In 1992 during renovations, a slightly burnt letter to Santa from 1911 was discovered in a chimeny. In 2012 her son recognised the author as his mother

1911 Letter to Santa

In 1992 a slightly scorched letter written to Santa in 1911 was discovered in a Dublin fireplace.

The letter was written on Christmas Eve 1911, by a brother and sister, who signed their names, “A or H Howard”. They included their Christmas list and a good luck message to Santa. The letter was placed in the chimney fireplace in the front bedroom of their home in Oaklands Terrace, Terenure (or Terurnure, as it was in the letter) in Dublin. This was an Irish tradition, that survived until recent times, where children put letters into the fireplace and the heat lifted them up to the chimey and off to Santa.

The letter said: “I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee.” It also has “Good Luck” written in large letters on the top right of the envelope and again under the signature and alos some drawings.

Discovering the Letter

The letter lay undisturbed until 1992 when it was discovered by the house’s current owner, John Byrne, who was installing central heating. He said he kept it as a souvenir of another time and place which reflected a childhood innocence which can still be found today. He decided to publicise its existence now to mark its 100th anniversary.

Over the years the owners and occupants of the house changed several times, with the Byrne family moving there in 1961. “At that time, the fireplaces were made of brick with a shelf on either side,” said John Byrne who works in the building industry. He said that “The letter was found on one of the shelves.”

The letter remained remarkably intact given the passage of time and was only slightly burned from fires set in the house over the years.

According to the 1911 census, the Howared family were living at this address. The parents were Fred Hamer Mary Elizabeth, they had three children. Hannah, was ten at the time, and Fred (presumably short for Alfred) was seven, and these match the initials on the letter. A third child in the census was 13-year-old Lily. All of the family were born in England and were members of the Church of Ireland. Fred was an “under manager” in a “plumber merchants”.

Going Public on the 100 Year Anniversary

A story about the letter was published in The Irish Times on 21st December 2011. Victor Bartlem was sitting at home in Bangor, Co Down, while his wife read out details of the story from the paper. Mr Bartlem initially failed to make any connection between himself and the young girl in the story. Even when the address on the letter – Oaklands Terrace, Terenure – was mentioned, it was only when he heard the name Hannah that he realised the girl in the letter was his late mother, Hannah “Annie” Howard.

“I simply couldn’t believe it. I never knew about this letter. I never even knew it existed” he told The Irish Times on the 22nd December.

As the letter was signed “A or H Howard”, it was initially thought to be jointly from Hannah and her younger brother, Alfred. However, Mr Bartlem confirmed his mother Hannah went by the name “Annie”,  so it looks likely that the “A or H Howard” on the letter, was to ensure that Santa didn’t get confused and knew exactly who the letter was from!

Hannah’s niece, Iris Murphy, who lives in Stillorgan, Dublin, was alerted to the letter’s existence when her daughter in Tasmania read about it on irishtimes.com. Ms Murphy described her aunt as a “very happy-go-lucky person with a great sense of humour”.Hannah’s elder sister, Lily, who was 13 at the time the letter was sent, died in 1996, aged 99.

Hannah was born on Christmas Day 1900 and died in 1978.