General Chat

Elizabeth in her Teens......... When Elizabeth was nearly twelve, Mrs. Russell declared that she and her sister, Annie, were getting completely out of hand, so they were sent away to boarding-school. They went to Cheltenham House at Pinetown where there were sixteen boarders. Mr. Greathead was the principal and his wife acted as matron. The two girls went to Pinetown in April, and, as a punishment for all the trouble they had given with their mischief, their parents did not allow them to come home for the June vacation. They stayed at school until the 'Xmas holidays started. Elizabeth did not make friends easily. She had a few real friends whereas Annie was very popular and had numerous pals. Early one morning Mr. Greathead was busy in the cellar, where the dried fruit and other stores were kept, when Elizabeth spied him. The temptation to shut him in proved too great to be resisted. Like a flash of lightning she had turned the key in the door and he was in pitch darkness. He did not dare to move for in the centre of the cellar was a big, open barrel of tar sunk into the floor for the purpose of catching ants which were so numerous that they were a pest to the housewives in the village. When breakfast-time came and the principal did not appear everybody wondered where he could be. Elizabeth kept mum. Just after prayers she ran to the door of the cellar and called out: "Mr. Greathead, will you promise not to punish me if I let you out?" When he had reluctantly given the required assurance she opened the door and set him free. He kept his word but during the next few days, every now and again, he would shake his finger at the daring miscreant and exclaim: "You vagabond!" Mrs. Scott, whose husband was the Presbyterian minister of Pinetown, invited some of the boarders along with Mrs. Greathead every now and then to spend the day at her home. She treated them right royally, giving them all sorts of goodies to eat. The girls loved this outing as they got very poor food at school. On one such occasion Elizabeth and four other boarders besides Mr. Greathead remained at Cheltenham House. As soon as the matron and the other girls had departed, Elizabeth, who had received minute instructions about the dinner and in whose charge the keys had been left, went to the pantry on a tour of inspection. She discovered a pineapple tart, a loaf of white bread, some fresh butter and a tasty- looking leg of pork. These she decided to have for dinner, although she had been directed to have the dry, unappetising salt (corned) beef which also reposed on the pantry shelf. She went to the kitchen and with great dignity informed John, the cook-boy, that she was the missus for the day, and that he was to boil potatoes instead of the usual sweet potatoes for dinner. The boarders were utterly tired of the latter which they had day after day at the midday meal. When John had set the table she brought out all the good things from the pantry and then told him to ring the bell. The principal was greatly surprised to see the unusual spread, remarked about it and turned to her for an explanation. Fearless as ever, she tossed her head and exclaimed: "Mrs. Greathead left me in charge." Nothing further was said so the boarders set to with hearty appetites and made short work of the tasty viands. At supper-time when the matron enquired of John where the tart and the pork were, he pointed at the culprit and said: "Him missy eat 'em all up." Elizabeth was severely reprimanded and was never left in charge of the keys again. One Sunday all the boarders were attending service at the Presbyterian Church when it started to rain. Dookie, the Coolie, who worked at the school, arrived with a pile of coats and umbrellas for the girls. Holding a white umbrella over his head, he rushed up the aisle, dumped down his load alongside the first boarders he saw, spat on the floor and left the church amidst audible titters from the congregation. On one occasion when Mrs. Greathead had gone down town in a one-horse trap to do some shopping, the girls decided to have a prayer-meeting. Elizabeth did not like the idea and refused to join in, but she could not resist the temptation of going to the door to listen to what was taking place. There she heard one girl chant: "Oh Lord, may it please Thee to break Mrs. Greathead's neck," and the other girls respond: "Amen." After this they sat at the windows and watched to see the result of their prayer, but the subject of their supplications returned safely and soundly. At Cheltenham House all the letters the girls wrote were censored by the principal so they did not dare to complain about the quality of the food. Towards the end of the year Elizabeth was not at all well and utterly tired of the poor food so she determined to let her parents know the state of affairs. She managed to secure a sheet of paper but could not obtain a pen nor any ink so she went into the garden and wrote a note with a pointed stick and the juice of ripe mulberries. She then watched out for the post-boy, a kaffir runner who carried the mail in a big leather bag strapped to his shoulders, and stopping him as he passed the school on his way to the, post-office she gave him the letter and a shilling. Sixpence was for the postage, as that was the amount charged in Natal for the carriage of a letter in those days, and the other sixpence he was to keep for his trouble. The Russells received the note and enquired into the matter of the poor food at the school. At the end of the year she secured the first prize in her class for Arithmetic which was her favourite subject. When the 'Xmas vacation began Mr. Russell arrived at Cheltenham House with the riding-horses of the two girls. As a holiday treat he took them for a long, long ride and Elizabeth enjoyed every minute of it. She gloried in the freedom of the outdoor life after eight long months of boarding-school. From Pinetown they rode to Durban, Verulam, Inchanga, Maritzburg and then home to Boston. When they passed Umgeni they heard that the Groom children, with whose father Mr. Russell was acquainted, had gone out to play some distance from their home, and in the evening the youngest child, a lad of about five, was missing. The other children, when questioned, declared that their little brother, having grown tired of the game they had been playing, had returned by himself earlier in the afternoon. However, he did not reach home. A party of thirty men searched zealously for him for several days, but, in spite of their untiring efforts, they failed to find him. Eventually it was concluded that he had been carried off by baboons which were very numerous in that part of the country. The broken-hearted mother kept lights burning in the house throughout the whole night for about six months in the vain hope that the child would turn up again. Some time later, as a result of her grief and anxiety, her mind gave way. Needless to say, Elizabeth and Annie enjoyed the holidays thoroughly - home again after long months of boarding-school. After the holidays they did not return to Cheltenham House but went to a Mrs. Passmore for their lessons. Her husband was the post-master of Pinetown and he did most of the teaching that the girls received. She taught them music. Here they were allowed far more liberty than at Cheltenham House, but, as this means of education did not prove satisfactory, it was discontinued after six months. In the meanwhile a Mr. Barnett and his wife had come from England and had settled about two miles from the Russells' home. Mrs. Barnett who had had ten years experience as a schoolmistress undertook to teach all the Russell children at a salary of a hundred pounds per annum. The scholars walked the two miles to school every morning. Later on, however, to overcome this difficulty their father gave the Barnetts a free house close

Thank you Lindzy. I like this Elizabeth very much. Terri xx

Hi Terri, That makes two of us! Lindy;-)