Sun at last. Blue sky & white clouds. Lovely day. Paper Western Morning news. Very reduced only one sheet. We read of another defeat to Germany. This time by the French in Alsac [tk]. Dorothea went down to Plymouth to see Mr Britton [the family dentist]. Mary & Stella practised bandaging all the morning. Frank Drewe came over from St Stephens to fetch Ursula, and it was settled that they leave Baby here for a week so that Ursula should have a rest. At 1.15 Mary & I set off for Tavistock in four wheel dogcart, drawn by the Admiral...
Same misty rain. Everything in the house damp & wet Rose at 6.30 fed fowls. Church at 8. Quite a lot of people including Locum tenens of Bradstone & Dunterton. Good sermon at Matins from Mr Smith (a prepared one) Had to play for children service. Afterwards Dorothea, Ela & I went up to Minnemore with Hector. Very damp but not much falling. After tea fed fowls. 10 eggs. Must try and get rid of some of the stags* . Food is getting very dear. We have started jam sandwiches for tea to save butter, the family call them “the...
Very wet all day with fine mist. Did usual jobs all the morning, in the afternoon M*1 & I went to Tavistock with Father & Arthur, the 2 latter to meeting of Kelly College Trustees on the matter of “Boggis wires” M & I went to the hospital & had there a lesson from Matron in making beds. Phyllis Morshead was there & before the class began She, I & Mary had an amusing chat about “Boggis wires”. At the other end of the room was another group all indignant that the college was not to be used. After the...
Practised bed making & more bandaging. I tried also to reduce housekeeping expenses. Butter for instance is to be curtailed. No bread & butter for early morning tea. Must think out more schemes. Eggs to be used very carefully. Cakes to be plain dough cakes. In afternoon Mary & I went in Tavistock to see the Red Cross sec’t*1 & give in our names. We have to pledge ourselves for a year and to be ready to come at any moment. Attend 3 drills a week. That evening at dinner came a telegram from the woman at the head of...
In Afternoon Dorothea & I went in to a meeting in Launceston of the Suffrage Society, I had to take the chair. We decided to discontinue all Suffrage work & use the small funds we have to help the distress in Launceston which will be caused by high prices & loss of work. After the meeting we went to tea with Mrs Horlock, she told us that a cousin of hers, Mrs Acland was in Germany with her husband, that no news of them had they heard. Whilst we were having tea in rushed Mr Frank Rodgers with the tiding...
The paper brought the news that war was actually declared between England & Germany. A policeman came up from Lifton & stuck up 2 printed notices on the double doors of the frame ground, calling on all Territorial Reservists to report themselves. Intense excitement all day. What can we do to help. I wrote to Mrs Boggis who is head of the Red X Dep’t in Tavistock & offered my services as nurse, Although I know nothing. That afternoon Stella suggested that we should practice some bandaging & we went to Kelly Mill to ask Mrs Yole to come &...
Father, Dorothea & I went to Plymouth. In train read Sir Edward Grey’s wonderful speech*1, and Germany’s demand to go through Belgium. After seeing the dentist we went on to the Hoe & watched the holiday crowds sporting themselves. From the Breakwater came flash light signals & all around Drake’s Island were a number of destroyers. Plymouth itself did not seem excited. The shops, especially the grocery departments were having a great run on them. Large orders of stores being presented. Householders in rather a panic. Stella Donville came. *1 Wikipedia Link – Edward Grey Speech
Very bad news in the paper. Germany determined to fight. I wish now that I had joined the Red Cross, had learnt the bandaging &c.
We had a special service here that day, because of the great seriousness of the European situation. We began with the Litany Followed by the Celebration. Mr Smith asked everyone to stop at the end of the Service. We heard no news all day. it was very hot, I walked over to Bradstone Rectory to call on the Locum Tenen’s*1 Wife, whom I failed to find. Mary, Ursula, Frank & Reginald walked over to Marystowe to settle about the proposed camp on Dartmoor which considering the exceeding dampness of the weather, they wish to put off. Very large congregation at...
In one days time – on Saturday 2nd August – we will start blogging Margaret Clare Kelly’s War Journal. A brief explanation is in order, so this journal can remain as honest as possible! Margaret did not buy the physical book in which she wrote her thoughts until roughly a week after the war began – it then being obvious that she would want to record her observations for posterity. She then transcribed her words in to the new tome, and we are able to read them 100 years on. If you have any questions or comments related to the...
Margaret Kelly was born in 1879 in Ottery St Mary, Devon. She was the eldest daughter of Rev. Maitland Kelly and Agnes Leigh Clare Kelly. Following her mother’s death, and that of her Stepmother, in 1891 Margaret became matriarch of the Kelly Family, responsible for the running of the household. In 1899 her father inherited Kelly House from his brother Reginald and became squire of Kelly. Margaret came to Kelly with her father. It is fair, indeed necessary, to recognise many aspects of her identity when considering the tone and opinions she uses and espouses in this memoir. First, she...
Starting on the 2nd August this year, we will be blogging Margaret Clare Kelly’s WW1 diary! Family information and a brief overview introducing Margaret are now available on the blog. For more information on Kelly House, visit our website: https://kelly-house.co.uk
Over the next few years, we have carved out an ambitious project to follow the wartime diaries of Margaret Kelly, written over 100 years ago starting immediately before the outbreak of the first World War in August of 1914. Over the subsequent four years, Margaret kept a personal journal which described both the activities around her, and those from around the world. Sometimes in detail, and other times distressingly vague, she records the number of eggs harvested from the chickens, the places where she takes tea, and her efforts to learn to bandage effectively, and nurse wounded soldiers. She also...
