Granddaughter reunited with 50 year old love letters (From Kingston Guardian)
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Kingston granddaughter reunited with 50 year old love letters
9:00am Monday 25th June 2012 in News By Nazia Dewji, Reporter
L-R Mum Wendy Briggs with Joanna Briggs and her grandmother's letters.
The granddaughter of a man who penned more than 100 love letters to his pregnant wife while on national service has been reunited with the letters.
Last week the Surrey Comet revealed the batch of heartfelt mystery love letters had been discovered at the Queen’s Head pub in Richmond Road, Kingston, by a baffled landlord.
Days later granddaughter Joanna Briggs, 30, from Thames Ditton, visited the pub on Father’s Day to pick up the letters that belong to her family.
Miss Briggs said her grandfather died two years ago in a horrific accident where he was run over by a lorry driver outside Asda in Norbiton.
At the time Charles Briggs was 81 and had outlived his wife Lillian Briggs, who had died some 10 years earlier.
On looking through the letters, Miss Briggs said: “When I got there I broke down. I was like ‘Oh, my God’.
“My mum could not believe it either. My dad died from cancer in 2000 so it is a shame – it would have been amazing for my dad to see these letters his father wrote.”
Miss Briggs said she only found out about the article after receiving a text message from a relative urging her to go out and buy the paper.
She said she had been left very confused about the reference to an unborn child named Pat, as her grandparents had only had two sons.
However, after discussions with other members of the family it was discovered the couple had originally thought they were having a baby girl.
Mr and Mrs Briggs lived opposite each other in Beresford Road where they first met.
Following national service Mr Briggs worked for Royal Mail while his wife was a cleaner.
Miss Briggs said: “They were very much in love until the end. It is quite sad.
“I am getting goosebumps thinking about it.
“You know when you walk down the street and you see a little old man and woman holding hands – they were just like that. They were very old fashioned.”
Miss Briggs who has been intrigued reading through the letters, still cannot work out how the notes ended up in the pub.
She said: “We do not have a clue. Maybe she cleaned the pub. We really don’t know.”
