Sale #55

1907-17 - AMAZING ORIGINAL SEA CAPTAIN'S WW1 CORRESPONDENCE OFFERED INTACT - REMARKABLE RESEARCH / STUDY POTENTIAL, SOCIAL HISTORY. An accumulation of WW1 correspondence between Sea Captain, Frederick Hewett-Ponting and his wife Hermine C.D. Ponting, before his death in 1917 when his ship, SS Kathleen was sunk. The majority of the letters are dated from 1907 to 1917 and were sent from the following countries: Argentina, Russia, USA, Uruguay, Egypt, Hong Kong, Romania, Great Britain, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Malaya, Belgium, Constantinople, Netherlands, and Austria, there are some letters that the stamps have been removed and also loose envelopes and letters. Some of the letters are on the companies headed paper ‘P.Samuel & Co Ltd’ and Hartly Hodder & son.’ There are telegrams sent from the captain to his wife letting her know that he had arrived at his destinations safely and also references for when he changed ships. All the letters were addressed to his wife and were sent to either Cardiff or Germany, leading us to believe that his wife may have had a German origin. On some of the letters there are military censors. The lot also includes modern letters to the family when they were trying to find out the circumstances of the captains death as he was lost at sea he has no known grave. It also includes a photo of the captain and the gravestone for him & his wife, other documentation and a photocopy of their wedding certificate.They were married on May 29th 1907 meaning that they would have started sending the letters when they were sweethearts through to when they were married. After the death of the Captain there are some letters to his wife from ‘The Navy League Overseas Relief Fund’ regarding payment of the children’s education and their school reports. There are also German calendar slips, part of a 1907 German calendar, German documents (incl newspaper cuttings, and letters), other letters addressed to his wife in 1920’s, German books, cheque books from 1920’s and newspaper cuttings and other documents regarding ‘Howell’s School’, the school in which the children attended. There are roughly 450+ items in this lot.. There are roughly 370 letters in envelopes, 17 loose envelopes, 23 loose letters, 35 telegrams and other documents not counted. This is a, jam-packed fascinating lot, we can e-mail pictures for you to get a feel for this lot and the condition of it if requested or give a verbal report over the telephone as required. HEAVY LOT - OVERSEAS BIDDERS PLEASE ENQUIRE FOR SHIPPING COSTS. [US1] [Estimate price: £1,780.00]