Correspondence Undated: Hilaire to Elizabeth., No date found in GAMMS

Hilaire Belloc-Elizabeth Belloc Correspondence

This collection contains the correspondence sent by Hilaire Belloc to his daughter Elizabeth over the period 1932-1944. Hilaire was 62 at the start of this correspondence and entering the final stages of his career. He was plagued increasingly with ill-health over the course of this correspondence, and there is frequent reference to his suffering from flus, fatigue, and difficulties with his handwriting. In 1942 he suffered a stroke, from which he would never completely regain his faculties. In his correspondence, the most visible effects of the stroke can be detected in the unsteadiness of his handwriting and in the less lucid expression of his thoughts.

Elizabeth was a young woman in her 30s, who can be described as having inherited the same restless spirit as her father. While Hilaire maintained a schedule of constant travel, his letters were written principally from the family home at King's Land or from his room at the Reform Club in London. The content of this correspondence is highly personal in nature, providing us with some insight into the father-daughter relationship shared between Hilaire and Elizabeth.