Letter - from Henry Pollock, Esq., Windsor, Surrey, England

to

Hon. Lt. Col. Bertram Pollock, Kingston, Jamaica

September 1900

My dear Bertie

Good news! There has been a splendid response to your recent advertisement in The Times for an articled apprentice and I have been busy all week interviewing a variety of young men for the position. But I have now finally made a decision on your behalf and I think you will be well pleased with my choice. His background is thus:

John Sinclair, a young man of some financial means, not excessive, but certainly enough for him not only to be able to pay the premium, but also to buy a small estate in Kingston. Both his parents are dead and his money has come from the sale of a small farm they owned in Inverness in Scotland.

He is a tall, strapping young man, with a pleasant demeanour, 25 years of age and recently married to Lucy Ross (there are no children!). Sinclair has had a reasonable education, is quite well read and I must say I thought he held a good conversation. I sensed in him an eagerness to learn new things and gain new experiences which is why I feel sure he will make an industrious and apt pupil and both of you will benefit.

Sinclair and his wife have been temporarily living with her family in Droop Street, Paddington, while they decide what they want to do with their future. He is adamant that he doesn’t want to return to Scotland. Says he’s had enough of the freezing winters and being knee deep in snow! (He’ll be alright in Jamaica then, won’t he, old boy?) Naturally, I wanted to meet his wife as well, so I arranged a visit to her at the family home. I felt it would be a good idea to see them in situ, so to speak, in order to form a better opinion as to their suitability.

The head of the family is Samuel Ross, a constable with the Metropolitan Police, and a pillar of the community. I found him a bit overbearing and his wife, Harriet, the opposite, timid but pleasant enough. I suspect they are a church going family since what looked like the family bible was prominently displayed along with a number of other religious artefacts in the house – Catholics, I think.

I must say Bertie I was very impressed with Sinclair’s wife, Lucy. A sweet, gentle and intelligent young lady who obviously adores her new husband and vice versa. They both impressed me with their knowledge of Jamaica, its politics and social structure. I believe she paints watercolours, so she should be well occupied painting the abundance of beauty and variety of scenery there is in Jamaica, particularly while Sinclair is out at work on the plantation.

Mrs Sinclair has two unmarried sisters, Martha and Becky and clearly has a very close relationship with her younger sister, Becky, who is similar in both looks and demeanour to Lucy tall, slender with fair hair, blue eyes.

Martha is the oldest and most unlike the other two, short and stout, with a badly pockmarked face, result of chicken pox I suppose. You know, Bertie, how every now and again in a family, nature produces an offspring that bears little resemblance to either its parents or siblings, well that’s Martha Ross. She works as a seamstress for the Drury Lane Theatre in London and didn’t hesitate to tell me she is the best they have.

I came away from the meeting with a most favourable opinion of Sinclair and his wife’s suitability and adaptability to moving to the tropics. Sinclair’s references are exemplary (enclosed herewith) and I have told him that you will write direct to him offering the position assuming, of course, you concur with me.

Yours ever Henry

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