| Description | Small collection of personal correspondence, 1912, 1946 - 1982. Includes:
Letter from D.M.W. Leith and A.F. Hyslop, president and general advisor to the Stygnoparthenistical Society, requesting Mary Esslemont's resignation from the Society, 2 June 1912. The Society appears to be a spoof of some of the University's more serious and high-minded clubs and societies. Mary Esslemont is chastised for sitting out more than two dances in a row at a recent dance, for devoting too many dances to one single person and for a recent excursion to the Corbie Loch: '... we cannot believe that botanical considerations alone are sufficient to account for accompanied excursions to such a distant spot as the Corbie Loch.'
Letter to Mary Esslemont's mother from Eric Linklater, Orkney, thanking Mrs Esslemont and Mary for their hospitality during a recent visit to Aberdeen, 27 July 1946. The trip coincided with Mrs Esslemont's honorary graduation from the University of Aberdeen and appears to have occurred shortly before Linklater's investiture as Rector to the University, an occasion that he appeared to be anticipating somewhat anxiously.
Letter to Mary Esslemont from Eric Linklater, Ross-shire, imploring her to attend a dinner party he was hosting for Wavell, which the Principal was also attending, 18 October 1947: '...you must sit at my left hand, and keep the bridge with me, because I shall be very nervous, and quite unable to go through with it unless you talk calmly and sensibly to me throughout. So you will come, won't you?'
Letter from ?E. Henderson, Department of Health for Scotland informing Mary Esslemont that the Secretary of State wishes to appoint her to the Panel of Medical Practitioners available for service as members of the Tribunal under the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 9 June 1950. The Tribunal's function was to investigate cases of prejudice arising over health professionals' inclusion in the list of persons providing services under Part IV of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act, 1947. Further details of its constitution are contained in the letter.
Letter from Aberdeen Children's Shelter telling Mary Esslemont that £150 14 shillings had been raised following her recent BBC appeal, 15 October 1968.
Letter from Vera Dawe of 'Mother and Child' magazine, thanking Mary Esslemont for an article submitted to the magazine, 7 October 1969.
Letter from the Medical Defence Union, London, informing Mary Esslemont that payment of her fortieth annual subscription had conferred on her the status of a Life Member, 5 December 1969.
Two letters from Martha Orgler regarding her address to the Alfred Alder Centenary Commemoration, held in the University of Aberdeen, September 1970. The letters are dated 1 October 1970 and 27 June 1971. With brief, typescript notes of her address, 'Alfred Alder - A Champion of Women, 18 September 1970.
Letter from a friend called Ann, who is staying at Patrick Pye's (sculptor and painter, b 1929) cottage in Piperstown, Tallagh, County Dublin, 18 May 1972. Appears to have lost her husband, speaks fondly of Patrick Pye and describes her attempts to find a job and to start painting again.
Two letters from D. Michael Parnell, Senior Lecturer in English, The Polytechnic of Wales, Barry, South Glamorgan, seeking Mary Esslemont's assistance for his PhD on Eric Linklater's life and work, 2 September 1976 and 27 September 1977.
Letter from Peter H. Liddle, Senior Lecturer in History and Head of Archives, Sunderland Polytechnic, seeking contributions to Sunderland Polytechnic's archive on the Great War, 'Archives of the 1914-18 Personal Experience', 17 March 1980.
Letter from a woman whose adoption Mary Esslemont and her colleague, Dr Stephen, were involved with in 1929, 15 December 1981. Seeks information about her birth parents. [CLOSED UNTIL 2028]. |