Papers relating to Florence Elphick (1879-1941) of 101 The Highway, Moulsecoomb, Brighton

Florence Elphick was left a widow when her husband, a self-employed delivery man with a horse and cart, died in 1915.

Her diary covers the period 1928-1935, when she was living at 101 The Highway, Moulsecoomb, Brighton. The diary consists of abbreviated notes and comments relating to Florence’s day-to-day life. During this period, her daughter, Ivy died at the age of 18 from a hip that became diseased following a bicycle accident.

The papers also include a memoir of Florence by her daughter, Ada Colwell, written in 1987. This memoir covers the death of Florence’s husband; her struggle to make ends meet before and during the First World War; the death of Florence’s daughter, Ivy; details of the marriages and pregnancies of Florence’s children, and an account of how FE transmitted tuberculosis to one baby grandchild who subsequently died. The disease killed Florence two years later.

The diary and memoir was contributed by Florence’s granddaughter, Shirley Halls.