Wilmot, Mitford Moore Winchester (Sergeant b.1874 - d.1949)

Collection relating to the First World War service of 29667 Sergeant Mitford Moore Winchester Wilmot, 12th Field Artillery Brigade, First World War, France, 1918-1919.

The collection consists of a series of letters, written from Sergeant Wilmot to a young woman in London, Miss Meriel Wilmot. The letters are dated between November 1918 and April 1920 .

The first letter is written just after the Armistice in 1918. Having come across her name and address by coincidence, Sergeant Wilmot writes to 18 year old Meriel Wilmot, the youngest child of Francis Edmund William Wilmot (who was the grandson of Sir Robert Wilmot the 3rd Baronet of Osmanton) and Katherine Norbury to establish if they are related. He explains that his own father left England for Ceylon and later Australia as a young man, and Sergeant Wilmot hopes to learn something of his extended family in England.

The collection of letters are one directional from Wilmot to Miss Meriel, but her responses reveal that she has lost three brothers in the Great War. Wilmot himself explains that he sold his farm in order to go to war, and will have to start 'all over again' once he gets home to Australia. A letter written from France on 26 January 1919 describes heavy snow and celebration dances held to raise money for needy French children before the Brigade is broken up. There has been discussion of a family crest; Miss Meriel has enclosed a drawing of the family crest which Sergeant Wilmot has sent on to his mother to identify.

In April 1919 Wilmot requests permission to call on Miss Meriel's family when he reaches England. Clearly he does, and it appears that he and Miss Meriel are seventh cousins once removed. Sergeant Wilmot's last letter from England, on 15 June 1919, is written from Hurdcott Camp as he prepares to board a ship for Australia.
The next letter from Wilmot to Miss Meriel is written from 'Geelingela' farm, Victoria, dated 12 April 1920. Wilmot records that he is about to be married, and that he has purchased a piano. The last letter from Wilmot to Miss Meriel is dated 12 July 1922 and begins with 'Ma chere cousine'. He tells his distant English cousin of the newest arrival to the family; a daughter who he has named Meriel Antoinette. Enclosed in the letter is a photograph of his wife Beatrice in a flower garden at their home in country Victoria.

The final letter in the collection is addressed to [Australian] Meriel (Sergeant Wilmot's daughter; later Lady Meriel Wright) in 1951. The letter is from Miss [English] Meriel's sister-in-law Marjorie. She writes that her own husband Edward was one of Miss Meriel's brothers; one who was not killed in the Great War. Marjorie explains that she now lives in the very same house as the one that [Australian] Meriel's father Sergeant Wilmot stayed in when he came to meet his extended family after the war. The 'Miss Meriel' who wrote to Wilmot during the war is now Mrs Diamant. Marjorie's letter is full of family news, generosity, and an invitation for her distant Australian relative to stay.