Letter from Emma Duffin to Maria Duffin, 29 December 2015 Letters 1916-1923 Emma Duffin

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 Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities Vienna, AT 2026

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Letter from Emma Duffin (1883-1979) to her mother Maria (1854-1954) detailing how Emma spent Christmas with the men on her ward. Emma also writes about a nephew of Sir Edward Carson who she finds common yet he is hailed as a gentlemen among the English. This letter is part of a rich correspondence between various members of the Duffin family, a large prosperous family living in Strandtown, Belfast. Several family members served in the war, including Major Terence Duffin, who was a staff officer with 107 Brigade, and later with Royal Irish Rifles; Major Charles G Duffin MC, Royal Field Artillery; and their sisters Emma, Celia and Dorothy who served as Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADS) in Egypt and France, and with the YMCA.

 Public Record Office of Northern Ireland Duffin Family Papers, D2109/9/4/C/8 https://letters1916.ie/item/2622 English Emma Duffin 1915-12-29 15th General Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt Maria Duffin Female 1979 World War I (1914-1918) 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).

 15thGen. Hosp. Alex. Dec. 29/15. My dearest Mamma Your letter of the 15th & Helen's have just arrived! I am writing this in bed as usual in a hurry before settling down. Celine Russell went off today & Matron let me go down to see her on board. Poor thing I feel so sorry for her, & will miss her very much. I am still in my tents, but hear there are to be some changes soon so may get moved. We had a very strenuous Xmas day, amusing patients all day & at an orderlies' concert in the evening. I wrote to Ruth yesterday & told her I think all my news, but your letter must be answered, you are so good about writing. We had a wet Xmas day, rather unfortunate in a country where it so seldom rains! The poor men look so wretched holding up their petticoats & wrapping newspapers around their Tarbouche to keep the red from running. The Col. & M.Os gave us tea in the mess on Xmas day, and the manager of the hotel here gave us a Xmas tree with a present for each of us which I think was noble, and had an orchestra to play as well during the dinner. When the plum puddings came in the lights were put out & it was funny to see the servants tearing in each rushing to his table to get the pudding there while it was still lit, unfortunately they had mixed a little methylated spirits with the brandy with great effect as 2 regards the flames but not improving to the flavour. We had strawberries, think of it, very few & very small still strawberries! Molly & John Carson asked me to spend Xmas there but that was out of the question, they gave me a pair of silk stockings. Talking of Carsons I am not in the least surprised to hear Capt. Carson's people are , he is quite a common man, though amongst the English people here I have no doubt is consideded a gentleman, I never believed he was a nephew of Sir Edward's, I was told he was, & asked him & he said yes, but you can take nothing he says seriously, he would tell you the next day he had never heard of him. I am amused at your enquiries. I am sure you were afraid I was interested in him, if you saw him you would not be alarmed, he is a typical common North of Ireland man very amusing, & they say very clever, but I would doubt that. He asked me to go to tea with him & I refused and at present he is sulky & Won't speak to me, I tell you all this because I can read between the lines that you are alarmed, things written in letters often give a wrong impression and after Dorothy's affair I suppose you are in the qui vive. By the way I am sure you are worried about her. I am afraid it does not sound very promising. It is awfully good of you to send me a blouse dearest it will be most useful. By the way I have spent all the money you sent Emma Duffin Letter from Emma Duffin to her sister Celia Duffin, 29 December 1915Letter from Emma Duffin to Maria Duffin, 5 February 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to Maria Duffin, 29 December 2015Letter from Emma Duffin to Celia Duffin, 15 January 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to her aunts, 9 January 1916, Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 5 March 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 27 March 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 22 November 1915 Maria Duffin Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 24 January 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, February 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to Maria Duffin, 5 February 1916Letter from Terence Duffin to Maria Duffin, March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 15 March 1916Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 25 March 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 30 March 1916Letter from Terrence Duffin to his mother, Maria Duffin, 31 December 1915Letter from Emma Duffin to Maria Duffin, 29 December 2015Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 8 December 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Adam Duffin, 9 December 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, January 1916Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, circa 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 8 January 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 13 February 1916Letter from Terence Duffin to Maria Duffin, 29 February 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 6 February 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 9 January 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 27 February 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 14 February, 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria DuffinLetter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 19 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria DuffinLetter from Emma Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 5 March 1916Letter from Dorothy to Maria Duffin, 22 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 10 February 1916Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, 31 July 1916Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 27 March 1916Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, 28 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, April 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother, 15 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 3 November 1915.From Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 9 April 1915Letter from Emma Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 22 November 1915Letter from Terence Duffin to his mother Maria Duffin, 26 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Dorothy Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, 8 November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 26 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Dorothy Duffin to Maria Duffin, 28 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, 1 November 1915 15th General Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt Letter from Emma Duffin to Maria Duffin, 29 December 2015Letter from Emma Duffin to her aunts, 9 January 1916,