L.M. Montgomery wrote a passage in Anne of the Island (1915) describing letters from years past, which were written by her parents and which Anne was reading, “The sweetness of forgotten things clung to them – the far-off, fond imaginings of those long-dead lovers”.
I feel much the same way when I read letters written by my parents, my grandparents and my ancestors. I am truly fortunate that many of these letter survive, thanks in part to the hoarding tendencies of my parents. As I sort them and attempt to read them – a task which is more difficult than it might seem given the majority of them are in foreign languages (mainly Russian and German, but also some French) and in often illegible handwriting – I am hoping for a glimpse into their lives and their thoughts. Something as simple as a description of the place they were living, the food they ate, the music they listened to, enthuses me. It is the little things which often excite the family historian.
Some letters I have had access to are very special, like the letters written between my maternal grandmother, Olga Woronoff, and the daughters of the last Tsar of Russia. The letters written by the Grand Duchesses Olga and Tatiana, the two eldest daughters of Tsar Nicholas II have been included in the 2nd ed of Upheaval. Upheaval was my grandmother’s memoir of life in Russia before and during the Revolution and Civil War. Grand Duchess Olga, who had had a crush on my grandfather, Paul Woronoff, would be forgiven if she had decided never to have anything more to do with my grandmother. However, in her letters she often refers to my grandmother as “darling Olga” or “my dear Olga”. Grand Duchess Tatiana was also enthusiastic in her greetings, starting her letters with “My dear darling Olga” and ending them with “Loving you will all my heart”. These letters record much of their day to day lives and are a real treasure trove of information.
On my paternal side, it has only been through letters that I have discovered information about my father and his family. I only just found out that after World War II; my father worked for a short time as a gardener. For me that was hilarious as I clearly remember the day he mowed over my mother’s roses! Until I read his letters I also had no idea he had been engaged to be married before he met my mother. He had broken it off before he met my mother which was a relief to me.
It would be easy to think that personal letters are a true source of information about our ancestors’ lives, on a similar scale to personal diaries and journals. But we need to bear in mind that letters are often written in a way which will be pleasing to the receiver and therefore might not always be totally truthful. I believe diaries and journals are a little bit more reliable in that sense, although they too can contain false information, or perhaps the author simply spends time daydreaming.
As you can see from the photo, I still have many letters to work through. Hopefully they will contain more interesting information which I can share with you.
