Digital Archive
John Love, Banbridge, County Down, to his son, Robert Love, (Belfast?), 16 May 1819
Cite this document IIIF Viewer
Collection Love Letters
Title John Love, Banbridge, County Down, to his son, Robert Love, (Belfast?), 16 May 1819
Description Robert Love, John Love's son, is about to emigrate to America, probably from Belfast or Newry, and this is a fascinating parental advice letter, reminiscent of Polonius's advice to his son Laertes in Hamlet, on the eve of Robert's departure. The advice itself is not atypical : combining religious and moral admonitions with "Protestant ethic" injunctions to embrace "industry and frugality." However, it's very unusual for such advice to be expressed in poetic form, which many devout Ulster Protestants might deem "frivolous" . Thus, the document is illustrative of a very common phenomenon, but also highly unusual and extraordinarily interesting.
Date 16/05/1819
Date Issued 27/03/2023
Resource Type Text
Archival Record Id p155/6/4
Publisher University of Galway
Extent 6pp
Topic Love Letters
Geographic Banbridge,Down (county),Ireland,Belfast,Antrim (county)
Temporal Nineteenth century,Eighteen tens
Genre Transcript,Reproduction
Note Title, description and transcript text by Professor Kerby Miller.
Creator / Author Name John Love