The diary seemingly kept by a senior servant, one entry referring to a return to London ‘on account my master’s illness’ in which he records his journey and stops along the route to London. He provides a detailed account of the Gordon Riots with almost daily entries from June 2 to June 10th. Several entries 1783 reference severe storms and the appearance of the 1783 Great Meteor on August 18: “A ball of fire was seen passing along the air about 1/2 past nine in the evening. It was seen about the same time at Ostend.” Two entries in August and December report the executions of criminals at Newgate Prison including that of the engraver William Wynne Ryland. On October 6th, the author notes that “peace was proclaimed at the usual places in the city, and at Westminster, with the usual solemnity.” On 7 March 1783 he notes that “Sukey & Fanny Green inoculated for the Small Pox.” The bulk of the later entries in the diary, except for the occasional mention of social events, trips, and the occasional extreme weather, focus on the births, baptisms, deaths, and marriages of his social circle and concludes with a series of poems on death, marriage, and conduct of life.
- Title: Diary and commonplace book : manuscript.
- Production: England, 1779 June 15-1816 April 2.
LWL Mss Vol. 283
Acquired April 2023
A journal kept by the farmer Edward Burton in which he records business matters along with accounts of local events around the Leicestershire villages of Hemington and Castle Donington. He records crops sold, laborers’ expenses paid, and the days on which neighbors began their respective harvests. Burton also used the volume as a commonplace book, including notes on remedies, proverbs from printed sources, and lists of authors and scientists, much of the information derived from almanacs of the day.
