Info 5d, Letters to Aunt Beath 1947-49

Info 5d, Letters to Aunt Beath

BY AIR MAIL Mrs A. M^c Beath, 182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand
c/o National Bank of Australasia, George Street Sydney, 16th November 1947. Dear Aunt McBeath, It is ages since we last heard from you, I hope that no news is good news and that you are still all well. At last I have brought my wife and child away from Europe and we have been in Australia about two weeks. I have a lot of photographic work to do here and then I hope to get over to New Zealand . Any way these days with air passages so easy I should be able to hop over even for a short stay we may even end up by comming to live in New Zealand but at the moment I am not so sure there is a god living to be got there for a person who specializes as I do. Even Australia seems a small field for my work in spite of its enormous size. Things were dreadfull in England when we left and have grown worse I gather from the newspapers. Do drop us a line telling us how you are and how all the others in London. I suppose this is on account of all the people coming out here every week. We cannot find a place to settle yet but hope to overcome this in as week or so. My regards and kind wishes, and do let us have a note saying how you are keeping and any news there may be. `Yours affectionatley Douglas`

BY AIR MAIL
Mrs A. M^c Beath,
182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand

c/o National Bank of Australasia,
George Street Sydney,
16th November 1947.

Dear Aunt McBeath,
It is ages since we last heard from you, I hope that no news is good news and that you are still all well. At last I have brought my wife and child away from Europe and we have been in Australia about two weeks. I have a lot of photographic work to do here and then I hope to get over to New Zealand .

Any way these days with air passages so easy I should be able to hop over even for a short stay we may even end up by comming to live in New Zealand but at the moment I am not so sure there is a god living to be got there for a person who specializes as I do. Even Australia seems a small field for my work in spite of its enormous size.

Things were dreadfull in England when we left and have grown worse I gather from the newspapers. Do drop us a line telling us how you are and how all the others in London. I suppose this is on account of all the people coming out here every week. We cannot find a place to settle yet but hope to overcome this in as week or so.

My regards and kind wishes, and do let us have a note saying how you are keeping and any news there may be.

Yours affectionatley Douglas

BY AIR MAIL Mrs A. M^c Beath, 182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand
c/o National Bank of Australasia, George Street Sydney, 2nd january 1948. Dear Aunt Mc Beath and Rose Mc Beath, Im glad to hear that you are well, but sorry to hear that Rose's father is dead. I have not settled in Sydney yet, as the housing problem here is extreamly difficult. In two weeks time I am going on a flying tour of the whole of Australia which will take about a month or 5 weeks. I have managed to buy a new Chevorlet car with the assistance of the Goverment here who are interested in my activities as a photographer and when I get back from the Aeroplane Tour we shall set out by car to see more of the country. We dont like Australia very much so far but must see as much of it as possible before we leave. I might be able to take a flying trip to New Zealand shortly and it would be great fun popping in to see you as a supprise. When you have some news do let me have a word telling me how you are getting on and how all the other people are. How is Aunt Effie and Aunt Mary and Eva and all her family and where do they all live now? I might want to see them if I get to Auckland. `Much love and good wishes Douglas`

BY AIR MAIL
Mrs A. M^c Beath,
182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand

c/o National Bank of Australasia,
George Street Sydney,
2nd january 1948.

Dear Aunt Mc Beath and Rose Mc Beath,
Im glad to hear that you are well, but sorry to hear that Rose's father is dead.
I have not settled in Sydney yet, as the housing problem here is extreamly difficult. In two weeks time I am going on a flying tour of the whole of Australia which will take about a month or 5 weeks.

I have managed to buy a new Chevorlet car with the assistance of the Goverment here who are interested in my activities as a photographer and when I get back from the Aeroplane Tour we shall set out by car to see more of the country.

We dont like Australia very much so far but must see as much of it as possible before we leave. I might be able to take a flying trip to New Zealand shortly and it would be great fun popping in to see you as a supprise.

