Letter from Sir Wilfrid Spender to his wife Lady Lillian Spender, 12 August 1916

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Letter from Sir Wilfrid Spender to his wife Lady Lillian Spender, 12 August 1916

1 12 Aug My pr Am waiting for Gen Butler so can begin a
letter, tho' I badly want to get back to my own
office. You have certainly done wonders in winning
Mrs Blacker so completely. No, Mulholland is by no
means Dunleath's sons, but rather a bounder, with
whom I had trouble in old YCV days tho' we
more or less made things up later. He was Col Chichester's adjutant! I forgot whether
Haye was in the 37 or the 38th. The former did well
I believe. No don't give details of my work, especially
in view of future feelings except to say that I am
employed on new confidential work of an important charac-
ter of which you have not got details. This is indeed the
case now as I do not like to write further. I have nearly daily interviews
with the CGS. The King came round today but the bw kept
discretely in the background, which you will agree was indi-
cated under the circumstances, I think. I do not know
if the King would have minded but others might if he
asked awkward questions about one's lurid past. He 2 looked very much better again & is said to be cheered
up by the news. Wigram came to lunch looking
pale I thought. He must have had an inkling that he
knew my face but was not quite sure of it, so drew
a bow at a venture and asked if any one knew where
the Ulster Division was stationed. When I replied he
must have known he had drawn a winner & said
something about seeing Sir George. I so so well understand
the feelings of any one whose husband is in the firing
line towards those whose lines lie back here. You
would feel it too old thing this' no rabbit's claws would
show themselves. I suppose rabbits have claws to burrow
with but think the pr never had any or perhaps has
lost them since she has a bw to burrow for her, tho'
I now recollect that the pr has had to burrow out
most of their homes poor thing. â€” I had written things
in the plural by a horrible mistake! â€” Its too hot to
walk now so I must return to my office to grind if
I am not to stay in all day. BW did not have such a
bad time as you think old thing. He used to fret but it was largely continued at top of first page 3 At top top of the page

A letter from sir Wilfrid Bliss Spender (1876-1960) to his wife, Lady Lillian Spender, née Dean, (1880-1968). In this letter, Spender instructs Lillian on how much she may reveal to a friend about his position and responsibilities in the war office. He tells her of a recent visit by the King to the office, but says that he kept in the background to avoid discussion of his own 'lurid past'.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__0795.html)