How one family dealt with their wayward sons!
These 28 letters let us hear the voices of the Fisher family from 200 years ago. These personal letters highlight the social problems and solutions of the time used to stop young men falling into bad company. However, forcing them to stay in the army for over 13 years seems a bit ruthless by today’s standards!
The majority of letters are from their eldest son, Thomas Fisher, whilst in the army, 1805 - 1818 but he is not the only child in trouble, as we can see from letters by his younger brother William who has also been sent away. They describe in detail their thoughts and feelings about what they have done, their situation and what they see during this time.
Thomas never stops complaining how much he hates being in the Army and begging his parents to arrange his discharge.
“but if you don't get my discharge I am ruined for ever for this state of life I had better be shot immediately that continue it for I am so much imbittered against it that I cannot think of doing my duty in it tho’ I have done so far...”
Unfortunately for Thomas they never do. His colonel in September 1810 had told him he would ignore any requests for his discharge, and the last letter remaining from him was written from his hospital bed in Plymouth on the 21st July 1818, where he was recovering from sickness, still asking to come home.
William Fisher was also sent away, and in April 1810 he sailed for Jamaica from Liverpool. In Jamaica he worked as a planter’s clerk and wrote home graphically about the treatment of the enslaved workers on the plantation.
The British Slave trade had been abolished in 1807, but enslaved workers were kept in British colonies like the West Indies until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. This would have been a topical issue for William and his family, his reaction to the treatment he witnessed is very raw and emphasises how this letter is a remarkable eye-witness account.
Vote for the Fisher Family of Almondbury letters today!
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These 28 letters let us hear the voices of the Fisher family from 200 years ago. These personal letters highlight the social problems and solutions of the time used to stop young men falling into bad company. However, forcing them to stay in the army for over 13 years seems a bit ruthless by today’s standards!
The majority of letters are from their eldest son, Thomas Fisher, whilst in the army, 1805 - 1818 but he is not the only child in trouble, as we can see from letters by his younger brother William who has also been sent away. They describe in detail their thoughts and feelings about what they have done, their situation and what they see during this time.
Thomas never stops complaining how much he hates being in the Army and begging his parents to arrange his discharge.
“but if you don't get my discharge I am ruined for ever for this state of life I had better be shot immediately that continue it for I am so much imbittered against it that I cannot think of doing my duty in it tho’ I have done so far...”
Unfortunately for Thomas they never do. His colonel in September 1810 had told him he would ignore any requests for his discharge, and the last letter remaining from him was written from his hospital bed in Plymouth on the 21st July 1818, where he was recovering from sickness, still asking to come home.
William Fisher was also sent away, and in April 1810 he sailed for Jamaica from Liverpool. In Jamaica he worked as a planter’s clerk and wrote home graphically about the treatment of the enslaved workers on the plantation.
The British Slave trade had been abolished in 1807, but enslaved workers were kept in British colonies like the West Indies until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833. This would have been a topical issue for William and his family, his reaction to the treatment he witnessed is very raw and emphasises how this letter is a remarkable eye-witness account.
Vote for the Fisher Family of Almondbury letters today!
Does you family hold fascinating letters from ancestors home and away? Leave us your comments.