Series 2 Correspondence between Wreford Neil Johnson and Joan Oldham

Date
1945-1948
By
Johnson, Wreford Neil, 1921-1975; Johnson, Joan, 1923-2011
Reference
Series-5866
Description

Comprises letters between Wreford Neil Johnson and his fiancee, Joan Oldham, while Johnson was serving as a business and finance manager with the Friends' Ambulance Unit in Zhengzhou and Shanghai and then in Calcutta from 1946 to 1947. His letters on Chinese life and the work of the FAU give a detailed and 'unofficial' picture of life in China in the late 1940's, between the end of the Japanese occupation and the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, while his letters written from Calcutta reflect the sense of crisis caused by the Partition in India prior to independence. Joan Oldham was nurse at Queen Mary Hospital, Hanmer Springs, then St Helen's Hospital in Christchurch, before returning to Hanmer. Her letters give a detailed and readable account of nursing life between the closing days of World War II and the immediate post-war years.

Quantity: 13 folder(s).

Access restrictions
No access restrictions
Part of
Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers
Format
13 folder(s)
There are 7 items in total.
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Copyright

Unknown
There are 7 items in this group.
Manuscript

Letters from Joan Oldman to Neil Johnson - Nos 1 - 38

Date: Apr-Nov 1945

From: Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers

Reference: MS-Papers-11840-18

Description: Written from Hanmer Springs where Joan Oldman was serving as a nurse. Quantity: 1 folder(s).

Manuscript

Letters from Joan Oldman to Neil Johnson - Nos 39 - 50

Date: Dec 1945-Jan 1946

From: Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers

Reference: MS-Papers-11840-19

Description: Written from Hanmer Springs where Joan Oldman was serving as a nurse. Quantity: 1 folder(s).

Manuscript

Letters from Neil Johnson - Nos 137 - 159, unnumbered

Date: Jul-Dec 1947

From: Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers

Reference: MS-Papers-11840-16

Description: Letters from Neil Johnson to his fiancee, Joan Oldham, written from Calcutta after his return to the India office of the FAU in July 1947. Gives impressions of India, especially Calcutta, during the Partition crisis, and his work. The last (unnumbered) letters he wrote in December 1947 from Wellington and then from Sumner, Christchurch, after his return to New Zealand. Quantity: 1 folder(s).

Manuscript

Letters from Joan Oldman to Neil Johnson - Nos 51 - 80

Date: Jan-Aug 1946

From: Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers

Reference: MS-Papers-11840-20

Description: Written from Hanmer Springs and then from Sydenham, Christchurch. Quantity: 1 folder(s).

Manuscript

Letters from Joan Oldman to Neil Johnson - Nos 21 - 124

Date: Aug 1946-Jun 1947

From: Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers

Reference: MS-Papers-11840-21

Description: Written from Sydenham, Christchurch. Quantity: 1 folder(s).

Manuscript

Letters from Joan Oldman to Neil Johnson - Nos 125 - 138, unnumbered

Date: Jul 1947-Jan 1948

From: Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers

Reference: MS-Papers-11840-22

Description: Written from Sydenham, Christchurch and then Hanmer. The unnumbered letters were written after Neil Johnson's return to New Zealand. Quantity: 1 folder(s).

Other

Transcription of correspondence between Wreford Neil Johnson and Joan Oldham 1945-1947

Date: Date unknown

From: Johnson, Ralph, 1950- : Papers

Reference: MS-Papers-12319

Description: Typed transcription of letters between Wreford Neil Johnson and Joan Oldham. The date range of the transcribed letters is April 1945- December 1947. The date the transcript was prepared is unknown. A photocopy of page two and page three is included as it includes a missing extract from the original typescript. The pencil annotations throughout the typescript are by a family member who had marked-up the typescript for editing purposes. Title supplied by Library. Quantity: 1 folder(s). Physical Description: Typescript pages with manuscript annotations.