England, Personal Writings, Account Books, Poetry, Recipe Books, and Diaries - International Institute

Account Books
There are numerous household and small business accounts still extant, many still residing in attics blissfully unaware that a researcher is searching for them. Housewives kept track of prices of goods and materials and there were far more ‘home-based’ business enterprises than nowadays.

Poetry
Perhaps an ancestor was a poet, or had poetry written about them? In the Thomson Gale collection online I found an Elegy to Miss Dashwood by Mr. Hammond in the Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics and Literature for the Year 1779 beginning thus: 'O Say, thou dear possessor of my breast, Where’ now my boasted liberty and rest! Where the gay moments which I once have known! O, where that heart I fondly thought my own!'

Recipe Books
Culinary or medicinal recipes were written down; many original collections survive and there is a growing interest in publishing them as family history mementoes. Occasionally one finds them at auctions, for example Local History UK was offering the 1852-1872 recipe book of Mrs. Charles Baker of Tellisford, Somerset containing recipes for Wound Stone, Prince Albert’s Pudding, and To make a curry as told to me by a Hindoo at Kegford September 1867. The recipe book of Diana Astry, who married lawyer Richard Orlebar in 1708 and died in 1716 in Bedfordshire is at the Bedfordshire Record Office. Some examples from it are shown below. Chart: Early 18th Century Recipes - Collected by Diana Orlebar (née Astry), Bedfordshire. The original has no punctuation.

Diaries
Even if your ancestors did not keep diaries, or they haven’t come to light yet, there is plenty of relevant content in those written by contemporaries living in the same area and time period. In addition to the writings left by the upper and middle classes, there are extant diaries made by farmers, agricultural labourers, seamen, factory workers, and household servants and several have been published. Parsons’ diaries are full of parishioners’ names and events, and shipboard diaries of emigrants seem to be plentiful – Andrew Hassam has a bibliography of Australian ones (Sailing to Australia: shipboard diaries by nineteenth-century British emigrants.), and the FHL CD-ROM is useful for those travelling on Mormon ships to North America. Don’t forget estate papers left to archives and university libraries for diaries of contemporaries.

Examples of diaries include:


 *  William Carnsew, gentleman of Cornwall 1576-77 (discovered by A.L. Rowse and used in his classic Tudor Cornwall).
 * John Evelyn, Royalist, gentleman and scholar of London 1641-1706 (edited by Bray).
 *  Samuel Pepys, Secretary of the Admiralty and raconteur of London happenings 1659-1669, including the Plague and the Great Fire as well as many ordinary people (published in many editions).
 *  Daniel Defoe’s Tour is essentially a diary of his journeys throughout Britain as a writer, businessman and government official circa 1688-1724.
 *  James Clegg, Dissenting Minister and doctor in the Peak District in the 18th century (edited by Doe).
 *  Thomas Marchant, farmer and trader of Hurstpierpoint, Sussex kept a diary 1714-1728 now on CD courtesy of the Hurst History Study Group.
 *  Thomas Turner, shopkeeper and churchwarden of East Hoathly, Sussex 1754-1765 (edited by Vaisey).
 *  James Woodforde, parson in Somerset and Norfolk (1758-1802) various editions, for example that edited by Beresford.
 *  James Hirst, weaver of Huddersfield, Yorkshire 1834-1883 (at Huddersfield Central Library).
 * Cornelius Stovin, farmer of Lincolnshire in the 1870s (used by Thirsk).

The chart below shows examples from Parson Woodforde’s diary (with original spelling) giving the everyday happenings of the area.

Chart: Parson Woodforde’s Diary

Information in this Wiki page is excerpted from the online course English: Education,Health and Contemporary Documents offered by The National Institute for Genealogical Studies. To learn more about this course or other courses available from the Institute, see our website. We can be contacted at [mailto:wiki@genealogicalstudies.com wiki@genealogicalstudies.com] We welcome updates and additions to this Wiki page.