Correspondence from Calcutta

Ethel Swaffield of Ampthill went to India in 1901 to work as a nanny for a family who resided in Calcutta. In the letter above addressed to 'Kitty' , she described her journey on the railway from Bombay ; 'the stations are few and far between...the trains go at a fearful speed'. [ref.SFM3/102]

Her stay in Calcutta was not altogether a happy one, and in a letter to her mother a few months later in December she confesses to an incident with the child she was looking after;  ' nearly frightened me to death last week...she swallowed her little crib bracelet with a knot tied in it and a padlock on, of course it was only a thin one but I would not have believed it if after 2 doses of caster oil I had not found it in a certain place...I have christened her the 'Gold Mine'. It has not seemed a little bit like Xmas day in any way of course the climate makes a difference...' [ref.SFM3/103]

Why is this document at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives?

The Swaffield collection, reference SFM, was deposited at Bedfordshire & Luton Archives in 1972. The collection consists of papers concerning properties in Ampthill and surrounding parishes, family correspondence, and records of organisations they were involved with such as the Bedfordshire Shire Horse Society and the Beds Chamber of Agriculture & Farmers Club.