Because there was no coherent support system for war widows during the Victorian period, many well-meaning individuals set out to establish charitable organisations to help. In this letter, a correspondent calls for support for his longstanding plan to establish a Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Widows’ Fund. To read more about war widows in the Victorian period, visit our History pages, or take a look at some of our other Library items from the era, such as the biography of Mary Anne Wellington, a widow who accompanied her husbands on all his postings.

“Soldiers’ And Sailors’ Widows’ Fund.” Times (9 November 1838), p.5.

Letter supplied courtesy of The Times.