Description

Eustace A. Kenyon

Given by Lt. Col. W.P. Kenyon

1. 1880. Letters to his sister Mary. Daily activities; in Calcutta; trip to Burma; description of journey, Rangoon etc.
2. 1881. Letters to his mother, Mary and his brother Edward, from Moulmein, then Calcutta then Moulmein. Description of the Telegraph Department; his pay, day to day activities, social and work; weather; family news; his journey by ship to Rangoon and road to Moulmein. Some letters incomplete.
3. 1882. Letters to his family from Palat, Sittang, and Moulmein. Description of the country near Palat and Sittang; details of work, friends and social occasions; examinations of boys to become signallers; building of railway from Tavoy to Bangkok; enjoys polo; comments on Boer war; keeping the line clear of jungle and tall grass; list of servants and animals he owns; description of his new house; details of his Christmas celebrations.
4. 1883. Letters to his family from Moulmein and from the jungle – in many cases his letters are partly in reply to letters he has received from his family. Preparations for survey party sent to make a trigonometrical survey; Rangoon patrolled nightly to protect people and property from dacoits and robbers; description of work away from Moulmein, setting lines and clearing undergrowth; testing electrical apparatus; examining books and cash records; use of elephants for the line work; contractors used for jungle clearing; returns to Moulmein March, but making plans to inspect lines etc. northwards to Shoaygheer and Tonglau and expects to be out to the end of April; saw men working in a mill, by electric lights; weather, rains; his gardens; social activities: dances, polo, hunt meetings, races, picnics, dinners, tennis; begins trip to Amherst; returns to Moulmein; Christmas celebrations.
5. 1884. Letters to his family from Moulmein, Amherst, Simla, Ajmere, Tavoy, Myitta and Wagone etc. Day to day account of work and social engagements; preparations for trip into the jungle; possibility of leave of three months; trip from Moulmein to Tavoy; description of bridge building; line repairs; returns to Moulmein; languages spoken in the area; smallpox in villages; owing to illness of man at Tavoy he will not be able to get leave; will have to travel to Tavoy once a month; monsoon arrives; drought before the rains; races at Moulmein more trips described; good path necessary to keep the line in order; possibility of doing construction work on road from Tavoy to Siam border; his health is excellent and his family should not worry about him, he only drinks beer and does not smoke; details of route of new line to Siam; description of the town of Ahmedabad; details of travelling by train; starts work on the new line and road; descriptions of Pagayay and the P.W.D. and telegraph stores etc.; unable to assess when the work will be finished.
6. 1885. Letters to his mother and brother from various stations in Burma and at Simla. Day to day account of work on the new line and new road; mileage between villages on road; illness amongst workmen slowing up the work; leave cancelled because of possibility of war with Russia; coolies and servants not well and very tired, hopes to get back to Tavoy to give them a rest; possibility of Siamese labour; line completed and returns to Tavoy; Kenyon not well; journey to Simla for leave; day to day events at Simla; hopes to stay longer than his leave; has asked not to go back to Burma; enjoys seeing English – flowers and fruits and vegetables.
7. 1887. Two letters to his sister Tizie, from Ajmere.
8. 1892. One letter to his sister Mary written at Calcutta; social life.
9. 1893. Two letters, one to his mother and one to his sister, written from Calcutta. Christmas celebrations; holiday river trip from Calcutta to Narain and back to Calcutta with details of scenery etc.
10. 1894. One letter written to his sister Tizie from Bombay. Monsoon weather; floods; plans for tour; some comments on political matters; quality of men being recruited for the civil service.
11. 1896. Three letters written to his mother and two to Tizie from Calcutta. Has been married and they have arrived in India; have a new house; their servants; plague in Bombay; his wife, ‘Ethel, busy with the ‘Women’s Friendly’; their garden; expecting a baby.
12. 1897. Letters written to his mother from Calcutta and Darjeeling. Plague getting worse in Bombay and Karachi and neighbouring towns; servants running away from work; daughter born; possibility of failure of the monsoon which means famine; famine death rate much improved in recent years because of extension of railways; easier to move foodstuffs; some rioting in Calcutta; description of earthquake; wife and baby go to Darjeeling; he joins family; returns to Calcutta.
13. 1898. Letters written to his mother and Mary from Calcutta. Social activities; son home; has left the contruction branch of the telegraph service and is now in the electrical branch; plague bad in Calcutta, causing labour shortage; difficulty in getting people to be inoculated; many of the labour ran away; taken up cycling; rainstorms; his wife has accident while driving; his wife plans to go home.