Getting a fix on Mrs Beutell

This is addressed to "Mrs Mackay" (we are used to having our surname misspelt, even by relatives from other parts of the family) at "Dorlins", Orpington Road, Chislehurst. The Mrs Mackie in question is Ada. It is not possible to decipher a date inthe postmark, but I would guess early 1952. (It must be some time during George VI's reign, or not too long after he died in February 1952. There is nothing to place Ada in Chislehurst before WWII. Her identity card - see earlier post - gives her movements up to November 1951 when she went to Scrips in Coggeshall, Essex.

"Dorlins" is still extant. It is quite large house, which I think would have been much more than Ada could afford. I know she had spent a period in domestic service at around this time, after husband Bert had died, but while she was still fairly active and not ready to retire. From various scraps of conversation I remember, I know that one of her employers was a Mrs Beutell. John Stiles, who has assisted me with research for this blog, checked the electoral rolls and this is what he found. "The electoral roll for Chislehurst that was compiled in November 1953 shows the occupants of "Dorlins" as, Ethel M Beutell and Ada M Mackie. Ada is not at "Dorlins" in 1954, and from 1955 to 1961 Mrs Beuttell appears to have moved in with the family next door(the McGloins who live at "The Squirrels"). So after all these years, I now know where Mrs Beutell lived. Now I still have to track down another of Ada's employers, a Dr Burma.

As for the card itself, this is what it says.

In haste. Many thanks for words of wisdom. We are trying to get straight but waiting for furniture to come from Bedford. We have the electricians in overhauling the whole system. Father likes the quaint cottage and is getting used to the low ceiling after having a few bumps. Much love. M. Pearce

I do not know who the writer is. Although the card shows a Bedford scene, the writer is apparently now in or near Chislehurst. In our age of instant communications via telephone, mobile and e-mail, how often down we see correspondence with the words "in haste". I can just imagine father nursing a sore head after some close encounters with his new ceiling.