Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, 1 November 1915 Letters 1916-1923 Olive 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/4399 English Olive Duffin 1915-11-01 7 Westcliff, Eastbrough, Sussex, England Maria Duffin Female 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).

 7 West-Cliff. 1stNov. 1915 Dearest Mamma, I was glad to get your letter & all the enclosures sent in this week from Terry, Emma, etc. were so nice to get. I have forwarded them on to Celia. I send Helen's back. We have had awful weather this week, blowing & raining cats & dogs, it is very difficult & these conditions to grope one's way about after dark especially where we are on the sea front where no lights are allowed. Fortunately a Miss Need is here & occupies Miss Roberts. She is a great talker, & full of information about people especially 'country people & royalties'. She was terribly upset about the King's 'accident' & makes remarks like "Ah, I see Queen Alexandra has been to such & such a place, I was sure shewould be there!" but she is a decent soul & quite nice to me & I welcome any visitors. Who did I meet in the town one day but Mrs Linda Johns, quite sane looking & nicely dressed. Her brother lives here & she has taken a cottage somewhere not far off. She had had all her front teeth removed & was having others in the day after! I met Mrs Bayford again yesterday & she asked me to go & see her in a farm house at a village just outside Eastbourne where she has taken refuge now, her caravan being no longer comfortable. Everyone is very kind & I feel I have a few friends now. I go to the Red X Depot most days. Today there was a funny coincidence two ladies at my table were talking & one said, "a friend of mine read me a letter from a man in the Notts & Derby Yeomanry saying they were so badly equipped & went into action with the officers in mufti carrying little canes" etc. etc. I said I had a cousin with them & I thought it could not be true as they had been in Egypt for some time & were fully trained & ready. It then turned out the letter she quoted was from Bertrand Swanwick written to her friend - Mrs. Harker. so we were speaking of the same man! Miss Bruce asks me to go up for a night or two to meet Hilda this week. I am just waiting to hear from Celia. I may go up Thursday or Friday. I am glad you are getting something to send out to Emma, it makes me long to help. Do you get the things by post or through some agency? I have got about £20 now for the Y.M.C.A. Hut & don't know what D. may have got. E's letters are very interesting & very pathetic about the men. I am sure she is splendid. I am glad she has a little outing too. Mrs Donnet says she will tell Mrs Dickie Dixon to look her up. She is going out to join her husband. I had a note from poor Mrs Eastwood asking me to stay a weekend with her, at Brighton but I can't do so at present, she goes to Hampton Court for the arrival. We had a Miss Patterson for lunch on Sunday, her job is massaging the soldiers, at the Convalescent Camp here, she belongs to the Pager Corps. run by Miss French. They are badly paid & hard worked of course! they can qualify after 6 months' training. Miss P. has worked at it for several years & says one can make £50 & one's keep at ordinary times; but the W.O. does not give so much of course. I think I have no further news. I am sure you are busy writing letters to everyone & other things. I hope you are not worrying. Love to all. Ever your loving Olive. Olive Duffin Letter from Olive Duffin to Ruth Duffin, 31 March 1916Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, January 1916Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, 28 March 1916Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother, November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her mother Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to her aunt, Ellie, 12 November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, 1 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 7 Westcliff, Eastbrough, Sussex, England Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, November 1915Letter from Olive Duffin to Maria Duffin, 1 November 1915