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Victorian Christmas Cards

Published: 19/11/2015

Flintshire Record Office has produced a stunning set of Victorian Christmas cards for sale. The set of four has been faithfully reproduced from images based on original cards that were found in a book in the Record Office Library, which it’s thought were being used as bookmarks. The book had an inscription on the inside cover, ‘George Lloyd, Old Banks, Shotton, 1901’. Staff checked the 1901 census which revealed that George, then 12, lived in Old Banks with his mother Mary, a farmer, and his three sisters. Cllr Chris Bithell, Cabinet Member for Education, said: “These are a very attractive set of cards with an interesting provenance which gives an additional historical element to them. They will be of interest to those people living in the County now and those with a past association with Flintshire who may be living outside of the County or elsewhere in the world Principal Archivist Claire Harrington, said: “We have made them slightly larger than the originals to give more room to write a greeting but, otherwise, they are a true representation of what a Victorian Christmas card would have looked like.” The set costs £2 and each card also includes two inserts, ‘a potted history of the Victorian Christmas card’ and an explanation of the cards provenance. They can be purchased from The Record Office, Rectory Lane, Hawarden or orders can be placed over the phone on 01244 532364 and can be posted out for a small postage charge.