We Get Letters

It's been nice receiving email from Clutterbucks and friends around the world, commenting kindly about The Clutterbuck Blog and the new group blogs for all the countries in which we discover members of our extended family. These days, email seems to be the preferred method of sending written communications to family and friends concerning matters of mutual interest.

It was not always so, of course. Imagine what it must have been like to have to write letters, and wait weeks, sometimes months, for a reply. So it was in the 18th century, when these Clutterbuck Letters were written in archaic words and a formal style that so vividly brings us back to a time and place of our ancestors. (They were handwritten, naturally, and only transcribed and typed in 1993 when discovered at the Northumberland Record Office by Timothy Walker, of Cheshire, when he was researching his Clutterbucks.)

Many thanks to Tim for sending us digital copies of the letters so that Clutterbuck reseachers around the world can share in his discovery. In his email, with these attachments, Tim tells the story of his personal connection to these letters and his ancestors:

You know of the extra-ordinary way I found these. My ancestor is Obadiah Clutterbuck and I found him also in The Clutterbuck Book published on the Web you pointed me to. Dr Henry James Clutterbuck of Llaneffni was a friend of my grandfathers and they corresponded, both losing brothers in South Africa. James Obadiah Clutterbuck married Elizabeth Reece in 1826 and they are both descended from them.

Wonderful research there, Tim. Thanks again for sharing your story.