Postcard Correspondence with In-laws

This couple was identified during the settlement of the estate of Raymond Walter Coulson in 1997, and a copy of the marriage certificate was supplied by a then living descendant of the couple[1].

Bride: Grace Constance Violet Knock
Groom: Charles Peckett
Date: 26 July 1919
Location: St Marks, Peterborough, Northampton
Bride & Groom addresses: 32 Bright Street

Raymond was the son of Grace’s sister, Mabel Maud Blanche Hilda Knock (known as Maud) and Albert Walter Coulson (known as Bob).  The Pecketts feature prominently in Raymond’s photograph and postcard collections.  There isn’t a wedding photo, but this portrait of the couple was taken in 1920:

Charles & Grace 1920

‘To Maud & Bob  With our Love’

The photo is a studio portrait.  The imprint, ‘Boughtons, Ipswich’, identifies the photographer and likely location.  Robert Pols’ Early Photographic Studios website surveyed trade directories and concludes that Boughton’s was a chain of photographers with studios that operated in several Norfolk and Suffolk towns, including two Ipswich premises, 24 Buttermarket and 25 Westgate Street.

As Suffolk’s county town, Ipswich was the nearest sizable town to Hitcham, the birthplace of sisters Grace and Maud.  In 1911, Maud worked as a general domestic servant in Alfred Gosselin’s household at 7 Broughton Rd, Ipswich[2].  It is most likely that Grace and Charles had their photograph taken on a visit to Ipswich.

Maud’s son, Raymond, inherited a postcard collection from her.  Grace sent Maud postcards for her birthday on the 9 May regularly.  Not all are dated or addressed, but it is possible to track the sister’s residences over time.

Year	Grace’s address	Maud’s address
1915		The Water-run, Hitcham, nr Ipswich, Suffolk
1917		The Waterrun, Hitcham, Nr Ipswich, Suffolk
1920		88 Ludlow Rd, Saltly, Birmingham
1921	32 Bright St., Peterboro’
1923	22 Park St., Fetton, Peterborough	213 Vauxhall Rd, Vauxhall, Birmingham
1926
1930		10 Kenwood Rd, Bordesley Green East, Birmingham
1931
1932
1933
1934	103 Walton Gardens, Springfield road, Grantham, Lincolnshire	10 Kenwood Rd, Bordesley Green East, Birmingham 9
1936
1937
1939

In 1921, Grace’s address was 32 Bright Street, the same as given at her marriage.

1921 birthday postcard to Maud

© Sue Adams 2013

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[1] Church of England, St Marks church.  Certified copy of an entry of Marriage. England, Northampton, Peterborough district.  Issued 26 July 1919. Photocopy. citing Marriage Register, no 374. 1919/07/26. Peckett, Charles & Knock, Grace Constance Violet.

[2] Census, 1911. England, Suffolk, Ipswich, ED 22, image no. 885, household schedule no. 151, Gosselin, Alfred; Ancestry (ancestry.co.uk: accessed 41471); citing The National Archives RG 14/10847.

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