The Florence Patton FitzGerald papers consist mainly of letters she wrote to her parents from Europe, 1920-1921, and letters received by her from a Mrs. Mabel Finch (later Mrs. Anthony Gaul), Surrey, England, from 1938 to 1952, with some additional letters written by other persons and related enclosures. A small amount of material from other family members is also included: the record book of Captain William FitzGerald's bark Red, White and Blue (1869), shipping receipts of a group called the Milwaukee Relief Committee (1871-1872), letters about Mr. FitzGerald as inspector of vessels at Milwaukee (1887, 1889, 1898), a typescript description of a lake trip taken by Captain FitzGerald and a companion in 1908, and post cards sent by W. Norman FitzGerald, Jr., to his mother in 1917.
The 1920-1921 correspondence includes lengthy accounts of Miss Patton's trip to England, France, the Low Countries and Switzerland, with the great bulk of the material originating from France. She describes scenery, historic buildings, cultural events, fashion (often illustrating her comments with sketches), battlefields, family affairs, and the reconstruction work of the C.A.R.D. Also included are some letters from Miss Patton's aunt, Mrs. Humphries, some letters from Mr. Patton while still in Europe and several other scattered pieces of correspondence.
The 1938-1952 correspondence from Mrs. Mabel Finch (later Mrs. Anthony Gaul) to Mrs. FitzGerald details the life of an upper class English family in World War II and the difficult post-war economic conditions. Subjects constantly discussed include German bombing raids, employment, war news, and the food parcels Mrs. FitzGerald is sending from America. After Mrs. Finch's brother, Royal Air Force Flight Lieutenant Norman Shuttleworth, was shot down over Germany in 1941, the letters contain much information about British P.O.W.s in general and Lt. Shuttleworth in particular. The correspondence includes three letters from Lt. Shuttleworth to the FitzGeralds (Box 2, folder 17), a letter from his parents (September 9, 1942) and a letter from a released fellow prisoner about his condition (November 28, 1944). Post-war subjects include food shortages, the Labour government, travel and family affairs.
A single letter from Sadie Harris, May 6, 1942, describing the destruction of American shipping by German submarines off the Florida coast, is included with the correspondence.
