c 1800 3p Evangelical Infant Cruelty Memorial Ms – 3.5 Yr Old S Keeble Suffolk
DESCRIPTION: A powerful and disturbing Evangelical memorial manuscript, written on a single 4‑page lettersheet (one folded sheet). Pages 1–3 contain the complete memorial text: a monumental elegy, a formal epitaph, and a prose domestic narrative describing the suffering, abuse, spiritual endurance, and death of Susannah Keeble, aged 3½, of Shortham, Suffolk.
Page 4 carries only a later location/ownership note: “27 Gidley Howden”.
This is a true early‑19th‑century manuscript (c.1800–1830), with period handwriting, diction, theology, and paper.
One of the main pages contains a clear “++” insertion mark. At that point the author added two inverted lines, written 180° opposite to the main text — an authorial afterthought, inserted once the page was full. This confirms the manuscript is a working pastoral draft, not a later fair copy. (although almost certainly the ONLY copy)
CONTENT SUMMARY
The manuscript records:
The child’s amiable temper and early afflictions
The mother’s aversion and “unheard of cruelty”
The eldest sister’s attempts to protect her
The child’s constant prayer, resignation, and spiritual clarity
Her final words: “’Twill soon be well” and “Nightly I am well”
The mother falling into “Fitts” at the moment of death
The servant maid “roaring for anguish”
The sister “weeping herself into a fever” and crying “What did we do to deserve to be so used?”
This is a first‑hand pastoral testimony of domestic child cruelty in rural Suffolk, framed within Evangelical devotional theology. Such explicit accounts are exceptionally rare before mid‑Victorian reform movements.
DATE & AUTHORSHIP
Manuscript date: c.1800–1830
Author: Anonymous, almost certainly a local Evangelical Anglican or Nonconformist with pastoral authority.
The handwriting, diction, and theological register match early‑19th‑century consolation literature.
A rare survival of:
Evangelical memorial writing
Early documentation of domestic child cruelty
Rural Suffolk family history
Pastoral intervention literature
A complete lettersheet with authorial editing marks
Condition as photos. Guaranteed Original. All items can be returned for a full refund if found to be not as described.
PROVENANCE:
One of c.2,500+ items once from the collection or dealer stock of Winifred A Myers (Autographs) Ltd, St Martins Lane, London, evidenced by the quantity of Myers pre-printed envelopes and paper folders and the general ‘presentation’ of the items, many having Myers identification notes in pencil.
Winifred Alice Myers (1909 - 1985) served as ABA (Antiquarian Booksellers Assoc) president, 1950-1952. See the ABA website for an extended article on Myers. Myers left her business, in 1985, to Ruth Shepherd, who traded from home until 2004.
Complete with digital .jpg CoA - as photo - for you to print if needed
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