Every February gifts and tokens of love are exchanged between loved ones, to celebrate St Valentine’s Day. This is a tradition that dates back as far as Roman times and with such a long history the Glamorgan Archives has a number of items marking love throughout the ages.
Items that caught the eye of Archivist Heather Mountjoy are a number of Victorian Valentine’s Day cards. The cards are hand-made and are very different to the cards of today, each with a simple design and featuring lace, cherubs and simple declarations of “My heart is yours forever.”
Along with the cards, Heather’s search discovered a number of love letters that prove love doesn’t always run smoothly.
Heather explained: “Two letters amongst the Edmondes Collection give an insight in the tangled love life of Thomas Deere Salmon, a friend of Miss Charlotte Edmondes of Cowbridge.
“In the letters sent in 1865, Thomas announces his engagement to a Miss Adelaide Gorton, but unfortunately for Thomas, in his next letter he gives Charlotte the news that the engagement is off, citing ‘money matters’ as the reason. Adelaide might have also been persuaded to break off the engagement by the offer of a new horse and piano from her teacher if she didn’t marry Thomas!”
Another item found in the same collection shows how love can conquer all, including age. The item is an account of how Mrs Colonel Edmondes was proposed to by Lord Dormar, Mrs Edmondes fourth husband. It notes that elderly suitor Lord Dormar ‘was so old and stiff, that when he proposed to her, he fell on his knees’ and that Mrs Edmondes was ‘obliged to ring for the footman to help him up’. The account was written sometime before 1886.
Executive Member for Sport, Culture and Leisure, Cllr Nigel Howells, said: “These valentine items are a great example of how there is a variety of records stored at the Glamorgan Archives. The new site at Leckwith will open in the spring and will be a fantastic resource for those carrying out research.”
Heather Mountjoy, Archivist, said: “The cards and letters give a great insight into love in the Victorian age and show’s how our ancestors had the same troubles as us when it comes to finding romance! Along with these items we hold marriage records, which are a great help in tracing a family tree. In our new home at Leckwith we have a wealth of information and resources for people wanting to find out about people and their lives in the past.”
