Item 364 - Jane Brew to Adam Ormsby

37 items

Thirty-seven letters from Jane Brew [nee Ormsby, eldest child of John Ormsby of Cummin and sister of Thomas and Adam] at Cummin and Sligo town to her brother Adam, Major of the 5th Dragoon Guards and his wife Sarah in Dublin, England and on the Continent, finally in Wexford. One letter is written to their daughter Adeline in 1829. The first seven letters are undated and appear to have been written in the 1810s. The first date is Aug 1801/4 some time in the past pencil dated 1804, but from the content appears to be a mistake for 1810, see Thomas Ormsby's letter of August 1810 (LE40/401-407). Some of the earliest letters are addressed to Dublin and give the price of some provisions such as coal, flour etc. Adam and his wife appear to be making up their minds whether to live in Sligo or Wexford. Mrs. Brew mentions children of her brother Tom who had two sons and his family had delicate health. Jack had one son and George two sons. She also writes that her father had seven sons. She mentions her mother and her own children, Thomas who was a great scholar and married an Italian, and Jenny who married a Mr. McCartney in 1829. It appears that Mrs. Brew and her husband were separated and that he was garrison chaplain to the English fleet at one time and paid a visit to Ireland in 1816. Thomas Ormsby, her brother, and his family went to live on the Continent c.1815-1816 and Cummin was let to the 'Widow Jones', sister of Robert Ormsby, Captain of the Sligo Militia and of the Castledargan family. Mrs. Brew lived at Cummin for a time as caretaker. There are many references to various relatives including Adam's two daughters Elizabeth and Adeline and local residents, including marriages and deaths. Other subjects referred to are the state of the country, rebellions, the famine of 1822, the need to repair the roof of Cummin, Captain Dodwell agent at Cummin in 1825, the Wynnes of Hazelwood and the Hollywell property, along with the 25th birthday ball of Charles Ormsby, son of Thomas. Many of the letters contain a fair amount of religious commentary.

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30/07/2018
22/03/2019