Henry Smale Bradley

Henry Smale Bradley, the grandfather of Hetty Jane Owen, was born on New Year’s Eve 1825 in Poplar, and baptised at Poplar All Saints, Church. This is the same Henry that on the 20th August 1849 at the Shadwell Parish Church married Maria Harriett Robinson, the eldest daughter of Charles John Robinson and Harriett Wombwell. Henry had assiduously courted Maria Harriett Robinson prior to this, and much is revealed by a handful of letters that he wrote, between 1848 and 1849 and which somehow survived the generations and made their way into Harold Eldridge’s box-file, very possibly through Mabel Bradley (‘Auntie May’). Transcribing these letters, has been a time-consuming process, but does reveal some of the phrase-making instincts of the mid-Victorians, it’s true. However, as Henry’s pen runs ahead of his thoughts, all kinds of things start to happen that would not meet the approval of today’s traditionalists. For one thing, Henry is fond of contractions, and these can take some getting used to. For another, Henry is not a man who recognizes the campaign for good punctuation. In fact, beyond the odd hasty dash, he doesn’t really recognize the punctuation mark at all. Punctuation has had to be added to the transcriptions, simply to make the text comprehensible. Beyond this his handwriting is barely decipherable in the fırst place. It was well worth an effort to try and decode his script though, for what then emerges is a fascinating insight into courtship and life in the Victorian era as well as fleeting but powerful insights into the Robinson and Bradley families.