Wednesday 29 August 2012

A Farm Journal ~ from the 1st to the 16th January 1867

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.]
"A Farm Journal" continues :~
3 day - 1st of 1st Mo[nth] 1867 - Fine bright - frosty day gr[oun]d co[vere]d with snow 3 in[ches] - busy with the cattle & sheep - put ewes into moss field & gave turnips & hay - hogs into old meadow at Cales hay & turnips
4 - 2 Beautiful day frosty M[onthly] M[eeting] at B[akewell] - small self walked down & back
5 - 3 ditto - Thrash[e]d at Cales
6 - 4 dried oats & winnow[e]d - Ditto weather tied 11 more Irish
7 - 5 ground the oats into mung & meal windy & more like a change
1st day - 6 Fine frosty day
2 - 7 Wet morn[in]g - fair aft[ernoo]n - B[akewe]ll market & Club dinner I attended & rec[eive]d 1st prize for Swedes £2 
3 - 8 & 4 Fine & frosty
5 Ditto Mrs J went to B[akewe]ll with butler & Loui & Polly & on to Ashford & home - took mother 6 hens - W[illia]m & I to Hurdlow - Chalton [?] & home bo[ugh]t cow at Hurdlow
6 - 11 Thrash[e]d at Cales 3 little stacks Fine day
7 - 12 Snowy day bo[ugh]t 3 sturks & cow 33 10/- of S. Andrews 2 Heifers 24 5/- Mark Critchlow - cow of J.D.Wheeldon 16 10/- & W[illia]m of Hurdlow - sent all down to W[illia]ms at Middleton - took ewes down to Old Mans Green gave hay & turnips - tied 7 Irish at Breck Cote - 4 remain out
1st 13 Fine & frosty - W[illia]m & family at Meeting
2 - 14 Ditto - stack in S.H. oats to Cales & sheep cratches - 
3 & 4 winnow[e]d oats cales drying 


Just so you can put a face to the name [but remembering this is him as an older man] here is William Bowman and his wife, Elizabeth ...


In 1867 William would have been  41 or so. In the photo above he would have been in his seventies. In later years he described himself as a Retired Lead Miner/Engineer.

12 comments:

  1. What a great photo,they look a lovely couple.

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  2. They do don't they and they were together over 60 years. There's a newspaper article I have somewhere which I will have to try and find and produce on here.

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  3. I also love that photograph. You can feel their spirit ... and it is lovely.

    On an aside, Charlie, I might have managed to fix the setting for the comments on my blog. Could you try leaving another comment, to see if you can do it easily? Thanks so much for pointing it out to me.

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    1. They look as though they were perfectly contented. As for comments on your blog, I believe everyhting is now fine Pet.

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  4. I really enjoy reading this journal. It is a great piece of history!

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    1. Glad you enjoy it Chuck. I;m going to try and spped it up slightly !

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  5. In case you don't get back to my blog entry reply, thank you for testing out the comment feature, Charlie. I had no idea that I had made it difficult for folks!

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    1. I did the same thing ~ it was Mitch who pointed it out to me.

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  6. Elizabeth looks like such a sweetheart. On the 5th it sounds like he traded 6 hens for a cow....like a modern Jack in the Beanstalk, but I realize that he was really just killing '2 birds with one stone' during a trek. I used to think that only poor folk fed their animals turnips. Turns out it was very common and nutritious too. I love turnips myself. Actually one of my favourite breakfasts is smashed turnips and fried oysters. It makes my family run outside.

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    1. They look a very kind and considerate couple. As for the 5th I'm not sure what you mean ~ on the 5th he "ground the oats into mung & meal windy & more like a change" ... I quite like turnips too ... mashed up with potatoes !

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  7. Sometimes I just need to get rid of everyone and have some time to myself....hee hee....but I really eat that as a treat a few times a year, usually in the fall. I am feeling a bit more comfortable here at Blogger but still don't know my address to post back on Multiply so I can move on. How did you find yours?

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  8. If I click on the heading of my post it will then have just the particular bog on the page. I then copy the address at the top and then include it in a note on Multiply. I hope this does the trick for you.

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