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Transcription of Letter
From
J.R. Derbyshire
62 Friars Av
Northampton
England
To
Mr J. Derbyshire
14 Legion Drive
Valhalla
New York 10595
U.S.A.
62 Friars Av; N'ton 28/1/77
Dear John.
Its been a while since I wrote to you with my valuable advice, gained the hard way, & passed
on in good faith, so you could avoid the pitfalls I fell in & got hurt, but human behavious does'nt alter, perhaps
its as well it does'nt. I
beg of you dont marry a girl older than you & certainly not with another mans child. I hate having to write like
this because what is being
practiced on you now is hundreds of years old & you are being led as thousand before you have so for goodness sake
pull out before you get in to
deep. This is what you have to learn yet. A marriage is over with the honey moon. you will fall in love? many times in
your life so dont tie yourself
to one who will be old whilst you are young. & when the boy gets a bit older you will have no control over him only
the responsibility &
worry. I say no more but let you browse over it I know its your life & I cant stop you doing what you like
with it & whatever the
outcome your Mother & me will always be behind you as long as we are alive but as your Dad its my duty to point
these things to you & you can
believe its true. I am not at my best on paper I hope we are still friends. I was surprised to read about
immigration it must have
altered since my day it sounds a very expensive job & will cost you the earth. In my day there was Ellis
Island were they kept you to check
on you. & you must understand they only go into your ancestry for 3 generations to see there is no criminal in your
family & when you come
over here for your visa there is always a chance of a 3 or 4 months wait here even if they decide to grant it as they
are very cagey about their
passports so dont be afraid to as questions to that lawer & proof as they have different ethics than us.
31/1/77 I had half finished this when I was rudely interrupted by your new nephew who was born
on the 31/1/77 at 4 am in
the Barratt
hospital, but before that there had been 2 False Alarms one on the 23, sent a Taxi: for Mum, (who is looking after
Tessa & Phil) at 3 am,
she jumped out of bed quick
then fainted, bumped her head on the coffee table & knocked herself out, but managed to get into the Taxi the
Ambulance took Judith in to
hospital & she was in labour. 24 hours later they sent her home as it was false alarm. they came for her at 11-30
pm on Sunday & took Judith in again at 2-30 am Monday
baby boy born 4 am. so you see you are getting a line, nephew &
nieces. I hope this is final. Noel's
son Robert is engaged & getting married when he gets a big branch shop. He is at present managing a Jewelery shop
in Cheltenum now but its only a
small shop. He had to leave the police as he lost the sight of one eye in an accident playing football. I understand
you are having a hell of a
winter in U S A we are waiting to hear all the details of how you are copeing so write soon & put
our minds at rest. You know
what Mum is for worrying. You certainly had a good Xmas by your a/c
We went to Judiths on Xmas
& they came in on Boxing day but not doubt Mum keeps you up to date with all family & local news so I wont bore
you with repeat Noel
& sons came to see me at Xmas We had a good natter I told him you got his card.
Things look very black in this country
now
can't forsee any future for us I am glad I am at this end of life I could'nt stand being young in these
times. There is'nt any stability
or continuity no leadership either in government commerce, no law & order there is the colour problem
strikes every day. The
government have given the go ahead on the price of bread it was 21p for 1LB 12ozs loaf &
will freeing it from
control Super Stores can retail same loaf for 14p a loaf, but the delivery Van drivers say they wont
deliver to any shop who charges
less than 18p as it will affect thier bonus The Trades Unions are no use at all. The shop stewards run
the country & dont take
any notice of Goverment or Bosses. Rape & murder is rife its not safe to be out after dark & if something
does'nt alter soon it will be a
dictatorship preceded by civil war & end up with a Commy dictatorship & I am not kidding. The want everything
Nationalised also they want as
many working men off the shop floor as there are investment directors on the board every day there are 3
different strikes in progress & no
effort from any one to try & check it so you can judge for yourself we cant go on much longer. I for saw all this
after the war when we started
to give self goverment to our Empire because without the empire we are like Spain nothing & as we held the world
together for 200 yrs it was'nt
hard to foretell the out come when we broke up the Empire. As I say, I am to old to worry it you I leave behind as I
worry about, because it only
wants a spark to start another world war.
After all that you will think I am a crackpot but if you are on this earth when you are as old as me
you will see I am right. Dont think to bad of me with my advice & predictions I know I sound a bore but its
only my family I think about no
one else counts
All the Best in the future
love
Dad