Letter from Sir Wilfrid Spender to his wife Lady Lillian Spender, 6 August 1916

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from Sir Wilfrid Spender to his wife Lady Lillian Spender, 6 August 1916

1 6 Aug My pr A BW very fat B with 3
big meals today 2 dated the 31st and one
direct dated the 3rd, also rather a rather
swollen W with pr's compliments. I am glad
you have picked up another real friend
in Mrs Henry, but pr's always do
when the bw is away & can't scare
them off. My letters come by King's
messengers now about at least so I
believe or perhaps only the papers do Lavender very nice to smell tho' it
has been nearly a week getting here. Rather anxious about you. I
think you will have to go away in 2 September if not before and someone
do in the committee ought to be able
to manage by them as the work
should be less. Then an other splendid
woman about even if no other
pr ! ! I was up til 12 30 on
one report and had told Douglas to
call me for 7 30 sevice but thought
no such warn of it that I slept on
till 8 20 ! ! and was too ashamed to
have breakfast so had chocolate in my
room & thus got in with the first
flight at 8.40. I ate extra good
lunch and must get exercise today as
yesterday I got none tho' I bustled about 3 rather hecticly in a car visiting the
Reserve army HQ when I was known
by someone whom I don't recognise now.
At the 4th Army Barge is a good friend of useful
information â€” just a little jealous of a Col but
very nice. Sammy Wilson gave me
a look in the other day and has made
me promise to visit him at the first
opportunity at the First army so at
nearly all the Armies I have a pal at
HQ. Do you remember a man at
Chatham in our House called Mathison
now a Lt Col. A rather quiet shy
elderly sapper. He turned up today, which
various MP people are about. I forget when your ban is up, but 4 if in Dept why not take a holiday then
before getting into a new abode. poor pr. Yes I think then an other Capt GS010
but any how I am by no means a chicken as
GSO in know ways It is rather funny
that I should be writing the dispatch in which
my name is not even to be mentioned
only to 'the' letter. I must stop prattling still your bw (in spite
of Fanny's distinct charms) WB Spender

A letter from Sir Wilfrid Bliss Spender (1876-1960) to his wife, Lady Lillian Spender, née Dean, (1880-1968). In this letter, Spender writes that he is 'very fat' after receiving three letters ('big meals') from Lillian that morning. He expresses anxiety that Lillian is not getting enough rest, and advises her to take time off in September when her workload is likely to have lightened. He writes of his embarrassment after accidentally sleeping in following an exhausting late night. He briefly discusses work colleagues and mutual acquaintances, and points out the irony that he is writing dispatches in which his own name is not mentioned due to some unspecified past indiscretion.Sir Wilfrid Spender was a member of the British Army until 1913 when controversy surrounding his signature of the Ulster Solemn League and Covenant resulted in his resignation. Spender was called up for military service in 1914 and from 1915 served in the 36th (Ulster) Division. Throughout the war, Spender wrote a collection of letters to his wife Lady Lillian Spender. The letters date mainly from 1915 to 1918, when Sir Wilfrid was serving in France. The letters concern politics, the Irish question, personal life, and Wilfrid's experience of the Great War. Lady Lillian served in the Ulster Volunteer Nursing Corps during the war, and was an organiser of the Ulster Division Comforts Fund.

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How to cite

Letters 1916, published by the Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities, Vienna, 2026 (https://letters1916static.github.io/letters1916-static/item__0785.html)