Friday 23 August 2013

A Farm Journal ~ 1st to the 7th November 1869 ...

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.]

John Bayliff Bowman is fourth from the left in the photo below ...
 
The Bowman family

 A Farm Journal continues :~
 
11 Mo[nth] 1869
 
2 day 1 Showery day Self to Nott[ingha]m met bro[ther] W[illia]m & J.A. all in John's gig to High field farm under W[illia]m Fortieth [sic] 470 ac[res] mostly plough stiffish clay rent asked 23/- p[e]r ac[re] 4 course system - has been overrun with game especially rabbits game let to Haddon* of Nott[ingha]m hosier - House a curious building 4 square & high roof chimneys in stack in centre date 1729 - Goodwin of Gamston - steward a nice man - left with him to ask about the rabbits as I would not take without having the control of them - self ret[urne]d home
 
3 - 2  Fine turnips - 4 pigs to H.Nelson at 8/-
 
4 - 3 Fine S.A. & I to Matlock M[onthly] M[eeting]
 
5 - 4 Very windy stormy day Jos[ep]h Lee came sold 6 barren cows at S.H. 72£ - Tups to theaves
 
6 - 5 Showery cheese fr[om] S.H. to T. Orr Longstone @ 70/- 
 
7 - 6 Fine day emptying Kiln Moss field - Ewes to Tups -
 
 
* Rather than 'Haddon' this may be 'Hadden' ~ Frederick J. Hadden ~ who lived in Nottingham Park [according to the 1861 Census Return] and was a hosier. Apart from his family he had a governess, a footman, a housemaid, a cook, a kitchenmaid and three nurses. Probably the sort of man who would be able to afford to rent the shooting on a farm.  

9 comments:

  1. I have no questions about this batch of entries, but JBB's lack of punctuation led to a 'smile' moment, as I tried to imagine what Showery cheese would look like!!

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    1. Yes, I rather liked the 'showery cheese' ...

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  2. I think some people would have been pleased with a few rabbits,but would probably been accused of poaching if they had caught a few.It would have been better than having the farm overrun with them.Ann

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    1. I don't know if you saw 'Who Do You Think You Are ?' the other day Ann but Gary Lineker's great grandfather was a poacher ... and he went to prison a number of times for his troubles.

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    2. I did see it Charlie it was a really good programme,perhaps that's why thought about it.Life seemed very hard for the family I wonder what happens too them when the breadwinner goes to jail.Ann

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    3. The workhouse ... or handouts from the parish Ann ?

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  3. I too wondered about the showery cheese. My first thought was that there was too much whey in it when it was being made. I have made cheese and that can be annoying, so assumed it was his quaint way to complaining. It means extra work until it is finished and squeezed.

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    1. No,it's just John's way of commenting on the weather and then launching into his entry with no account for punctuation. Any idea what sort of cheese you would have made Karyn ?

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  4. I'd have thought that renting some shooting land that was full of rabbits would be a good thing, not a bad thing as the entry appears to intimate. After all, if there's nothing else to shoot, you could always bag a bunny or two. Maybe rabbit was such a poor man's bag in those days that he didn't want to be seen to be doing so. You have to like the showery cheese. I want some. LOL

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