September 1863 - Letter to Richard Terry senior in Tasmania from his brother-in-law and sister Joseph and Sarah Heritage in Tingewick

Transcription kindly contributed by Gwennith May Smith (1929-2010), great-granddaughter of Richard Terry, through her daughter Virginia Ling

Tingewick
September 18th 1863

Dear Brothers and Sister

I write a few lines to you hopeing to fiend you all in Good health and to inform you that Dear Mother Received the sum of five pounds quite safe and dear Brother I can tell you as she returns you maney maney thanks for the money and mother says that she hopes you did not Distress yourselves to send the money and Dear Brother Mother received your Letter on August 20 and money on August 29 and Dear Brother I must tell you that Dear Mother is quite well now thank you for it

and she goes out a washing and some times a nursing a little for pepol and so erns herself a few shillings in that way and the Parish alone alow her 1s6d per week and one lofe and so long as it pleases God to give her good health and strength she wont hurt but we cant expect that to last long as she is fast aproaching old age and then Dear Brother will be the time when we must do what we can for her for she is a good friend to all of us now to nurse our wifes when thear confined and so on and I hope that it may pleas God to spar her life for many years to com

and now Dear Brother you want to know abought Dear Fathers Death and I tell you as near as i can he was very poorly for about twelve months on and of and on the 24th of may 1862 he was taken very much worse and mother and Eliza thought that he was adyeing and they sent for Sarah and me when i got there he was very still and he looked up at me and mother said to him hear is Jo com will you try and go to bed and he said yes and so i helped him up to bed and then he begun to say ah my boy these be trying times this is what brings us to our sencesess and he bitterly repented for is past sins and by this time is brother James and is sister from Gawcott was got hear and he saw and said he wanted all to be there that night and so we was all as cold be and when we all there he told us that he had one thing to say to us all and that was I hope you will all be good to your mother and not let her go to the workhouse when I am gone and we told him that thear was no fear of that for it was a hard case if all of that place and we all remained there all night and poor father was very ill all night and begged very hard to the Lord to have mercy upon his sole and I trust that the Lord did hear and ancer Prayers and Dear father said in the morning well it as been a bad night for us all but thank God it as been a good night for me in the end and he begged wery hard for the Lord to take him but the lord spared him yet six weeks after that and i was with him every night till the last week and then my wife was there one night and me a nother and Dear Brother i can asure you he did not want for aney thing for thank God he had friends and mother was allways with him night and day and wated on him in every way she could and ann fanney her husband and Elizabeth all came to see him before he Died and Dear Brothers father spoken of you but very little for he seemed to no that he could not see you again in this world and on the 3rd of July at four oclock in the morning he departed this life

and now Dear Brother we are very sorrey to hear that you have had such bad times out there and hope that you will do better and i must tell you that we have had a very fine harvest this year it is abundant and the wheat turns out from 12 to 16 sacks per acer and onley makes from 5 to 6 shillings per bushal and i could send you more news but i have not space this time

and we was sorrey to hear that Joseph did not wright to you and dear Brother mother says she don't want you trubling your selves to send her money but we should like to hear from you more often than we do and pleas to tell uncle Richard that is Sister and daughters sent thear kind love to him Ann is just confined of her first child a son and now we all join in sending all our kinds loves to you all and ever Remain your affectionate Brother and Sister

Joseph and Sarah Heritage and
Elizabeth Terry