When you have some news do let me have a word telling me how you are getting on and how all the other people are. How is Aunt Effie and Aunt Mary and Eva and all her family and where do they all live now? I might want to see them if I get to Auckland.

Much love and good wishes Douglas

BY AIR MAIL Mrs A. M^c Beath, 182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand
lot 29, Cullen Street Lane Cove, Sydney 4th May 1948 Dear Aunt Mc Beath, Frankly I am not enjoying Australia. I suppose I have had as good a time as any visitor gets who dosn't want to run around with the social snobs but I dont like the place. I have flown around it once and have motored into many remote places and met many people high and low, but still I prefer to be back in half staved England. Its a stange thing, but once you begin to value the things of the mind and the refinements it imposes on you it is diffucult to appreciate a country that is almost entirely concerned with the material things of life. I dont say this from snobbery, or some superior attitude, but i suppose the things of the mind have grown to mean more to me. I am far more interested in learning how to become a decent human being than being a rich one. Just before leaving England I photographed amoungst other men Sir Max Beerbohn, Desmond McCarthy and the poet Walter de la Mare. They all represent to me something first rate in human values , not theoretical but actual fine human behaviour. Good manners if you like, the likes of which I have never met in this country and begin to long for more than anything else. Here people are so crude, so cruel,so hard and often savage. The Australian has a long way to go to forget that he still isnt a criminal on Parole. Tomorrow we (Jane and self) fly down to Melbourne, some 880 miles, there and back to have na interview with one of the heads of the Govt. Air Service. I want to do some work for them in order to get a trip to N.Z. I do hope the New Zealander at home is something better than the Aussie, otherwise i have left the old world for nothing. I certainly couldn't bear to live here for long. I had a letter from Margaret Paget the other day, poor girl has had a lot of ill fortune and ill health in her days. She seems to be away up in one of the islands now and I hope she is going to be happier . Margaret says you must be 93 years of age. How remarkable . I'm certain I shall never see anything like that. I send you lots of Good wishes and much love and do hope you keeping well and happy. `Yours affectionatley Douglas`

BY AIR MAIL
Mrs A. M^c Beath,
182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand

lot 29, Cullen Street
Lane Cove, Sydney
4th May 1948

Dear Aunt Mc Beath,
Frankly I am not enjoying Australia. I suppose I have had as good a time as any visitor gets who dosn't want to run around with the social snobs but I dont like the place. I have flown around it once and have motored into many remote places and met many people high and low, but still I prefer to be back in half staved England.

Its a stange thing, but once you begin to value the things of the mind and the refinements it imposes on you it is diffucult to appreciate a country that is almost entirely concerned with the material things of life.

I dont say this from snobbery, or some superior attitude, but i suppose the things of the mind have grown to mean more to me. I am far more interested in learning how to become a decent human being than being a rich one.

Just before leaving England I photographed amoungst other men Sir Max Beerbohn, Desmond McCarthy and the poet Walter de la Mare. They all represent to me something first rate in human values , not theoretical but actual fine human behaviour. Good manners if you like, the likes of which I have never met in this country and begin to long for more than anything else.

Here people are so crude, so cruel,so hard and often savage. The Australian has a long way to go to forget that he still isnt a criminal on Parole.

Tomorrow we (Jane and self) fly down to Melbourne, some 880 miles, there and back to have na interview with one of the heads of the Govt. Air Service. I want to do some work for them in order to get a trip to N.Z.

I do hope the New Zealander at home is something better than the Aussie, otherwise i have left the old world for nothing. I certainly couldn't bear to live here for long.

I had a letter from Margaret Paget the other day, poor girl has had a lot of ill fortune and ill health in her days. She seems to be away up in one of the islands now and I hope she is going to be happier .

Margaret says you must be 93 years of age. How remarkable . I'm certain I shall never see anything like that.

I send you lots of Good wishes and much love and do hope you keeping well and happy.

