The End. I cry each time I read it.

7 Lansdowne Crescent, Worcester
January 5th, 1908

Dear May,

I so much need a friend at the moment. Why do you have to live so far away? How are we going to cope without my father? I have copied out the newspaper articles for you. It doesn’t tell the whole story. It doesn’t say how much we all thought he was getting better again, and how when he collapsed only a few days before he died, we couldn’t believe that it was the cancer at fault. We thought he had been cured of that, so we blamed overwork, stress, having a cold, those sorts of things. And when the doctor came and shook his head and said he couldn’t do any more, even then we didn’t think he would die. You lost your father not very long ago, so I know you will understand how I am feeling. Mother is even worse. She couldn’t cope with going to the funeral. She doesn’t get out of bed, or get dressed or make any attempt at carrying on with life. I thought she might be interested in going to the graveyard, but not at all.

Here is the article from the paper from the Saturday after he died. It was actually the Saturday of his burial but of course it was too late in the day for it to get in that day’s paper.

From Worcester Chronicle Saturday December 28th, 1907

WORCESTER’S EX-MAYOR
PASSES AWAY ON CHRISTMAS EVE.

Then we had the Rector giving his sermon on the Sunday. The paper reported on that too.

PULPIT REFERENCE

Preaching at Holy Trinity Church on Sunday morning, the Vicar made a short but very sympathetic reference to the death of the deputy Mayor. ‘Your thoughts and mine, are today filled with the great tragedy that has befallen the Faithful City during last week. I dare not trust myself to speak of it today. We have lost one who, to all human appearance was in the hay day of life, who but 12 months ago, was as hale and as cheerful and as devoted to duty as anyone was. Yesterday we laid his body in the grave with all the honour due to him, and those of us who witnessed the congregation here yesterday afternoon will not soon forget it. The respect in which the Deputy Mayor was held was fully borne testimony to. It was my privilege to minister to him during the last days of his life and I never met one who was so absolutely certain of the future life.

The day of the funeral was cold and bleak. When I sat there in church, numb and still in shock, do you know what I thought? I remembered us sitting in the Cathedral in February, 1901, for the Queen’s memorial service. The same men filed past in their fancy dress outfits. The Bishop wasn’t there, but all the other town dignitaries were. They were more interested in getting their names in the paper for attending than they were in showing any real sympathy or regard for my father. I thought, ‘From the death of a Queen to the death of a King’ all in a very few years. She had many years to enjoy life – he was taken far too soon. I wonder if he hadn’t been Mayor and had all that extra stress if he would have lived longer. I wonder if we could have recognised the symptoms earlier and had made him go to the doctor. He hated going to see the doctor, and always felt that he could cope with whatever was wrong with him. Anyway, I will copy the article, and several others that followed it in regard to the views of the political figures who spoke. The only one who I was pleased to read was the one from Mr. Tree. He spoke nicely of father when he finished his office too. Most of the aldermen and councillors just felt that he was a puppet brought in to get them off the hook from the scandal and now someone they could do without.

January 4, 1908 Worcestershire Chronicle

THE LATE MR. G. WILLIAMS KING –
LARGE COMPANY AT FUNERAL

The circumstances that the death of the ex-mayor (Mr. G. Williams King) should have occurred so soon after the termination of his year of office rendered the funeral, which took place at Astwood Cemetery on Saturday, peculiarly sad. There was general sorrowing in the city, and nearly every shop had a shutter up as a tribute of sympathy. It was a striking tribute to the memory of the ex-Mayor that despite the bitterly cold east wind, the Mayor (Mr. John Stallard) and nearly all the members of the Corporation attended the first part of the funeral service, which took place at Holy Trinity Church. The building was quite filled by those who attended to pay a last mark of respect to the memory of the deceased. The wreaths were so numerous that they almost hid from view the two carriages in and on which they had been placed. By request of the family no list is published. The service at Holy Trinity Church was at 1.15. At the request of the widow (who was not present at the funeral) the beautiful white flowers with which the altar, chancel and other portions of the church had been decorated for Christmas were left in position and these served to add a touch of brightness and hope to the mournful service. The surpliced choir was in attendance. The organist, Mr. A. Parry, opened with O Rest in the Lord by Mendelssohn.

The funeral cortege was met at the gates of the churchyard by Canon Wilson and vicar of Holy Trinity, Rev. G.H. Hough and the robed Corporation Canon Canon Wilson read the opening sentences and the 90th psalm was then chanted by the choir. The hymn The Saints of God  was sung by the choir and congregation and the lesson was read by the vicar, after which the hymn Peace, perfect peace was sung, the service concluding with the Dead March impressively played, the Nunc Dimititis sung as the cortege left the church.

The mourners were: Miss King (daughter) Miss Foulkes, Messr. Brindley, Sondermann, Bromley, Hilditch, Wood, T. Bates and H. Johnson.

