100 Years of Cox

Frances reads some letters written in April 1910 by the Machell Cox siblings.Edmund is yet again a delinquent, he is late writing his letter and thinks he should resign from the Budget.Avice is in Torquay with Bernard where he is recuperating after removal of his appendix and they tell their landlady all about booby traps.Enid describes Vera playing in an exciting hockey match at R

Frances reads two letters, written by Aldwyn in Nyasaland in Feb and April of 1910.Aldwyn drew a sketch map of the mission station at Kota Kota (now Nkhotakota), showing the church, school & hospital buildings. I found his sketch, including the many buildings. The kitchen is separate to the dining room building (due to the risk of fire), and Aldwyn even drew the mud huts where

Frances reads two letters, written by Aldwyn in Nyasaland in January 1910.A village school is being built, with mud walls and a thatched roof, but it is only completed when Aldwyn uses his rifle to shoot game, so the villagers will get some dinner as payment.The 'CJ' steamer does not arrive, so Aldwyn does a lot of walking between villages, in the mud.300 come to church o

Frances reads five letters, written by Bernard, Cuthbert, Arthur, Wilfred and Vera in February and March 1910.There is a great deal of polite arguing about whether the siblings should discuss (argue about) politics in the Budget.Bernard has appendicitis and is at the Brooklyn Nursing Home.Avice and Cecil are engaged.Cuthbert has been to a lecture and is fascinated with Shackleton a

This episode is all about the funeral procession of Edward VII in May 1910, as winessed by the Machell Cox siblings, through handwritten family letters, read by Frances.Vera again demonstrates how she is a great letter writer, and Bernard's annotations, on the funeral programme, after WW1, were unexpected.Does anyone know any more about the King's little dog Caesar? How m

Frances has been in the northern hemisphere for a few months, visiting family and undertaking a great deal of Machell Cox research.Coming up in the podcast will be more stories from 1910, more hockey and Vera and Great Comp and more crossed letters, as Frances continues to unpick the story of these ten interesting siblings, born from 1868 to 1884.In May 2022 Frances gave a talk at

This episode is all about hockey. Frances reads poems written about Vera and hockey in 1908, as well as letters written by Vera, describing hockey tournaments at Weston-Super-Mare in 1911 and at Great Comp, home of the Heron Maxwells, in 1912. Vera is a great letter writer, and her vivid descriptions makes it very easy to imagine the events that occurred.0:00 Intro 3:10 Vera, hocke

Frances reads a second letter, written by Matilda Machell a week later, on Thursday 27th April, 1826, from 22 Gloucester Place in London. Ten letters of Matilda's have survived, all were written in the 1820s to her favourite brother, Christopher, back home in Beverley, Yorkshire.Minnie (Matilda's daughter) kept these letters; after her death they were transcribed by her h

Frances reads a letter written by Matilda Machell on Tuesday 18th April, 1826 from 22 Gloucester Place in London. Ten letters of Matilda's have survived, all were written to her favourite brother, Christopher, back home in Beverley, Yorkshire.Minnie (Matilda's daughter) kept these letters; after her death they were transcribed by her husband (Dr Cox) in 1912, for the ten

Frances reads four letters, written by Neville, Edmund, Avice and Enid in January and February of 1910.Neville has had a fabulous holiday in England, and writes his last budget letter before sailing to Canada, including plenty about the politics of the day.Edmund is angry with his siblings about politics being included in the Budget and doesn't write a letter, then feels regre