I have recently inherited a dauntingly large archive of letters and papers relating to my mother's family. They include letters and diaries written by my grandfather as long ago as 1901. Looking at just a few of these - the tip of the iceberg - I came across a little packet of letters of condolence sent to him in 1939 on the death of his wife, my grandmother. As I never met my grandmother, I was interested to know more of what she was like. This is one of the letters:

"Dear Sir,

Yesterday I called at 57 Pont Street to learn with deep regret the sudden passing of Mrs Beresford.

Of the many hundreds of people who graced the staircase during the two and a half years I was parlourmaid to her Ladyship, Mrs Beresford with her sweet naturalness was always outstanding in my memory.

I left her Ladyship to take over a small business on the 4th Sept. Unfortunately war broke out as everything was settled and so many people from whom I could buy are out of town. But faith is a conquering power which stands us in good stead even in the darkest hours.

Please forgive me Sir, for writing to you but I feel so inwardly urged to do so, and to accept my profound sympathy during these dark days through which you are passing.

With my best respects
I remain,

Yours truly
Ruth Craven"

The letter is evocative of that time in all sorts of ways. But what struck me most of all was the richness of the writer's expression. As a former parlourmaid, she was obviously from the poorer half of British society. I wondered, if she were alive today and came from the same relative social class, would she be able to write such a letter? I doubt it. The letter is not perfect but the second sentence contains 31 words (the number two and a half was written with figures) and starts with a long sub-clause which has a terrific image of many people on a staircase that she had seen in her work. That complexity and elegance of expression would be as much or more than you might hope these days from an Oxbridge graduate. I doubt that you would expect it from someone in her relative position. And remember, most adults now left school aged 16 or 18. Ruth Craven probably left school at 11 or 14.

I don't offer this letter as proof or even strong evidence that educational standards have dropped. It is only one letter and there could be all sorts of reasons why it was written as it was. But for those of us who already believe, due to a wide variety of accumulated evidence, that educational standards have dropped, the letter is a possible illustration of just what has been lost.

Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in Education

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