WOMEN'S LANGUAGE AND EXPERIENCE, 1500-1940
Women's Diaries and Related Sources

Part 6: Sources from Wiltshire, Somerset and Hampshire Record Office

Women’s Language and Experience, c1500-1940 Women’s Diaries and Related Sources is based on a nationwide trawl of women’s diaries in public libraries, university libraries and county and regional record offices carried out by Dr Amanda Vickery, Consultant Editor.

Part 6 of Women’s Language and Experience, c1500-1940 is based on sources from Wiltshire, Somerset and Hampshire Record Offices. Earlier parts have covered material from Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Suffolk County Record Offices, Birmingham University Library and Birmingham Central Library, the National Library of Scotland and the National Library of Wales and the Essex Record Office.

Part 6 from Wiltshire, Somerset and Hampshire Record Offices includes around one hundred volumes of diaries and journals enabling us to understand the lives of very different women from very different backgrounds and time periods.

Wiltshire Record Office

The Grove family of Ferne was an important Wiltshire family in the nineteenth century and we include several diaries of members of the family.

The diaries of Charlotte Downes (1783-1860) (née Grove) cover a long period of her life, from 1811-1858. She was the daughter of Thomas and Charlotte Grove (1758-1847) and came from a large family of eleven children. She was expected to remain single, as all her sisters married young, but became the wife of the new rector of Bernard St John, Rev Richard Downes, comparatively late in life in her mid 40’s. Her diaries give us a picture of life as a rector’s wife in the mid nineteenth century. She describes walks, visits to friends and church, charity work, books read, plays acted at home, “what the gentlemen did” (fox hunting etc),visits to Weymouth and Salisbury, parlour games, letters written. Many of the diaries contain a list of her accounts and expenses and a list of sermons attended and some have diagrams of places she visited such as Avebury and Silbury.

“Feb 9 1816 Frost continues—My Father & Mother were very merry in the Evening. Miss Burnley’s novel of Svelina entertained them so much….”
relented and they were finally married in 1882 when she was 19. Included are details on her honeymoon in America.

Reading her diaries her life would appear to be a round of luncheons, dinner parties, visits to London and the races, hunting, picnics, balls, dancing lessons and croquet. She travelled abroad considerably on holiday, visiting Paris, Biarritz and Tangier (where she lost her eight year old son in  drowning accident). She also enjoyed shopping at Harrods and Harvey Nicholls, having her hair cut and dining at the House of Commons.

“September 11 1900 Arrived London about 11.30. Went to ? Club to lunch—did some shopping then left for York at 1.20. I arrived there and found maid Anna. Went to Doncaster races….”

Major events of the period are covered such as the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and the end of World War I in 1918. We see the changes taking place in life at the dawn of the twentieth century, her mode of transport changing from carriage to train to motor in 1902. Photography was a fairly new phenomenon  and she describes her children being photographed and attending a photography lecture.

We also include the diary for 1874 of Lady Katharine Grace Grove, (nee O’Grady)
(1847-1879), the wife of Sir Thomas Fraser Grove (1821-1897). Sir Thomas was the MP for South Wiltshire from 1865-1874 and for Wilton from 1885-1892. He supported Gladstone but then disagreed with him over the Irish question. He inherited Ferne in 1858. Lady Grove’s diary includes details on her social activities and on her husband’s political life.

The diary of Anne Elizabeth Spackman of Bradford-on-Avon records her social life, her health, family life and charity work  for the period 1838 and 1841-1844. There is much on dining and entertainment:

“Jan 23 1838 Under Aunt’s protection, Julia and I went to Mr Clark’s. Upwards of 40 were there—Excellent music for dancing the four Mr Brightens being engaged for the evening . Everything in great style the refreshments being served on plates. We reached home a little before three in the morning . Mamma & Mary waited up for us…. In consequence of the inclemency of the weather a collection has been entered into for providing the poor with coal, food & blankets, nearly £200 subscribed….”

The diaries of Elisabeth Georgina Eyre,1831-1838 and 1840 are emotional diaries describing her love for someone she calls “Mr T” whom she felt did not reciprocate her feelings while the diaries of Mrs S Chauncey, 1767-1824 and a member of the Caldwell family for 1779 and 1783 give details on outings, expenses, holidays, health remedies, dining and entertainment. Include in the first are also manuscript letters and poems.

