The Story of a Postcard

Postcards from the 19th and early 20th centuries can tell us a lot about life in Forncett at that time. They show us pictures of what our village looked like, but they can also tell us stories about the people who wrote them. In 2019 Su Leavesley spotted a card of Corner Farm, Forncett End for sale on eBay and it had an interesting story to tell.

The card was written in 1921 by Kathleen and Connie to their Grannie, Mrs. H. C. Foulsham, who lived at 7, Ella Road, Thorpe Hamlet. 

So, who were Kathleen and Connie and why were they staying at Corner Farm? The girls were the grandchildren of Horace Foulsham and his wife, Mary, who married in 1880 and had two children, Lilian (b. 1883) and Horace (b.1895). In the 1901 census (below) they were already living at 7, Ella Road and they had a lodger, William Thurston who was 25 and an Electrical Fitter. 

William Thurston was born in Forncett End in 1876. His father ran a small (7 acre) farm in Forncett but by 1901 the family had moved to a larger farm in Silfield and William had obviously decided to try his hand at a different occupation. In 1904 William married Louisa Orris whose father, Alfred Orris, worked at Lime Tree farm in Forncett End, and William took up farming again. Originally, William and Louise lived in Silfield, but around 1911 William bought Corner Farm in Forncett End, where he lived until 1948. 

William and Louisa Thurston - early 1900s

William obviously kept in touch with his Norwich landlady, Mary Foulsham, whose daughter, Lilian had married Frederick Robertson Smith from Kings Lynn in 1909. The Smiths subsequently moved to London and had two children – Kathleen (b. 1910) and Constance (b. 1913).

The postcard tells us that both Mary Foulsham and her grandchildren came to stay at Corner Farm from time to time. In 1921 Kathleen was 11 and Connie was 8 and they had moved to Coventry where their father, Frederick, was Chief Engineer at Armstrong Siddeley Motors. So, a holiday in the country must have been a great adventure.

The "Auntie" in the postcard was undoubtedly Louisa Thurston and her children were May (aged 16), Lilian (13), Edward (11) and twins John and Henry (6). So, the girls would have had plenty of playmates.

It's remarkable what you can learn from a postcard but sadly, with today's digital communication on social media, tomorrow's local historians won't have access to such useful stories.  

Many more Forncett postcards can be seen here.