Letter lost in 1916 delivered in London after 100 years

Envelope reportedly has stamp bearing George V’s head

(Mark 1333/YouTube)

A letter written and sent in February 1916 arrived at a flat in south London after more than 100 years, surprising the residence’s current owner.

The envelope reportedly has a stamp bearing George V’s head. It arrived at a flat on Hamlet Road, Crystal Palace, in 2021.

The post was addressed to Katie Marsh, who was married to stamp dealer Oswald Marsh and was sent by her friend Christabel Mennell, according to research by Stephen Oxford, the editor of a local history magazine, The Norwood Review.

“My dear Katie, will you lend me your aid – I am feeling quite ashamed of myself after saying what I did at the circle,” the letter reads.

In an interview with the BBC, the current owner of the Crystal Palace flat, Finlay Glen, said: “We were obviously pretty surprised and mystified as to how it could have been sat around for more than 100 years.”

Royal Mail also issued a statement about the letter saying that they’re “uncertain what happened in this instance”.

“We appreciate that people will be intrigued by the history of this letter from 1916, but we have no further information on what might have happened,” a spokesperson said.

Oxford added: “It’s very unusual and actually quite exciting in terms of giving us a lead into local history and people who lived in Norwood, which was a very popular place for the upper middle classes in the late 1800s.

“Crystal Palace generated a huge influx of very wealthy people and so to find out about someone who moved to the area for possibly that very reason is absolutely fascinating.”