#hindhead

Undershaw, the home of crime novelist and physician,Sir Arthur Conan Doyle,creator of the famed private detective, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson

Undershaw,Portsmouth Road,Hindhead,Surrey GU26 6AQ,England

28 October 1917 - Letter to Edith from Witley Camp, Surrey, England

Following his love note from earlier in the day, Fred writes Edith a second "news" letter to "try to make up" for his lack of letters. He begins with a comment about Edith having been at what appears to have been a teaching or schools convention, likely in September from the timing of the letter. It’s possible that this was related to the mandatory school attendance legislation passed in 1917 in Saskatchewan, which particularly affected groups like the Ukrainian settler population in the region where Edith was teaching (see Orest T. Martynowych, Ukrainians in Canada: The Formative Period, 1891-1924 (Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, 1991), pp360-370.

Fred then shares about his recent coursework and the satisfaction he had been getting from it. He notes that it gave him hope at the possibility of further study in his future, which he felt might open up the possibility of working in a College at some point.

Fred relates the "13 or 14 mile walk" past Hindhead described in his letter home of the same day, mentioning also a trip past "the Tyndall place" at Haslemere, likely meaning the home of physicist John Tyndall. He then describes an afternoon walk near Hambledon where he encountered "the dearest little latticed, ivy covered cottage" where he went in for tea and had, "a generous helping of ham, lots of bread, jam, and thee cups of tea." He followed this up with a visit to a small nearby church where he was able to enjoy a sermon, more so because he'd "discovered a place where there were no soldiers." He then teases Edith be stating he's like to meet one or two pleasant girls, then writing, "You are not so very jealous of my wish - are you?"