Tuesday 16 October 2012

A Farm Journal ~ from the 16th to the 30th April 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.]

In this photo John is fourth from the left. My great great grandparents, Ebenezer and Hannah Bowman, are the third and fourth adults from the right. John and Ebenezer were brothers and their parents are the elderly couple in the middle, Henry and Mary Bowman.

The Bowman family

"A Farm Journal"continues :~
 
3 - 16 Showery Q[uarterly] M[eeting] home at night
 
4 - 17 Fine harrow[in]g N[ethe]r Intake for drilling
 
5 - 18 Little rain but fine har[rowin]g & sow[in]g 3 cwt p[e]r ac[re] bone dust
 
6 - 19 Ditto
 
7 - 20 Very showery all day plough[in]g broke cake & gr[oun]d at Cales & strained the breaker - Very hindering weather for sowing grass grows well lambs come slowly some die of inflam[matio]n Hog dead 
 
1 - 21 Fine
 
2 - 22 D[itt]o B[akewe]ll Fair no cattle sheep very low Hogs selling at 30/- worth the money last latter end - pigs large show & very low good stores at 20/- to 25/- cheese 50/- to 68/- 
 
3 - 22 to 6 - 26 sow[e]d broadcast Far piece & Kiln close S.H. & harrow[e]d in very wet state [Over the top of this entry John Bayliff Bowman had written] Martin Milligan came - 7/6 & meat p[e]r week
 
7 - 27 Very showery & thundery - put 40 hogs in lane yesterday for first time one of Jesse's lads to tend them @ 2/6 p[e]r week - 10 cows on seeds at S.H. began mid of week & all out at Cales - 20 sheep to lamb yet - a fine one dead in Intake -
 
1 - 28 Fine
 
2 - 29 Fine
 
3 - 30- Fine growing day showery SA & I to Heanor  

12 comments:

  1. Dead lambs, dead hog. A farmers life was not always pleasant.

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  2. "strained the breaker" sounds rather painful. Any idea what that is?

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    1. I have no idea unless he had damaged the 'breaker' that broke the cake. Perhaps Ann might have an idea.

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  3. Hi Charlie I think the breaker is the mouldboard which turns the soil over.It must have been hard work walking behind the plough all day.Ann

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    1. That makes sense in the context of JBB's journal entry Ann. Thank you ... I vaguely remember seeing an old edition of Time Team recently when they were discussing the breaker.

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  4. Martin Milligan came - 7/6 & meat p[e]r week... ? Is this someone they were hiring do something and this was his weekly terms?

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    1. I tend to think that is the case. I've just done a search in the Census returns for him but nothing obvious shows up. it will be interesting to see if Martin Milligan shows up again.

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  5. I know that sinking feeling with Spring deaths on the farm. You start with such high hopes. I also remember wondering if it was worth it to raise pigs and some years feeding them cost more that you could get for them at the market.

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    1. I wonder if it was any more pressured in 1867 than it was in say 1967 ?

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