I will just interject here how pleased I was that Otto and Gertrude Sondermann came for the funeral and were there to comfort mother and me. Otto is German, you know, and a Professor of  Music and they live in Bath.

Among those present at the church or the graves side were the following members of the Corporation. The Mayor, the High Sheriff, Mr. H. Long, The Chamberlain, Mr. G. Radford, Aldermen, A. Knott, H. Day, W.Caldicott, J. Millington, H. Leicester, W.H. Price, J.S. Wood, W. Stallard, J.A. Steward, C.J. Whitehead, J.S. Cook, Counsellors, A.H. Constance, G.H. Loach, J. Jeff, A.H. Whinfield, A. Usher, H.W. Little, T. Wintle, W.H. Caldicott, H.K. Hogdben, R. Haughton, T.G .Dobbs, W. Webb, J. Gray, W. Watts, W. Moore, E.A. Burgess, W.H. Buck, E. Sallis, F.A.W. Simes, J.G. Armstrong, R.R. Fairborn.

The corporation officials present were the Town clerk, Mr. S. Southall, Magistrates Clerk, Mr. F.B. Dingle, The Chief Constable, Mr. T.W. Bryne, the Engineer, Mr. T. Caink, the Librarian, Mr. T. Duckworth, The Elementary Education Secretary, Mr. F. T. Spackman, the Electrical Engineer, Mr. C.M. Shaw, Weights Inspector, Mr. R. Harper. The Worcester Charity Trustees were represented by Messrs. F. Barnett, E.P. Evans, J. Sigley, and J. Livingston Wood. The chairman Ald. E. Day apologised. Mr. H. B. Kenward represented the St. Swithin trustees, of which Mr. King was a member. The following members of the Chamber of Commerce attended. F.G. Jones, W.B. Needham, H.M. Bennett, A.G. Spreckley, F. Webb, W. Webb S.T. Harris and E.C. Corbett. Mr. T. James, president, represented the Worcester Grocers’ Association of which Mr. King was a member. Mr. C. Giss represented the St. Martin’s Conservative Ward Committee.

The late mayor was a prominent Freemason, and junior warden of the Mark Masons, as well as a member of the 280 lodge. Ald. Cook also attended as worshipful master of the Lechmere Mark Mason Lodge plus others.

There were also present. Rev. Canon Claughton, J.D. Day, Warwick. G. A. K. Simpson, G.F. Williams, Drs. Crowe, Bates, Mabye Read, Bennett and Coombs. Mrs. A.G. Rowe and W.C. Abell, W.R. Higgs, J.C.R. Day, G.D. Day, T. Wintle, H. Coombs, W. Bannister, J.H. Williams, J.J. Underwood, H.E. Toney, J.G. Shield, P.G.J. Baldwin, A.R. Underwood and H. Cox presenting the Holy Trinity Working Men’s club, etc. The following employees of the firm J.J. Williams attended. A.J. Hudson, W.Edge, J. Callow.

I skipped out a lot of the names as they weren’t really his friends but only there for show. I was so pleased that John came and gave his support. If only Harold could have been here.

In spite of a cold wind a large company assembled at the graveside where Canon Wilson and the Rev. G. Hough read the concluding portions of the Burial service.’

MAGISTRATES VOTE OF CONDOLENCE

He (the Mayor) said, ‘A loss has been created and certainly there has been a great gap made during the last week through the death of Mr. G.W.King. Although not a native of this city, I think he treated the city of his adoption with great respect. Mr. King was perhaps known to most of you more intimately than he was to me, as I have seen very little of him outside public life, but from my experience of Mr. King, his character was of a John Bull type, who I think feared nothing and prepared to discharge any duty however irksome or unpleasant in a most honest and straightforward way. Mr. King came, I believe to Worcester some 25 years ago, and very soon after entered into public life as a member of the City Corporation. Although he only remained for a very yew years, he showed them that he had a great ability and painstaking industry to discharge the more important duties than that of a councillor. He was absent from the Council for some 15 or more years and then returned about 14 months ago as representative of St. Martins’ Ward. His sterling character was at once recognised and within a few days after his election he was asked to allow himself to be nominated at Mayor of this city and on November 9th last year was elected to that office. During his 12 months Mr. King showed great business capacity and although during the last few months of the year ill health often attended him and he had more or less to slacken his business, we all recognised that in Mr. King’s death the city has incurred a great loss, and has lost one of its adopted citizens of whom we shall feel proud in years to come. Mr. King was a man of great business capacity and carried on one of the chief trades in the city since the resignation of Mr. J. J. Williams. In various other capacities, I believe, Mr King showed an Englishman’s grit and you gentlemen know better than I the manner in which he discharged his duties on the bench. I believe he was not a J.P. but he would now be acting as ex-Mayor. I must leave it to Mr. Day to place on record the manner in which he discharged those duties. We have lost a deputy Mayor who most willingly a few weeks ago undertook the duties which me must then have understood would be more than ordinarily arduous. He undertook them with such readiness that I thought Mr. King must have come to the conclusion that his health was in a far better state than many of us had any hopes. I have to move: ‘that the Justices of the Peace for the city desire to place on record their expression of deep regret at the loss which the city has sustained in the death of Mr. King who filled with conspicuous success the office of Mayor and chief Magistrate of the city during 1906-7 and to offer to Mrs. King and Miss King their sincere sympathy in their heavy bereavement.’