Yours affectionatley Douglas

BY AIR MAIL Mrs A. M^c Beath, 182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand
c/o National Bank of Australia 243 George Street, Sydney 4th August 1948 My Dear aunt Mc Beath, I always think of the great Bernard Shaw as having lived a tremendous long time but you have beaten him by at least two years. It was his birthday last week. It has been an amazing experience. You have almost seen the beginning, that is the real beginnning of New Zealand and have lived through many wars . I find the two wars I have lived through more than enough for me . I often feel I have seen enough of man's hopelessness, his stupitity, his inhumanity and his will towards death rather than life. I often feel that Jesus would have been a far greater man had he faced life and refused to die and lived to a ripe old age. its harder to live than die. death is a mere nothing, to live requires determination and courage. Perhapes your letter is still on the way they take a long time by ship. I am still wandering about Australia. I have settled down to write a book on the country. It will be useful to our son if nobody else, but as it grows I am beginning to think it will be useful to a lot of people, especially people who are thinking of comming to this vast unpopulated country. At the moment I can't say how soon I shall get over to New Zealand. I always have the problem of earning a living and so when ever I go anywhere I have to provide for us all which nowdays is no small matter even if you are thought very successful as some people think of me. I fear it is more a spiritual and finacial success because the things I value most in life are not much to do with money and I have no ambition to change it. I prefere to be happy and honest than miseable, rich, and dishonest. But I will get to New Zealand soon but not as soon as I had anticipated. My wife agrees with me and so we re lucky very happy and so is our little boy who is a very cheerful energetic fellow. He seems to have all the energy I imagine I had from the stories Ive heard about myself as a boy. The only truoble with him is that he asks me so many questions that I sometimes think he will drive me Coo Coo. Im sorry to hear about your eye sight, and I must say it is heroic of you to contemplate having an operation on your eyes at this age, yet i'm told that nowdays they do these things so cleverly that it is no longer the ordeal that it was years ago. I will see what the chances are of a quick flight to New Zealand and perhaps I can get down to see you before the operation. I suppose you still think of me as the little mischievious fellow you last saw when I was in New Zealand instead of a bearded man. In Australia they are no longer accoutomed to Beards and as they have so little consciousness of Art, they never think of me as an artist but more a religious crank or a dressed up hobow. Especially as I dont drink mch, hardly at all they think I must be some sort of relegious crank. It dosnt worry me much, In fact not at all. I dont know why, but I have always had the impression that you have a loverly family album one that has lots of the old Family in it. I feel in some way I saw it when I visited you about 1926. If you still have that album I should be extreamy grateful if you could leave it to me if there is no oneelse that wants it paticularly. I have nothing at all, not a thing connected with my origins, even remote origins and so would love to have such an album. Well I do hope you are happy and the eyes do not cause you any pain and if you do have an operation that it will be successful and painless. `Much love, yours affectionately Douglas`

BY AIR MAIL
Mrs A. M^c Beath,
182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand

c/o National Bank of Australia
243 George Street, Sydney
4th August 1948

My Dear aunt Mc Beath,
I always think of the great Bernard Shaw as having lived a tremendous long time but you have beaten him by at least two years. It was his birthday last week. It has been an amazing experience. You have almost seen the beginning, that is the real beginnning of New Zealand and have lived through many wars . I find the two wars I have lived through more than enough for me . I often feel I have seen enough of man's hopelessness, his stupitity, his inhumanity and his will towards death rather than life. I often feel that Jesus would have been a far greater man had he faced life and refused to die and lived to a ripe old age.
its harder to live than die. death is a mere nothing, to live requires determination and courage. Perhapes your letter is still on the way they take a long time by ship.

I am still wandering about Australia. I have settled down to write a book on the country. It will be useful to our son if nobody else, but as it grows I am beginning to think it will be useful to a lot of people, especially people who are thinking of comming to this vast unpopulated country.

At the moment I can't say how soon I shall get over to New Zealand. I always have the problem of earning a living and so when ever I go anywhere I have to provide for us all which nowdays is no small matter even if you are thought very successful as some people think of me. I fear it is more a spiritual and finacial success because the things I value most in life are not much to do with money and I have no ambition to change it. I prefere to be happy and honest than miseable, rich, and dishonest. But I will get to New Zealand soon but not as soon as I had anticipated.

