Frances reads from the Machell Cox Family Budget - a stream of letters collectively written by ten adult siblings from a middle class Edwardian family. They started writing in 1906 and continued, non-stop, for the rest of their lives. There are eighty years worth of letters, safely preserved in the Bodleian Library in Oxford, which is where Frances discovered them. The letters were written by the family members of Frances, but are available to be read by anyone eligible for admittance to the library. There are also family letters from the 1820s.
Today Frances reads more of the 1907 Christmas Budget - a special edition, written by the seven "home siblings" (Enid, Edmund, Arthur, Bernard, Cuthbert, Avice & Vera), along with contributions from their parents (Rev Dr John Charles Cox and Mrs Marian Cox.)
The Budget was read aloud by Bernard, Cuthbert, Avice and Vera; they read it to each other, at home in Sydenham on Christmas Day, after tea and presents. The family home was called St Alban's and they lived at 13 Longton Avenue in Sydenham, south London.
The Budget was then posted to the other UK siblings - Enid in Liverpool, Edmund in Derbyshire and Arthur in Plymouth. It was then posted to Wilfred in Canada, Neville in South Africa and Aldwyn in Nyasaland (Malawi). It was then posted back to England and was stored in the bottom of a wardrobe and then in a garage for about 70 years.
Edmund is the great grandfather of Frances, and she is thoroughly enjoying deciphering the handwriting and sharing these fascinating documents through this podcast.
Intro - 00:00
Miss de Mena McHell - Arthur's Attempt to shadow a missing lady - 2:22
Bernard's Six Wives - 8:28
Edmund's Budget Alphabet - 10:55
Enid's Prize Competition - 14:29
Rev Dr Cox - Carolling at Sydenham - 19:17
Artwork - 24:05
Bernard's Literary Competition - 27:10
The Ladies' Page - 32:42
Fashions for Females - 35:09
The Children's Corner - 37:36
Engineering Supplement - 41:46
The Editor's wastepaper basket - 43:26
Actual advertisements from the Church Times - 44:47
Advertisement for Garfield House School - 49:34
You can contact Frances by email - machellcoxletters@gmail.com
or X/Twitter - @CoxLetters
or Blue Sky - @Coxletters.bsky.social
All content is subject to copyright and belongs to Frances Thompson and the Bodleian Library.