On behalf of the solicitors practicing in the court, Mr. Tree expressed concurrence. Only 7 weeks ago that day he had the pleasure of supporting a vote of thanks then accorded to the ex-Mayor on the termination of his year of office as Chief Magistrate, and it was now certainly difficult to realise  that they would never see him on the Bench again. It was also a pleasure, said Mr. Tree, to attend the Court when Mr. King was presiding, for his administration of justice was characterised by at least 3 admirable judicial attributes – dignity, courtesy and impartiality. They would remember him as one who occupied a very prominent and honourable position in the business life of the city; everything in his public life was actuated by desire to serve his fellow citizens. The solicitors deeply deplored the loss of the city had sustained and sympathised with the widow and daughter in their bereavement, but he thought their feelings would be to some extent mitigated if they could fully realise the inspiring words of a great poet.
‘This life of mortal breath
Is but a suburb of the life Elysian,
Whose portals we call death.’

Then we went to the graveyard for the burial service. It is a nice spot, close to some huge spruce trees. Close enough to the path for it to be easy for Mother to get to it, if she ever feels up to going there. I was pleased when I saw that one of the neighbouring tombs was the resting place of two of H.H. Lines daughters. Do you remember that time when Father and I went shopping for pictures – and he wanted me to help choose them as they will one day be mine? He was so keen to get some pictures by H.H. Lines. In the end we got two of them, but I don’t think either of us liked the one of the old lady in the church yard much – but it was just that it was painted by our local man. Charlotte’s father used to talk about how Mr. Lines had his small shop just along Broad Street, and how he was poor and a struggling beginner then, and nobody would buy his pictures. He was almost giving them away in those days, but now they are worth a great deal of money. His daughters both died without marrying. They were listed as ‘H.H. Lines’ daughters’ as if their only claim to fame was that he begot them. How sad. Surely there was something to be said for their lives other than that they had a father.

The tombstone which we have ordered is a large stone cross, very plain. On the plinth will be the words,

 

Maybe we should have said whose son he was. Or who his wife and daughter were. Mother will probably be buried there with him some day – perhaps sooner rather than later with the way she is neglecting herself. But as for me, I fear I will be buried in foreign soil. Soon Harold will be home, and we will be married, and I will be leaving this country, my grieving mother, my father’s grave, my good friends. I am so frightened of going. Sometimes when I think of how few hours I have actually spent with Harold over the last 6 years, and how I really only know him through our letters – which often are more like articles from magazines than letters, I wonder how I will cope being married to him.

I wish you would be able to come for the wedding, but I know how busy you are with your son Tom. I am pleased I managed to get over last summer to meet him. I hope that our children, if we have any, will be friends with him and with your children. I wish I could see into the future and see what paths lie ahead for us.
All I know is that Harold is on his way and will be here by the end of January, and that we will be married in Holy Trinity Church at 12 noon on February 13th, with as little fuss as is possible, and that the next day we will board a ship in South Hampton to take us to the other end of the world.

I don’t know how mother will cope without me. Thank goodness your mother is close and such a good friend, and has gone through this before so she will understand and know how to help. I am pleased that the Days moved into number 4 too, as Mrs. Day is very pleasant and I’m sure will make an effort to help mother get through her difficult times. She is soon to be my mother-in-law, as she is yours, and we will be sisters-in-law and our children will be cousins. Going back to the Queen’s Memorial Service, do you remember how we first met your John on that day, and how I declared that I was going to marry him. I was so sure of myself. I never for a moment thought that you would end up with him, and that I would be the one marrying his younger brother.

Remember all those quests I talked about. Most of them pretty much came to nothing. I wanted to find my royal ancestors – but never did although I greatly enjoyed the history lesson I gave myself in trying. I wanted to get my great grandmother’s poetry published but I never did. I wanted to get women the right to vote, and nothing came of it – except a committee set up to talk about it. I suppose in a way I can feel that I helped my father get elected through encouraging women to vote who might not have otherwise done so. Maybe if he had lost that election, he would be alive today. Maybe all my quests are doomed to failure. What about the quest to marry Mr. Day? Please God that that one will come to fruition and that in years to come I will be remembered for having made some sort of mark on the world.

Dearest May, please pray for me in these difficult times ahead. And thank you for being my friend.


Love always,

Muriel