Series 5 - Donation Letters

This entry contains four letters concerning Richard donating his diaries to the archives. They contain useful supplementary matieral which can be used alongside the diaries themselves.

20th September 1978 - Writing to Mr Jones, we discover in this letter that Richard has unfortunately lost his sight. Other diaries by Richard exist but any relating to his time in the Army after 1940 seem to have been donated to the Imperial War Museum. He seems to have been inspired to donate these after discovering at least one of the poems he wrote is written in a book about Cambridge during the inter-war years by a Fellow of Magdalene.

2nd October 1978 - This is another letter to Mr Jones, which follows on from a meeting Sutton had on the previous Saturday with Mr Jones and Mrs Britten, which to confirm the latter's interest in the diaries. In this letter we discovered that Sutton is married, though the identity of his wife is never stated. However, given he states 'during our lives', we can assume that his wife is possibly Loïs, who becomes his girlfriend during 1940. Sutton explains that references to 'Phillip' and 'Peggy' are actually his brother and sister. 'Edward', of course, is his dog. By this time, Sutton seems to have acquired an office in London. Finally, we get a confirmation that one of Sutton's poems is quoted in the book 'Cambridge Between Two Wars'.

24th August 1982 - This time Sutton is writing to Mrs Brittain, following on from a phone call the previous day. This confirms Sutton's desire to also send the Archives his diary from 1940. The diaries from the other years have already been donated. Sutton expresses a desire that if the Archivist finds them worthless, he destroy them. However, if they are of interest, Sutton notes he can supply some more of the period.

27th September 1982 - This is another letter to Mrs Brittain. Here we learn that Sutton has also given his letters home during his war service overseas to the Imperial War Museum. They have been partly used for a textbook about the Second World War and Sutton himself was interviewed about the background to them. We also learn that Sutton has a daughter, named Rosalind. Sutton asks that Rosalind perhaps be introduced to the College Choir, as she allegedly needs some help socially.