Letters from Mary Kathleen Sladden (1881-1953), third child of Julius and Eugénie Sladden

Mary Kathleen Sladden (1879-1959), known as Kath or Kathleen, was the third child of Julius and Eugénie Sladden. She was born at Seward House, Badsey, on 25th March 1881; unlike her sisters, she did not return to live in Badsey after school and university. The Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service at The Hive in Worcester contains 75 of her letters written between 1889 and 1929; the Imperial War Museum contains one of her letters.

There are 40 letters from the pre World War I period; these have not been transcribed but may be viewed at Worcester. These are mainly written to her parents or to her sister, May, when she was away at school at Clewer, Windsor, or at Royal Holloway College. Subsequent letters were written from accommodation in London once she had begun teaching. From 1910, the letters were written from 12 Charleville Circus, Sydenham, where she lived with her siblings Jack, George and Cyril.

There are 34 letters from the WW1 period, all of which have been transcribed, with the exception of the one at the Imperial War Museum.

There are also two letters written after the First World War; these have not been transcribed but may be viewed at Worcester.