The journals of Charlotte Hobhouse,1831-1846 mainly describe her holidays abroad in Germany and Italy with the journal for 1850 devoted to a holiday in Switzerland. Descriptions of sights visited and her impressions of the people are given. She describes the beggars in Lucca, Italy as “… more than usually tormenting and disgusting. The most loathsome objects  crawled , or were dragged through the streets….”

“10 Feb 1837 Slight rain. We went to see some of our parishioners. The new poor law acts badly with labourers in sickness, they have no wages, nor any remedy in lieu of it. William Crowther very ill with 4 young children. My Birthday 54….”

Another long run of Grove family diaries are those of Lady Agnes Geraldine Lane Grove (b1873) covering 1879-1925. Born Agnes Geraldine Fox-Pitt she married Walter John Grove (1852-1932) who succeeded to the Baronetcy in 1897 on the death of his father. Her diaries describe the busy life of a lady of the aristocracy at the turn of the nineteenth century. She describes her childhood years with visits to the pantomime, German lessons, visits to church and then later falling in love. Her father disapproved of  Walter but he relented and they were finally married in 1882 when she was 19. Included are details on her honeymoon in America.

Reading her diaries her life would appear to be a round of luncheons, dinner parties, visits to London and the races, hunting, picnics, balls, dancing lessons and croquet. She travelled abroad considerably on holiday, visiting Paris, Biarritz and Tangier (where she lost her eight year old son in  drowning accident). She also enjoyed shopping at Harrods and Harvey Nicholls, having her hair cut and dining at the House of Commons.

“September 11 1900 Arrived London about 11.30. Went to ? Club to lunch—did some shopping then left for York at 1.20. I arrived there and found maid Anna. Went to Doncaster races….”

Major events of the period are covered such as the death of Queen Victoria in 1901 and the end of World War I in 1918. We see the changes taking place in life at the dawn of the twentieth century, her mode of transport changing from carriage to train to motor in 1902. Photography was a fairly new phenomenon and she describes her children being photographed and attending a photography lecture.

We also include the diary for 1874 of Lady Katharine Grace Grove, (nee O’Grady)
(1847-1879), the wife of Sir Thomas Fraser Grove (1821-1897). Sir Thomas was the MP for South Wiltshire from 1865-1874 and for Wilton from 1885-1892. He supported Gladstone but then disagreed with him over the Irish question. He inherited Ferne in 1858. Lady Grove’s diary includes details on her social activities and on her husband’s political life.

The diary of Anne Elizabeth Spackman of Bradford-on-Avon records her social life, her health, family life and charity work  for the period 1838 and 1841-1844. There is much on dining and entertainment:

“Jan 23 1838 Under Aunt’s protection, Julia and I went to Mr Clark’s. Upwards of 40 were there—Excellent music for dancing the four Mr Brightens being engaged for the evening . Everything in great style the refreshments being served on plates. We reached home a little before three in the morning . Mamma & Mary waited up for us…. In consequence of the inclemency of the weather a collection has been entered into for providing the poor with coal, food & blankets, nearly £200 subscribed….”

The diaries of Elisabeth Georgina Eyre,1831-1838 and 1840 are emotional diaries describing her love for someone she calls “Mr T” whom she felt did not reciprocate her feelings while the diaries of Mrs S Chauncey, 1767-1824 and a member of the Caldwell family for 1779 and 1783 give details on outings, expenses, holidays, health remedies, dining and entertainment. Include in the first are also manuscript letters and poems.

The journals of Charlotte Hobhouse,1831-1846 mainly describe her holidays abroad in Germany and Italy with the journal for 1850 devoted to a holiday in Switzerland. Descriptions of sights visited and her impressions of the people are given. She describes the beggars in Lucca, Italy as “… more than usually tormenting and disgusting. The most loathsome objects  crawled , or were dragged through the streets….”

Somerset Record Office

Diaries from the Somerset Record Office cover a wide variety of subjects and time periods. Included is a long run of farm diaries and account books of Mrs Frances Hamilton, née Coles of Bishops Lydeard, covering the years 1755-1802. These diaries provide us with an insight into how a farm was run in the mid to late eighteenth century, the expenses incurred, the work of the farm hands and of the labourers in the stone quarry belonging to the farm. Many of the farm diaries include a detailed index to the contents eg bacon, barley, Daniel Joseph, potatoes etc. Some of the diaries are organised by subject and contain information on pigs, poultry, barley, wheat, clover seed, reed, wood, cider etc. The Quarry account book gives details on purchasers of the stone and its destination.