My wife agrees with me and so we re lucky very happy and so is our little boy who is a very cheerful energetic fellow. He seems to have all the energy I imagine I had from the stories Ive heard about myself as a boy. The only truoble with him is that he asks me so many questions that I sometimes think he will drive me Coo Coo.

Im sorry to hear about your eye sight, and I must say it is heroic of you to contemplate having an operation on your eyes at this age, yet i'm told that nowdays they do these things so cleverly that it is no longer the ordeal that it was years ago.

I will see what the chances are of a quick flight to New Zealand and perhaps I can get down to see you before the operation. I suppose you still think of me as the little mischievious fellow you last saw when I was in New Zealand instead of a bearded man. In Australia they are no longer accoutomed to Beards and as they have so little consciousness of Art, they never think of me as an artist but more a religious crank or a dressed up hobow. Especially as I dont drink mch, hardly at all they think I must be some sort of relegious crank.

It dosnt worry me much, In fact not at all. I dont know why, but I have always had the impression that you have a loverly family album one that has lots of the old Family in it. I feel in some way I saw it when I visited you about 1926. If you still have that album I should be extreamy grateful if you could leave it to me if there is no oneelse that wants it paticularly. I have nothing at all, not a thing connected with my origins, even remote origins and so would love to have such an album.

Well I do hope you are happy and the eyes do not cause you any pain and if you do have an operation that it will be successful and painless.

Much love, yours affectionately Douglas

BY AIR MAIL Mrs A. M^c Beath, 182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand
lot 29, Cullen Street Lane Cove, Sydney 5th December 1948 Dear Aunt Mc Beath, The collapse of the Royal Visit has batered all my plans. I have been travelling thousands of miles in Australia obtaining photographic material in connection with this trip, for publication in England and America. I was also to do an intimate photographic story on 'A day in the life of the King' that is one day here showing what happened to him from the time he gets up until the goes to bed, poor fellow.It could have been revealing and also very interesting. That has all disapeared and I have to think things out a nw. I am not certain what I shall do next. I have only just returned from over 90.000 miles of travelling in the vast Australian outback and have a lot of material to deal with. I suppose some of it will be used ever although the Royal family are not comming and getting the material certainly was interesting and will provide a great amount of interesting material for my book. I am working on the first treatment of the book now, but Australia is a vast place and it will take a long time to get this book into first class shape. I want it to be good sound and honest. Since the New Zealand money has changed it will mean a loss of ; 50 in every hundred to change my money into New Zealand Currency so we are putting off the idea of coming immediatly . This will also give me time to get some more work done on Australia and also to see some more of it. While away I photographed Mrs Daisy Bates that remarkable woman now 88 years old who lived for so many years amoungst the aboriginals studying their lives. Australia has a lot of outstanding women working, writing. and painting, for more so than the men. They are all so busy making money or struggling with 'this fiece land, this land of Burning Plains of rugged mountain ranges of droughts and flooding rains". (Wide Brown Land by Mary McKena) I wonder how you all are, I do wish I had managed to get over to see you all by this, but life has a way of dealing with things as they come and in its own way. Our little boy grows apace but his dealing with the Australian language and accent sound to good after England with all its voices. `Much love & good wishes Douglas`

BY AIR MAIL
Mrs A. M^c Beath,
182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand

lot 29, Cullen Street
Lane Cove, Sydney
5th December 1948

Dear Aunt Mc Beath, The collapse of the Royal Visit has batered all my plans. I have been travelling thousands of miles in Australia obtaining photographic material in connection with this trip, for publication in England and America. I was also to do an intimate photographic story on 'A day in the life of the King' that is one day here showing what happened to him from the time he gets up until the goes to bed, poor fellow.It could have been revealing and also very interesting.

That has all disapeared and I have to think things out a nw. I am not certain what I shall do next. I have only just returned from over 90.000 miles of travelling in the vast Australian outback and have a lot of material to deal with.

