Name/Title
Letter: J.N. Catton to Margaret Stewart, August 22, 1918Entry/Object ID
2014.7.33.7a,bDescription
This object is an envelope and the letter which was contained inside of it. The letter, dated August 22, 1918, is from J.H. Catton to the mother of Sefton Stewart following Stewart's death on August 8, 1918.
The envelope, 2014.7.33.7a, is made of a single tan piece of paper which has been folded into shape. It is held together with an unknown adhesive. There are three inscriptions on the front in a black, handwritten, medium rendered in cursive. At the center it reads "Mrs. S. Stewart Richmond, Ontario, Canada". At the proper bottom right corner it reads "J.H. Catton". At the top center it reads "On Active Service" with the word 'service' being damaged by the envelope's opening. There are three rubber stamp imprints on the front rendered in black ink. The first is an incomplete stamp at the proper right edge which is mostly cutoff and largely illegible. The second is located at the top center; it is a rectangle featuring a crown at the top and the text "PASSED BY CENSOR" is visible. This stamp is perpendicular to the envelope, with the bottom of the stamp oriented towards the proper left side of the envelope. The third stamp on the front is text flanked by waving lines on either side which reads "6.30PM 22 AUG 18". This third stamp lies overtop the rectangular censor stamp. On the back of the envelope is a single rubber stamp imprint rendered in black ink. It presents as a circle with text inside which reads in part "SP 14 18 ONT"; it is badly faded. The stamp on the back is oriented upside down in relation to the envelope.
The letter 2014.7.33.7b is executed on a single sheet of cream/tan coloured paper. The primary body of text is executed in a black ink, handwritten, rendered in cursive. It is likely this letter was folded in half along a vertical axis, as the first page occurs on the proper left half of the front, while the second page appears on the front proper right. The first page, at the proper left of the front, begins "France Aug. 22nd 1918" at the top. The second page at the proper right half features a "2" at the top. Both pages of the front are entirely covered in script. The back features three lines of script in a printed blue ink which read "E.F.C OFFICERS REST HOUSE AND MESS." These lines of text are perpendicular to the text body on the front.Subject Person/Organization
Margaret (Maggie) Stewart, Pte. Sefton Inglis Stewart, Lt J.N. CattonSubject Place
Country
France, CanadaCity
RichmondProvince
OntarioContext
This object is significant as it belongs to the Sefton Stewart Collection; a series of objects pertaining to Private Sefton Stewart of Richmond who fought, and was killed, in the First World War.Collection
Artefact Collection: PrimaryLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
LetterNomenclature Primary Object Term
CorrespondenceNomenclature Sub-Class
Other DocumentsNomenclature Class
Documentary ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsLetter Details
Letter Date
August 22, 1918Postmark
Date and Time of Postmark
August 22, 1918 6:30PMNotes
Passed by CensorSender
Name
J.N. CattonAddress
FranceAddressee
Name
Mrs. S. Stewart (Margaret Stewart)Address
Richmond, Ontario, CanadaPrimary Language
EnglishTranscription
[Envelope Front] On Active [Service] [Rectangular Post Mark] [Crown] PASSED BY CENSOR M [198] [Postmark] [Illegible] 6.30 PM [abbreviated: Post Meridiem, Latin for After Noon] 22 AUG 18 [abbreviated: 22 AUGUST 1918] Mrs S. Stewart. Richmond. Ontario. Canada. J. N. Catton
[Envelope Back] [Postmark] RICHMOND SP 14 18 [abbreviated: SEPTEMBER 14 1918] ONT. [abbreviated: ONTARIO]
[Letter]
France. Aug. 22nd 1918 [abbreviated: August 22, 1918] My Dear Mrs Stewart-:- Probably your son has mentioned my name as being one of his chums so I thought it my duty to write you. I left him last December and had almost persuaded him to take a commission with me and would have made him when I saw him again. I left England a few days ago to come back to France and the morning I left I had a letter from one of his chums A. H. Metcalfe. Saying he had been killed on Aug. 8th [abbreviated: August 8]. The letter read this way We were held up by a machine gun and Sefton said we will have to take it and they started after it when a sniper in the flank hit Sefton through the Heart and a few minutes later hit Metcalfe in the neck. I am awfully sorry to be the bearer of such news as I put things so awkward but as I was his close friend and had promised one another if anything happened to one, the other would notify their parents. Whenever there was a scrap I always stood by Sefton because he was so cool I don't 2 Think he knew what fear was. He was asked three or four times for seargeant stripes but he wouldn't take them. He certainly didn't get fair treatment - as he should have been recommended several times and as I was only a L/cple [abbreviated: Lance Corporal] then I couldn't do anything. I did intend having a good time with him when I got back and the last day before I left England I received word of his death. I do hope you will accept my sincerest sympathy as I liked him as a brother I don't Know what I shall do when I get back to the Battalion now. My mother also sends her sympathy. Hoping I have not grieved you any more by sending this letter. I am a Sincere Friend. J. N. Catton Lieut. [abbreviated: Lieutenant] J. N. Catton, 13th Bn. [abbreviated: Thirteenth Battalion] R. H. C. [abbreviated: Royal Highlanders of Canada] 1st. Can. [abbreviated: First Canadian] Division. France.
E.F.C. [abbreviated: Expeditionary Force Canteen] OFFICERS REST HOUSE AND MESS.Dimensions
Height
9.3 cmWidth
12 cmDimension Notes
Envelope, measured on an unknown date by James Riley.- 2014.7.33.7aHeight
22.5 cmWidth
17.5 cmDimension Notes
Letter, measured on an unknown date by James Riley.- 2014.7.33.7b
