBLE AND BOOK DEPOT, AGENCY FOR COLPORTAGE THE SABBATH SCHOOL SOCIETY FOR IRELAND BELFAST No. 14815, Lepl. George Hackney, Ward 31, Warcliffe War Hospital, SHEFFIELD. FIsherwick Place, Belfast, Ireland Letter from John Lynn to George Hackney, 26 September 1916 Ward 31, 'D' Block, Wharncliffe War Hospital, Sheffield, England Letter from John Lynn to George Hackney, 26 September 1916Postcard from M.J. Stevenson to George Hackney, 22 September 1916 John Lynn Letter from John Lynn to George Hackney, 26 September 1916