Letter from George C. Townshend to Lady Clonbrock, 18 October 1916.

Foo, Bar; Bar, Foo

Letter from George C. Townshend to Lady Clonbrock, 18 October 1916.

1 AU?
Would bring
matter before Com-tee
Meeting on Wed: Oc br 28 County Club, Cork 18/10/16 Dear Lady Clonbrook, Yr letter addressed to
Tipperary has reached me. If you wd let me
have the necessary information
as to a couple
of men I hope to be
able to write you that
the Committee will
be able to help them. We have only just 2 succeeded in getting
hold of a reliable
ex N.C.O. and his wife to
take charge of a Hostel
we are opening & which
shd be in working order
within three weeks. You will of course
understand that we
can only help men
who are conscientiously
anxious to help
themselves, & that 3 we cannot undertake the responsibility
of inebriates or other bad cases. The Commandant of the Depot has
given leave for the discharged men,
in whom the joint Committee interest
themselves, to avail of our classes. The Hostel is being run on as near
military lines as is possible in the
case of men who are not under
actual military discipline, &
judging the number of cases we have
anxious to avail of its advantages
the need must be great. We
will be able to help 20 or 25
in first instance, but must make
a charge of 10/ for maintenance
owing to the heavy drain on our
limited resources. On hearing
again from you I shall have
the recommendations carefully
considered by the Committee. Yrs faithfully, George C. Townshend

This is a letter from George C. Townshend to Augusta Caroline Dillon (née Dillon), Lady Clonbrock (1839-1928). Lady Clonbrock was a prominent member of the Irish Women's Association, founded to provide aid and assistance to Irish prisoners of war. The writer is looking for information about two men so that his committee may be able to help them. His committee is in the process of setting up a hostel (for ex-soldiers). He says that they can only help those who want to help themselves and that there will be no room for 'inebriates or other bad cases'. They will be running classes for the men and he expects that there is a lot of interest. He awaits Lady Clonbrock's recommendations which will be 'carefully considered by the Committee'. A note added to the letter (by Lady Clonbrock) indicates her intention to bring the matter before her committee meeting on the following week.

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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__1547.html)