Leicester-Bromley family papers

James and Joyce Leicester set sail from Liverpool, England for America with their young son Robert and James's parents on August 13, 1847. Sailing aboard the Glenmore, they arrived in New York City on September 14, 1847 after a thirty-one day passage. From New York they took a steamer to Albany, and then went on to Rochester where, as James put it, "we thought we had better stay if we could."

James and Joyce had seven children: Robert, William, Hannah, Elizabeth, Charles, Richard, and George. According to the Rochester city directory they first lived on Spring Alley, then in 1850 moved to Reynolds Street (in one of the letters James describes this house), then around 1866 to Smith Street. They also seem to have changed their name to Lester, which was probably easier for Americans to correctly pronounce and spell.

James found work as a pattern-maker and in 1870 went into business with a partner. The firm of Lester & Gillard survived until about 1880, after which James seems to have managed the business himself. Joyce died on October 31, 1874. She was predeceased by daughter Hannah, who died in 1873. After his son William died in 1890, James moved to Plymouth Avenue to live with William's widow Gertrude. James died on November 2, 1904. He was survived, according to his obituary, by three sons: Robert, Charles, and George. None of these sons still lived in Rochester— Robert had moved to Boston, Charles to Chicago, and George to Denver.

When the Leicesters arrived in Rochester they faced the challenges and hardships of starting a life in a new land and eventually realized the American dream of financial success for themselves and their children. Unlike many immigrants to the United States, the Leicesters shared the same cultural background and spoke the same language as most Americans. Nevertheless, they were also strangers who had left their home, much of their family, friends, and security far behind in England. Their letters provide a rare opportunity to share the progress of an immigrant family in becoming Americans, and to glimpse life in Rochester during the mid nineteenth-century.

Other letters in the collection were written by and about Joyce Leicester's brother Thomas Bromley, who brought his family to the United States in 1850 only to have his wife and child die almost immediately in St. Louis from cholera. Shortly thereafter, Thomas went to New Orleans where he too died from a dose of medicine given him by a "botanical doctor" to cure his cholera. One letter written during the Civil War is from the Leicester's son Robert to his Uncle William in England. The letter is a lengthy, vivid account of his life as a soldier with the 14th New York Volunteers who saw action in Fredericksburg and Gettysburg.

James and Joyce had seven children: Robert, William, Hannah, Elizabeth, Charles, Richard, and George. According to the Rochester city directory they first lived on Spring Alley, then in 1850 moved to Reynolds Street (in one of the letters James describes this house), then around 1866 to Smith Street. They also seem to have changed their name to Lester, which was probably easier for Americans to correctly pronounce and spell.James found work as a pattern-maker and in 1870 went into business with a partner. The firm of Lester & Gillard survived until about 1880, after which James seems to have managed the business himself. Joyce died on October 31, 1874. She was predeceased by daughter Hannah, who died in 1873. After his son William died in 1890, James moved to Plymouth Avenue to live with William's widow Gertrude. James died on November 2, 1904. He was survived, according to his obituary, by three sons: Robert, Charles, and George. None of these sons still lived in Rochesterâ€" Robert had moved to Boston, Charles to Chicago, and George to Denver.When the Leicesters arrived in Rochester they faced the challenges and hardships of starting a life in a new land and eventually realized the American dream of financial success for themselves and their children. Unlike many immigrants to the United States, the Leicesters shared the same cultural background and spoke the same language as most Americans. Nevertheless, they were also strangers who had left their home, much of their family, friends, and security far behind in England. Their letters provide a rare opportunity to share the progress of an immigrant family in becoming Americans, and to glimpse life in Rochester during the mid nineteenth-century.Other letters in the collection were written by and about Joyce Leicester's brother Thomas Bromley, who brought his family to the United States in 1850 only to have his wife and child die almost immediately in St. Louis from cholera. Shortly thereafter, Thomas went to New Orleans where he too died from a dose of medicine given him by a "botanical doctor" to cure his cholera. One letter written during the Civil War is from the Leicester's son Robert to his Uncle William in England. The letter is a lengthy, vivid account of his life as a soldier with the 14th New York Volunteers who saw action in Fredericksburg and Gettysburg.Scope and Content Note: The Leicester- Bromley Family Papers consists of 19 letters the Leicesters wrote to their family back in England between 1848 and 1870. Most of the letters are to Joyce's parents, the Bromleys who lived at 24 Dover Street, Preston, Lancashire.Provenance: The letters remained in the family for 130 years, and when in the 1970s a Miss Bromley, perhaps the last living descendant of the Bromley family, died at Heaton Chapel, Stockport, Chesire. She bequeathed them to her neighbor who then gave them to her daughter-in-law, Mavis Darbyshire. Finding the letters to be of great interest, Mavis Darbyshire transcribed them and then decided that they should return to the place of their origin. She wrote to a Rochester newspaper seeking a home for them which the Rush Rhees Library responded to and Ms. Darbyshire donated the letters in 1990.