Letter from Frances Hodgkins to Rachel Hodgkins
Date
25 Jan 1922
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Object Detail
Date
25 Jan 1922
Transcript
Put Studio on yr letters dear. Studio Burford (Oxon) Jan 25th
My dearest Mother
Just a line to let you know how I am getting along in my new quarters. I am adjusting myself as best I can till this bad spell of weather is over. All work is scratched so to speak for the moment. Icy blizzards & all clogged up with snow & biting winds. I am not sleeping in the Studio but am keeping on my little room & very thankful I am for my warm bed & fire at night. I am keeping well & fit & thanks to the splendid help from home not too anxious. I am more sure every day that I am making a bid for the best & good times will come for me yet. I shall try & make Burford a hub & Hodgkins centre & get pupils rallying round.
I have found a little shop that sells NZ mutton very cheap. The grocer’s bill is down a lot now. Mrs Bryce & Helen are more than kind & friendly. Their house is central heated & I go to sleep at once when I get there. My brains work better in my own studio where it is well below freezing point. Did I tell you that the kind Von Haasts had sent me a cheque for £15 guineas for a picture wh they are sweet enough to say they really want. Bless their good hearts. It is very splendid of them isn’t it? I wish you could write her one little line of appreciation of what they have done for me. I do think it is unselfish of them to spare money when her doctors’ bill are so high. This weekend I am going to spend with the Parkinsons old London friends. They live about 20 miles away but are so deep set in snow they may not be able to bring their car over the wolds, snow drifts are a bit risky. Today my old friend Gertrude Crompton is marrying her Quaker mystic poet. A great Adventure for a woman of 43. It will be a tight pinch. Neither has a sou except what they make, he by his lectures & she by her painting. Now she has taken on a male burden to cook for & tend & be buffer for. Well! Marriage is the only way for some. But I prefer single blessedness – or unblessedness.
I wish I had news of little Lydia. I expect her own dutiful affairs keep her busy. She is no doubt learning the elastic ways of soldier’s wife & adjusting her clever self. It must be a varied & independent life meeting many interesting wayfarers - & no doubt some fools. Too cold for more dearest Mother. Midday & almost dark. How is Sis keeping? Your loving Fanny.
My dearest Mother
Just a line to let you know how I am getting along in my new quarters. I am adjusting myself as best I can till this bad spell of weather is over. All work is scratched so to speak for the moment. Icy blizzards & all clogged up with snow & biting winds. I am not sleeping in the Studio but am keeping on my little room & very thankful I am for my warm bed & fire at night. I am keeping well & fit & thanks to the splendid help from home not too anxious. I am more sure every day that I am making a bid for the best & good times will come for me yet. I shall try & make Burford a hub & Hodgkins centre & get pupils rallying round.
I have found a little shop that sells NZ mutton very cheap. The grocer’s bill is down a lot now. Mrs Bryce & Helen are more than kind & friendly. Their house is central heated & I go to sleep at once when I get there. My brains work better in my own studio where it is well below freezing point. Did I tell you that the kind Von Haasts had sent me a cheque for £15 guineas for a picture wh they are sweet enough to say they really want. Bless their good hearts. It is very splendid of them isn’t it? I wish you could write her one little line of appreciation of what they have done for me. I do think it is unselfish of them to spare money when her doctors’ bill are so high. This weekend I am going to spend with the Parkinsons old London friends. They live about 20 miles away but are so deep set in snow they may not be able to bring their car over the wolds, snow drifts are a bit risky. Today my old friend Gertrude Crompton is marrying her Quaker mystic poet. A great Adventure for a woman of 43. It will be a tight pinch. Neither has a sou except what they make, he by his lectures & she by her painting. Now she has taken on a male burden to cook for & tend & be buffer for. Well! Marriage is the only way for some. But I prefer single blessedness – or unblessedness.
I wish I had news of little Lydia. I expect her own dutiful affairs keep her busy. She is no doubt learning the elastic ways of soldier’s wife & adjusting her clever self. It must be a varied & independent life meeting many interesting wayfarers - & no doubt some fools. Too cold for more dearest Mother. Midday & almost dark. How is Sis keeping? Your loving Fanny.
Pages
2 pages
Sender's address
Studio Burford (Oxon)
Institutional No.
MS-Papers-0085-39
Credit Line
Letters
from
Frances
Hodgkins.
Field,
Isabel
Jane,
1867-1950
:
Correspondence
of
Frances
Hodgkins
and
family
/
collected
by
Isabel
Field.
Ref:
MS-Papers-0085-39.
Alexander
Turnbull
Library,
Wellington,
New
Zealand.
https://natlib.govt.nz/records/23250257
https://natlib.govt.nz/records/23250257