The visit to Eastbourne in the summer of 1881 was undertaken in the hope of bringing some relief to his wife Jenny, who had been diagnosed with cancer. The couple stayed there from 25 June to 20 July 1881, and Jenny died in London in the autumn of the same year.



Friedrich Engels to Karl Marx, 7 July 1881:

I hear that the sea air has not yet had the expected effect on your wife; that sometimes happens in the early days; it can and hopefully will come.