I suppose some of it will be used ever although the Royal family are not comming and getting the material certainly was interesting and will provide a great amount of interesting material for my book. I am working on the first treatment of the book now, but Australia is a vast place and it will take a long time to get this book into first class shape. I want it to be good sound and honest.

Since the New Zealand money has changed it will mean a loss of ; 50 in every hundred to change my money into New Zealand Currency so we are putting off the idea of coming immediatly . This will also give me time to get some more work done on Australia and also to see some more of it.

While away I photographed Mrs Daisy Bates that remarkable woman now 88 years old who lived for so many years amoungst the aboriginals studying their lives. Australia has a lot of outstanding women working, writing. and painting, for more so than the men. They are all so busy making money or struggling with 'this fiece land, this land of Burning Plains of rugged mountain ranges of droughts and flooding rains". (Wide Brown Land by Mary McKena)

I wonder how you all are, I do wish I had managed to get over to see you all by this, but life has a way of dealing with things as they come and in its own way.

Our little boy grows apace but his dealing with the Australian language and accent sound to good after England with all its voices.

Much love & good wishes Douglas

BY AIR MAIL Mrs A. M^c Beath, 182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand
lot 29, Cullen Street Lane Cove, Sydney 17th February 1949. Dear Aunt Mc Beath and Mrs Modie It is now decided that I leave Australia on March the 25th for England. I shall be staying in Singapore for 3 days and also a Rome for about the same time, so instead of flying home in five days I shall be taking about 2 weeks. In return for taking some photgraphs at these two places, I shall get free air passage and so shall be able to keep the money the Sunday Times are paying me for my fare. This will mean I shall have something to start with on my arrival in London. Had this assignment been offered to me several years ago I think I would have been overjoyed, for I suppose it must be one of the most coverted assignments in England for a photographer and in the matter of Wordly affairs put me at the top of my profession. But now that I look forward to living a simple life with leisure enough to read and meditate and to grow into a decent human being being such an important job does not excite me in the same way. Success is a bit of a snare and I am proud enough by nature as it is, without any inducement. My wife likes Australia and is staying here, as it is certainly a better place for the lad than England at the moment, although I do want him to have the chance to live over there some of the time to enable him to get a little perspective into his outlook. I do find people here lacking in breath of sympathy and general outlook. It seems to make them arrogant which to say the least is unpleasnt. I cannot say how long I shall be in Europe, but it will certainly be for some months. I havent a copy of the photo of Daisy Bates as all these are now in England but when I get there I will send you one out. She is undoubtably a remarkable woman But Australia has many remarkable women and few of them know it all. It is a pity I haven't had the chance to hop over to New Zealand before returning to England but there it is. We cant have everthing. Keep happy and Cheerful. `Yours affectionatley Douglas`

BY AIR MAIL
Mrs A. M^c Beath,
182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand

lot 29, Cullen Street
Lane Cove, Sydney
17th February 1949.

Dear Aunt Mc Beath and Mrs Modie
It is now decided that I leave Australia on March the 25th for England. I shall be staying in Singapore for 3 days and also a Rome for about the same time, so instead of flying home in five days I shall be taking about 2 weeks.
In return for taking some photgraphs at these two places, I shall get free air passage and so shall be able to keep the money the Sunday Times are paying me for my fare. This will mean I shall have something to start with on my arrival in London.

Had this assignment been offered to me several years ago I think I would have been overjoyed, for I suppose it must be one of the most coverted assignments in England for a photographer and in the matter of Wordly affairs put me at the top of my profession.

But now that I look forward to living a simple life with leisure enough to read and meditate and to grow into a decent human being being such an important job does not excite me in the same way. Success is a bit of a snare and I am proud enough by nature as it is, without any inducement.

My wife likes Australia and is staying here, as it is certainly a better place for the lad than England at the moment, although I do want him to have the chance to live over there some of the time to enable him to get a little perspective into his outlook. I do find people here lacking in breath of sympathy and general outlook. It seems to make them arrogant which to say the least is unpleasnt.