Farm and personal expenses are listed: “plowboys” wages; poor tax, land tax, windows tax; repairing hedges; haymaking; the dog doctor; washing her clothes, dressing her hair; a chaise to Taunton; a book of Milton poems; an almanack for the kitchen and items needed for the farm such as a whip for a wagon, red paint, a wheelbarrow, straw, bricks, a wagonload of coal, candles, haymakers’ gloves. The lists also include food giving us an idea of the cuisine of a farm kitchen of this period—lobster, crab, oatmeal, tea for the servants, almonds, lemons, lamb, mustard, peppers, sugar, salt, muffins, bread and sausages
The work on the farm is described with information on planting, water problems, sales of milk and butter. Inventory lists cover wines and spirits and clothing. An interesting additional note gives a list of horses supplied by the farm to the cavalry in 1797 and contributions sent to the cloaking of the Volunteer regiment.
In contrast the early nineteenth century diaries of Elizabeth Ernst (d 1875) and of her husband Thomas Henry Ernst of Westcombe in Batcombe (1774-1855) describe the life of a couple able to travel widely all over the country from 1813-1843 and are full of vivid descriptions of people they met, scenery and places. They not only travelled all over the South, the Midlands, the Lake District, Scotland and Wales but also extensively in Europe, visiting France, Switzerland, Germany, Holland and Belgium. The following extract is taken from a trip to Liverpool in 1816:

“27 8 & 9 July - at Liverpool. We are close to the Exchange - a fine building forming a square behind with a bronze statue of Nelson…. Walked to the docks where I was quite astonished  with their extent and the quantity of shipping they contain. Duke’s Dock built by the executors of the late Duke of Bridgwater is a handsome building  & a grand undertaking for one individual. The King’s Dock is on a much larger scale but they & the old docks are as nothing compared to the new dock higher up which is a most stupendous work & seems to be going on very briskly—hundreds of people being employed there ….”

The diary of Julia Trevelyan, daughter of Walter and Charlotte Trevelyan, describes a visit with her mother to Paris and France in 1820. Also included are miscellaneous family papers.

The three small diaries of Mrs Day of Hinton House for the years 1827, 1835 and 1840 contain short but interesting entries relating to her personal and social life:

“ walked to Bath”, “busy in the garden”, “rode on a donkey before breakfast”, “sent a jar of apricot jam to Mrs Martin”, “laid the first stone of the new school room”.

Also included are a list of letters sent and received and her accounts.

The diary of Annabella Burridge for the years 1862-1867 also contain brief but informative entries.

“Thurs 9 Oct Dr Bridge came twice - I took the children to the dairy at Taunton - went with Florence to the gymnasium to see Miss Evans about George going to her school….”

We also include two sets of correspondence between husband and wife, that of Hester Duckworth and her husband covering all manner of topics for the period 1828-1835 and that of Mary Clarke for the years 1675-1696 to her husband Edward, Member of the House of Commons. The Clarke correspondence gives a great deal of news on local affairs which she discussed regularly with her husband. The letters also cover personal matters such as illness and the behaviour of her children.

“Sept 1694 I am not a little concerned to heare by your last that Wards distemper proves the small pox, which I learnd from the first account you Gave me of his illness, which I can’t but have very mallancoly aprehentions and feares off for him… I should be glad to know what is become of Jenny Turner and the cancer in her brest….”

There is also good material on household affairs which is a good source for those interested in consumer culture in the seventeenth century.

Hampshire Record Office

We include a long run of diaries of Lady Joanna Maria Bonham-Carter (1791-1884) covering the period 1802-1860. Lady Joanna was the daughter of William Smith, M P for Norwich and married John Bonham-Carter, M P for Portsmouth, 1812-1838. She lived in Kent and was a friend of the Darwins. The diaries follow her life from a teenager right through till middle age. Expenses are listed and much detail is given on her social life - dinner dates, soirées, walks, rides, visits to local places of interest and attendance at lectures such as one given by Davey. Much of her time is spent in London and visits to Clapham, Hendon and Regent’s Park are described. Many of the diares are written in French.

The diaries and journals to be found in Part 6 of Women’s Language and Experience give us an insight into the thoughts and lives of women from very varied backgrounds. These materials range from the seventeenth century through to the modern era and provide a rich resource for scholars of many disciplines including English, History, Politics, Sociology and Gender Studies.