Writing exercises by Violet Geddes

These pieces of paper are rather strange. They were among family papers with no explanation. The ruler gives the scale of the writing, which is tiny. "FLD" must be Frederick Lewis Dibblee and "VAG" Violet Alice Geddes. They married in 1903, so the date, and Violet's initials, show that this was several years before they were married. At this time, Frederick was a Captain in the Royal Marine Artillery. In 1901, he is described as "A very clever officer & particularly good in cyphering & decyphering code". It seems odd that Frederick was setting Violet writing exercises in such a peremptory manner. It may have been a joke, or a dare, or perhaps connected with his cypher work. The difference of the dates suggests that Frederick sent this to her, so perhaps he was complaining that her writing took up too much room in her correspondence! I am glad to see that while in the first exercise his writing is neater, by the second she manages to take up less room than he does. She did keep these papaers, so they must have meant something to her.

Writing exercise by Violet Geddes

ruler