1
Liffleton Lodge
16 Florence Road Boscombe 30 May 1916 Sir I am holding the position
of a Butler in the employ
of Mrs Flobell of the above
address and wish to
journey to Belfast for
two weeks holiday granted
me on June the 7th. I am informed by the
Police that a certificate
of identification is needed
and to apply to you from the necessary paper.
Please send them
addressed to me as
above by return post. Yours faithfully James Hamilton
To the Secretary of State
Foreign Office Send usual
reply in the
assumption that
he is a British
suspect
1/6/16
This is a letter from James Hamilton, a butler working in England, to the secretary
of state at the Foreign Office, Edwars Grey (1862-1933). This letter was sent during
the period in which there was no active chief secretary for Ireland after the resignation
of Augustine Birrell (1850-1933) following the administrative failure before the 1916
Rising. In his letter, Hamilton explains that he is a butler working for Dorothy
Scobell (b. 1893) in Bournemouth and that he wishes to travel to Belfast for two weeks.
Hamilton requests that the necessary documents are sent out.