Saturday 16 February 2013

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 30th April 1868

My great great great uncle John Bayliff Bowman lived at Summer Hill, near Monyash in the County of Derby.
 
The Bowman family, who were Quakers, had three farms, One Ash Grange [which John Bayliff Bowman often referred to as O.A.], Cales and Summer Hill [which he usually referred to as S.Hill or S.H.]

JBB's Farm Journal

A Farm Journal continues :~
4 - 1st 4 Mo[nth] harrow[in]g - fine day
5 - 2 Ditto Drill[e]d Kiln close S.H. & Ridge Piece bl[ac]k tartars 
6 - 3 Drill[e]d Winkerley & part Pewet Knobs
7 - 4 Ditto weather har[rowe]d & drill[e]d 3 ac[res] in Watricle
4 - 5 Fine
2 - 6 Ditto little rain in night harrow[in]g took Kitty in basket gig to B[akewe]] & back hogs home from B[akewe]ll
3 - 7 Fine weather W.E.frosty nights & sunny days to 
2 - 13 Fine ditto lambing gone on well many couples
3 - 14 Showery at times W. North
4 - 15 Ditto
5 - 16 Fine Thrash[e]d at Cales & lost 2 sheep with inflam[matio]n 35 E & L in Cales dales 26 D[itt]o Intake
7 - 18 Mare from Nott[ingha]m
2 - 20 Showery W.West to Nott[ingha]m Fine growing weather Q[uarterly] M[eeting] Nott[ingha]m very harmonious
4 - 22 Showery day self home plough[in]g Stone pit close S.H. for corn & seed down Roll[e]d Long close & Barn close etc 35 sheep in Croft to lamb yet
5 - 23 Showery winnow[e]d oats parted ewes 22 ewes to lamb yet left off sitting up
6 - 24 fine day fetch[e]d bones etc from P[arsley] Hay
7 - 25 Showery early then fine tho[ugh] thundery looking - Thrash[e]d last stack at Cales - took 5 q[uarte][s] w[eigh]t Poland oats to Longnor C.Cundy
1 - 26 Fine
2 - 27 Very stormy thunder rain sow[e]d 6 cwt p[e]r ac[re] Stone pit close for corn & seeds
3 - 28 Fine but showery at  times winnow[e]d oats at Cales & took to B[akewell] 339 st[ones] @ 1/1
4 - 29 Fine windy day West drill[e]d Stone pit close twice over 4 [word indecipherable] to ac[re] Poland - Rice meal from P[arsley] Hay 16/- p[e]r sack cotton cake 5£ & 6.5/- in L[iver]pool Dobell & Co
5 - 30 Fine weather but windy very N.W. & cold lead[in]g manure to Watricle for potatoes 

I'm not sure what "35 E & L in Cales dales 26 D[itt]o Intake" on the 16th April means. 'E & L' may well have been my great great grandfather Ebenezer ... and someone ... shooting in Cales Dale but what is the relevance of the '35' and the '26'. We may never know.
  
'C.Cundy' [referred to on the 25th April] could well be Charles Cundy who was a Butcher and farmer of 20 acres according to the 1871 Census Return. 

Sorry about the spacing ~ Blogger is playing up. 

7 comments:

  1. Sounds a very busy time Charlie,I wonder if E& L put 35 sheep in Cales dale and 26 in Intake,I would think they grazed the dale as there wouldn't be so many trees in those days.Ann

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    1. It just occurred to me Ann ~ aren't E & L ewes and lambs ? So I think you're right ...

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  2. A very busy time on the farms!! A 'harrowing' job at times :-))

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  3. I love the script on those old documents, if only people still handwrote like that

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    1. How I wish I had learnt to write properly instead of scrawl ...

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  4. My first guess was Ewes and Lambs but the capitalizing throws us off maybe. When you work hard raising livestock it always seems like a special blessing to birth twins. It is a like a free bonus. I could teach you how to write like that as it is quite easy with a little practice. First get a calligraphy pen then.......... I really like to use my fancy pens for hand-written notes and cheques. Soon hand-written cheques will be out of fashion, but until then I persist.

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