January 1866 - Letter to Richard Terry senior and his wife in Tasmania from his son-in-law James Osborn in Buckingham

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

Buckingham
January 18 1866

Dear Father & Mother

it is with great pleasure that we take this opportunity of answering your most welcome letter which Ann received on Christmas Day & Dear Father I can assure you that we was very thankful to hear from you & to hear that you was all in the Enjoyment of good Health & that you was getting along so Comfortable

Dear Father I am happy to inform you that this leaves us all in The enjoyment of good Health and Strength thank God for it and we hope thease few Still in the Enjoyment of the Same Blessing Dear Father we are very pleased to inform you that we are a getting along very Comfortable quite as well as we can expect with our family I am thankful to say that I have got a very good situation & only the wages are very small and I am sorry to say that I can't see any chance of Better in it at Present I am a Letter Carrier out of Buckingham to Radclive Water Stratford Shalstone and Westbury you will know the places very well I dare say and I get 13/- Per week and I am able to Earn a little extra sometimes so that with great care we manage to get along very comfortable to say that I have got a good Partner

We have got 3 sons the oldest 7 most 4 the youngest 2 and we have had a daughter but she died at seven weeks old so that you will see that we have had plenty to do since we have been married But thank god we have been able to get along and Pay every one this own and that is quite as much as we can manage and every thing is very Dear Now meat is very Dear now owing to the cattle Plage as you will see by the paper I send with this letter and I intend to send you a paper by every mail so that you will be able to see how the country is going on

Dear Father you can't tell how pleased we was to hear from you & to hear that you was alive and in good Health and we hope Dear father that you will answer this as soon as you can for we shall be very anxious to hear from you and to know how you are getting along for Dear Father you must know that we think & feel a great Deal about you & that is the only thing that we can do to write to each other and pray that we may meet in a better world Dear Father

we are glad to say that Ann and her Husband and Family are quite well and I can assure you that it is a great comfort to us to see her settled so comfortable and we was to give uncle and Aunt Benbow love to you and tell you that they should write to you very soon

Dear Father we live in Buckingham now we moved about 3 months ago from Gawcott and I find it a great Benefit as I am much nearer to my work But I can tell you that I had hard work to persuade Elizabeth to move for she is very fond of gawcott But I am pleased to say that we have got a comfortable Home and I am glad to say that she likes it very well Only we have not got any gar- den we live close to the National School and we hope that all the children go to School and we hope the oldest will soon be able to write a letter to is grandfather

Dear Father we want you to send us your likeness as we should have it to look at and think about you as it is the only way we shall Ever see each others in this world and Dear Father we will have ours and the children taken so that you will be able to see your children and grandchildren

So now we Conclude with all our Kind loves to you we Remain

Yours Affectionately Loving
Son and Daughter
James and Elizabeth Osborne

James Osborne
Post Messenger
Buckingham
England