I cannot say how long I shall be in Europe, but it will certainly be for some months. I havent a copy of the photo of Daisy Bates as all these are now in England but when I get there I will send you one out. She is undoubtably a remarkable woman But Australia has many remarkable women and few of them know it all.

It is a pity I haven't had the chance to hop over to New Zealand before returning to England but there it is. We cant have everthing.
Keep happy and Cheerful.

Yours affectionatley Douglas

BY AIR MAIL Mrs A. M^c Beath, 182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand
Heath Lodge, Heathside, Hampstead 13th July 1949. Dear Aunt Mc Beath and Mrs Modie Since I have been in England I have been working in a whirlwind. I have not been overcome by the greatness of the Great, far from it, but just by all the tiresome things that I have had to cope with in getting this series started . It started off with Sir Ernest Bevin and went on to Sir Thos. Bearcham the great conductor and so far included Anthoney Eden , Field Marshall Smutts, G.M. Trevelyanthe historian , the Marques of Salisbury, Augustus John the artist and so on. It seemed to create quite a stire at the begining and the paper then decided to make it a front page special feature and there it is for the moment. So far I have photographed over thirty of the fifty people and soon will be doing Churchill , Atlee and the young Duke of Edinburgh. It is a strange thing with me but as soon as I get on top of a thing like this I am apt to get distracted in it for it becomes mechanical and I hate that. My old desire to become a painter has never left me. I dont imagine for a moment that I would ever be one of the great painters, but it is a form of expression that I like most and means most to me , even more than music which inteests me a great deal. I have musicians amongst my friends but am never tempted to try making music. My wife and child are still in Australia and I feel very lonely without them and look forward to the time when we will be together again . It is a pity and a mistake to be apart when you are happily married, for a happy marriage seems to be a rare and valuable thing. I have just retuned from the North of Wales where I have been photographing Earl Russell better know as Bertram Russell one of the worlds great philosophers. He certainly was a very fine person to met and to Photograph. I hope many of my generation are going to grow into such nice pearsons as they get older. He is 76 years old I am perhaps youger in spirit than myself General Smutts was 80. I am amazed at the stamina of some of these people. `Yours affectionatley Douglas`

BY AIR MAIL
Mrs A. M^c Beath,
182 North Street, Timaru, New Zealand

Heath Lodge,
Heathside, Hampstead
13th July 1949.

Dear Aunt Mc Beath and Mrs Modie
Since I have been in England I have been working in a whirlwind. I have not been overcome by the greatness of the Great, far from it, but just by all the tiresome things that I have had to cope with in getting this series started .

It started off with Sir Ernest Bevin and went on to Sir Thos. Bearcham the great conductor and so far included Anthoney Eden , Field Marshall Smutts, G.M. Trevelyanthe historian , the Marques of Salisbury, Augustus John the artist and so on.

It seemed to create quite a stire at the begining and the paper then decided to make it a front page special feature and there it is for the moment. So far I have photographed over thirty of the fifty people and soon will be doing Churchill , Atlee and the young Duke of Edinburgh.

It is a strange thing with me but as soon as I get on top of a thing like this I am apt to get distracted in it for it becomes mechanical and I hate that. My old desire to become a painter has never left me. I dont imagine for a moment that I would ever be one of the great painters, but it is a form of expression that I like most and means most to me , even more than music which inteests me a great deal. I have musicians amongst my friends but am never tempted to try making music.

My wife and child are still in Australia and I feel very lonely without them and look forward to the time when we will be together again . It is a pity and a mistake to be apart when you are happily married, for a happy marriage seems to be a rare and valuable thing.

I have just retuned from the North of Wales where I have been photographing Earl Russell better know as Bertram Russell one of the worlds great philosophers. He certainly was a very fine person to met and to Photograph. I hope many of my generation are going to grow into such nice pearsons as they get older. He is 76 years old I am perhaps youger in spirit than myself General Smutts was 80. I am amazed at the stamina of some of these people.

Yours affectionatley Douglas