We are sharing a monthly look at the farm diary of John Foss, written from his dairy farm in Kingston Russell in 1851.
August 1851
August in 1851 is “fine dry & warm”, with “grand weather for the harvest”. The hot weather meant that the milk in the dairy was regularly souring, and John spends much time churning to combat this. Some stormy weather rolls in towards the end of the month, and on the 29th John wrote:
“about 10 the wind blows very high Indeed & a very heavy storm of rain followed. A bout 1 oclock hail fell rather awfull”
The hail lasted half an hour and forced all the cows into hiding!
Support for Ireland
John and his family attend church every Sunday, sometimes travelling to other nearby villages for secondary sermons in the afternoon. Occasionally, John will record what texts were read in the sermon. On the 17th this month, John writes that they heard from a Mr Walch
“a Beautifull Sermon in aid of the Irish Society of London”
Another gentleman, Mr Templer, gave “a very affecting sermon” on the same topic that afternoon, and a collection was taken at the door afterwards.
The Irish Society was set up in the 17th century to facilitate the plantation of Ulster in County Londonderry. It soon evolved into a charitable organisation which worked for the benefit of the Irish community. It is likely that these sermons related to the Great Famine, which began in 1845 and caused extreme poverty and loss of life in Ireland throughout the remainder of the 19th century. In the 1851, Dublin-born Lundy Foot is recorded as the Rector in Long Bredy – perhaps this is how the Society came to speak at a rural Dorset church?
Renting the Dairy
On the 23rd, John “paid Mr Symes the Qts Rent for my dairy £118 15s”. According to The National Archives’ currency converter, this amounts to approximately £9,500 – enough to buy seven horses; 22 cows; or to pay a skilled tradesman for 593 days. The dairy was certainly a considerable size!
Summer Ailments
It seems that nearly all the members of the household are unwell at some point this month. Early in August, both Rachel and the farmhand Cooper are badly affected by headaches, possibly as a result of the hot weather. Later, William has a bad thumb, and John has “a rising” in his arm, meaning he cannot milk. As a result, William is sent out to ask the local laundress, Sarah Woodsford, if she can come to help at the farm. Towards the end of the month, William and Susan have “Hooping Cough”, and Rachel spends much of her time caring for 6-year-old Susey, who seems to have a particularly bad case.
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Interested in learning more about John Foss? Explore the other months of his 1851 from the list below:
Another interesting selection. I feel there must be people out there who would very much like to read these blogs particularly New Zealand where one of John’s sons (had to be yet another Samuel Foss) was head hunted to be the manager of the Taratahi Dairy Company.
Thank-you Roger, we are glad you are enjoying these blogs! If you know of people who may be interested, you are welcome to share the posts with others!
I have sent a string to a contact in NZ who knows about the Samuel Foss, s/o John who went to NZ as a manager of a dairy in 1882. Hope it engenders some further interest.
interesting will get in touch with the Foss in Sydney and get back to you thanks! he contacted me the other day!
am researchong the Foss family who came to NZ
I would like to be able to get in touch to share common interests but appear unable to do so despite having given permission to pass on my email address. Something odd about data protection legislation!