Letter from Lawrence Brown to his sister Margaret Brown, 19 November 1915 Letters 1916-1923 Lawrence Brown

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 Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities Vienna, AT 2026

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Lawrence Brown wrote this letter while on board the HMS Defence. He wrote to his sister Margaret Brown, who at the time was living at the Viceregal Lodge, the official residence of the lord lieutentant of Ireland (Lord Wimborne in 1915) in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Lawrence was a gunner in the Royal Marine Artillery. On 31 May 1916 the HMS Defence was sunk during the Battle of Jutland, the largest naval battle of the Great War, and Lawrence was killed. His body was never recovered. In the letter, Laurence makes no reference to the war except to say that there is 'always a lot of noise' on the ship. He refers to his family, mentions that he has a cold and says that he will write to another sister. Attached is a photograph of Lawrence Brown.

 Lawrence Scott Private Collection https://letters1916.ie/item/1584 English Lawrence Brown 1915-11-19 HMS Defence Margaret Browne Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland Male 1916 World War I (1914-1918) Personal Relations

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).

 H.M.S. Defence, c/o G.P.O. London 19th Nov. 1915 My Dearest Sister, Just a few lines in answer to your letter which I received on today (Friday) so glad to see by same that you are quite well as this leaves me with a bad cold again of course one cannot help having colds this weather. Well I have no more photos like the one I sent home to you only one taken with my chum here. The best thing to do is to have the them out as you will be always troubled with them. I will write to Ester on Sunday so glad to hear that she is keeping quite well. So you are having a rough time of it at home. I thought here was the only place for storms see you had a big storm at home there plenty of fine wood not now for a while. I am sorry to see that mother has a cold she must take care of herself this weather I will write to Sister Francis on Sunday when I have time to myself of course there is always a lot of noise so you cannot write so well. Well dear sister I am glad to see that Nell and Mary are well also dad so conclude for now hoping to hear from you soon again. I remain your loving Brother Lawrence XXXX Lawrence Brown Letter from Lawrence Brown to his sister Margaret Brown, 19 November 1915Christmas card from Lawrence Brown, Christmas 1915Christmas card from Lawrence Brown to his sisters, Christmas 1915 HMS Defence Letter from Lawrence Brown to his sister Margaret Brown, 19 November 1915 Phoenix Park, Dublin, Ireland Letter from Matthew Nathan to John Gordon, 30 March 1916Letter from Richard A. McDowell to Lord Wimborne, Ivor Guest, 18 March 1916Letter from Lawrence Brown to his sister Margaret Brown, 19 November 1915Christmas card from Lawrence Brown to his sisters, Christmas 1915