A single postcard found behind a stud wall on the top floor of 57 Kingsley Road, Preston, Brighton. The card features two actors of the time (one is Miss Julia Neilson). It carries a Xmas greeting from the sender and a simple message on the back saying that the sender has not forgotten the recipient and will come to visit at some point.
The contributor, Hannah Marshall-Quinn, has established that the actor and actress were touring the country in a production of 'Anthony and Cleopatra'.
The postcard seems to have been sent from Brighton as the postmark states Western Road.
The address on the postcard states 'Balmain', which Hannah believes to be the original name of the house of 57 Kingsley Road.
Nothing is yet known of Annie Hammond.
The recipient, Ellen Steadman, according to the 1921 Census, would have been age 24 in 1904 and was an umbrella machinist.
57, Kingsley Road was built in 1897 suggesting that Ellen Steadman was possibly the first tenant/owner. The message on the front of the postcard referring to 'you all' implies that she and her husband had children or were living with extended family rather than as a couple.
Digital scans of the postcard have been donated to the East Sussex Record Office and are listed here; the original postcard is in the care of Hannah Marshall-Quinn.
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