Letter from Celia Duffin to her aunt, 1915 Letters 1916-1923 Celia Duffin

This work was originally published by Maynooth University in Ireland in 2017. In 2026 this data, stored in a relational database was extracted and converted into this TEI/XML document.

 Austrian Centre for Digital Humanities Vienna, AT 2026

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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 served as 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/B https://letters1916.ie/item/4398 English Celia Duffin 1915 3rd London General Hospital, S.W., England Female 1979 World War I (1914-1918) Medicine 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).

 3rd London General Hospital SW. 1915 Dear Auntie B Thanks awfully for sending the plants, I have planted them in the hut garden, and I do hope they will do well, so far they look quite perky. One of the patients takes a great interest in my gardening, he can't help much as he can only use one hand, by he thinks his advice very valuable and tells me exactly what I should do. Even on the wettest days, he solemnly fills the watering pot and insists on my coming out to water the plants - when I tell him the ground is wet enough, he shrugs his soldiersshoulders and gets quite sulky. He presented me with 3 large clumps of dahlia roots the other day , which I suspect he must have stolen from some place else, and told me they had flowers as big as two plates. We have a few patients at present that the war office has told the colonel to close down some of the huts and dismiss some of the staff, so perhaps I may get a holiday. I would rather like to come home now, and go out to France with Emma a little later. Nise is a nice Lutton girl here, a cousin of the Wicksteeds. I had a letter from Mrs. Wicksteed last week, and she says Justine is to be married quite soon. Thanks for the cuttings of the poems, I like Katherine Tynan's very much. It is a pity maunsel has failed, I am sorry for poor Mr Roberts as I think he is a real book lover, and brought all his books books out so well - It is nice having Dorothy here, though I am afraid I won't see much of her; I went to her lodgings the other day and thought them very nice. Then we went on the top of the bus to Hampstead Heath as neither of us had been there before, and sat there in the sun for a little - The King's surgeon comes to our Ward and operates on nearly all our bad cases, he is a very solemn person and stalks round with great state - Please give Aunt Ellen my love, I am sorry she has been having such a bad time, I hope she'll soon be all right again. Some of our patients went to Buckingham palace to a tea party given by the King. They came back full of excitement as the King came and chatted to them all, and Princess Mary poured out their tea. Best love and many thanks From your loving Celia 3rd London General Hospital, S.W., England Letter from Celia Duffin to her aunt, 1915 Celia Duffin Letter from Emma Duffin to her sister Celia Duffin, 29 December 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 24 January 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, February 1916Letter from Helen Duffin to Celia Duffin, 22 December 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 15 March 1916Letter from Helen Duffin to Celia Duffin, 16 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Ruth Duffin, 6 December 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Auntie D, 3 December 1915Letter from Emma Duffin to Celia Duffin, 15 January 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 8 December 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Adam Duffin, 9 December 1915letter from Anna Duffin to Celia Duffin, 3 December 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 8 January 1916Letter from Maria Duffin to Celia Duffin, 13 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 A. Duffin to Celia Duffin, 2 March 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria DuffinLetter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 10 February 1916Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, April 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother, Thursday November,1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 3 November 1915.Letter from Celia Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her sister Ruth, 3 November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her aunt, 18 November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to Maria Duffin, 26 November 1915Letter from Celia Duffin to her aunt, 1915