This affectionate letter to Elizabeth Frances Stuart Brown was written by Lady Lithgow, wife of the Clydeside shipbuilding magnate Lord Lithgow, on headed notepaper, on which the telephone number and postal address were printed in capitals.

TELEPHONE LANGBANK 227. 27th April 1943. GLEDDOCH HOUSE       LANGBANK             RENFREWSHIRE. Dear Frances,                 Thank you so much for your kind little letter. It was a great pleasure to have you at Ormsary from first to last both you and Miss Rainey & I am very, very glad you were happy there, for the first year you saw little of your parents, which was hard & if the sweetness of the countryside was a pleasure to you, that would make up a little for what you lost.     I missed you when you left & will always think of you as a little niece, for we were all one family for nearly three years.     I am sure you will be very happy at school & I think you will enjoy the good literature lessons there & the studio.     You must try to draw & paint a lot & do not be put off by a feeling that what you do does not please you. Art is a constant striving & climbing with some slipping back, but you will make progress because you really have it & can use your eyes & the more you use them & try to draw or paint what you see, the more you will enjoy the use of them & see lovely & interesting things in the dullest places.     I hope you will come & play with Ann before you leave.      With much love                                Yours affectionately Gwen Lithgow

Lady Lithgow to Elizabeth Frances Stuart Brown