Love letter from Alfred Erlemann to Eliza Marshall on her 18th birthday
Author
Alfred Edward Engelbert Erlemann
(German, born 1849)
Date16 October 1885
Object number00056187
NameLetter
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall (folded): 202 × 125 mm
ClassificationsEphemera
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection gift of Deborah Bushell
DescriptionThis love letter was written by German immigrant Alfred Edward Engelbert Erlemann to Eliza Marshall in 1885. Alfred Erlemann arrived in Sydney in 1884, having sailed from England as an engineer on WARWICK. On board the ship he met 15-year-old Eliza Marshall, who was emigrating from England with her parents and five younger siblings. Alfred fell in love with Eliza, but her father thought their age gap of 19 years was too great. Alfred was prepared to wait, and four years later, in 1888, Alfred (39) and Eliza (20) were married in Sydney.
HistoryAlfred Engelbert Erlemann was born on 17 November 1849 in Hoinkhausen, Germany (then West Prussia), the eldest son of Maria Theresia Bartholome and Christian Engelhard Erlemann. The family owned a stone quarry in Hoinkhausen (Mellrich?) and the 400 year old home is still occupied. The stone museum in Anrochte has full history of the Erlemann family. Apparently Christian gambled the family fortune away. Alfred was brought up by his grandmother Francisca Goebel (married to Franz Wilhelm Batholome), and between his father and the Prussian War, Alfred decided to get away.
The next we know about him is that he was the ‘engineer’ on the WARWICK, which sailed from England to Sydney, arriving in Sydney in 1884. On board was the Marshall family emigrating from England to Australia. Robert Henry Marshall and his wife, Eliza Tiday, were accompanied by six children, the eldest of whom was Eliza, born 18 October 1868. She was 15 going on 16.
Alfred apparently fell in love with her, but Robert Henry thought the age disparity (19 years) a bit much and said if he was prepared to wait he could marry her. Alfred was prepared to wait and Eliza seemed happy with him and they were wed on 22 January 1888 (Alfred being 39 and Eliza 20). It is assumed that during this four year period and after, Alfred continued to be part of ships crews. The love letter to Eliza dates from 1885 and he was clearly away from her at the time.
The rest of the Marshall family had a chequered history. Robert Henry (eldest child) died as a child in England. Ada married and had three children. There was one known grandchild but no more progeny. The son may have had issue but this is not confirmed. Edith returned to England and married and there is still family in the UK. George died in New Guinea during World War II. He had four children. Alice married but died from alcoholism. Clara ran off to the Republic of South Africa, married and had two children (who may have offspring there), but also died as a consequence of alcoholism, abandoned by her husband. Ettie (born in Australia) married here, but may not have had children (none known).
The Erlemanns also had a similar story. Alfred never returned to Prussia and he only really corresponded with his nephew and brother Franz, who was a Roman Catholic priest. He seemed to have little time for the German family but loved his mother and grandmother and named his eldest child after them. He developed dementia and spent his last years at Rozelle (?) Hospital where Eliza visited him. He was an incredibly intelligent man. He spoke Prussian, English, Russian and Latin, and perhaps French and Italian. He had a huge library that Eliza unfortunately had to sell after his death, to help support the family. The eldest and youngest, both girls, did not have children. Frances Theresa (Tess) never married and may have had a female partner most of her life. The youngest (Elsie Wilhemena) did not marry until she was 50. The donor’s grandfather Frederick Engelbert, who was also alcoholic, had only one child, Valerie May. Frederick ended up leaving his wife and moving in with his mistress.SignificanceThis love letter was written by German immigrant Alfred Erlemann to his future wife Eliza Marshall, 19 years his junior. In his first letter to Eliza, written in 1885 on her 18th birthday, Alfred notes he 'would give gladly all that is dear to him for you, and to whom you have given your heart, be but true, and have confidence in me and I will do all in my power to show myself always worthy of your love. I live in the sweet hope that you will think sometimes of me when I am away from you and never will cease to love you'. The letter reflects a powerful story of love and migration.
G. Walker Printer, Durham
1834 - 1886
