It’s that time of year when we’re all writing lists of some kind or another. Whether it’s scribbled on a piece of paper, typed on to a mobile phone or sent up the chimney there will be lists everywhere.
There will be: –
- Christmas cards to send.
- What we want from Santa.
- What they want from Santa.
- Food and drink to buy for the festive period.
We found quite a few lists in the archives
PE-BRP/CH: Bradford Peverell Parish Records
Traditionally Christmas is also a time for giving to charity. In Bradford Peverell some of the poor of the parish would receive a blanket at Christmas. However, they were only entitled to one every other year. The funds for this came from the Thistlethwayte Charity set up by the Reverend John Thistlethwayte, rector of Bradford Peverell from 1700 – 1721. In his will he bequeathed the sum of £2.10s to be given annually to the poor of the parish. This is approximately £300 in today’s money.
It appears that in 1850 women and children also benefited from the charity. Mrs Bartlett and Mrs Larkham received a petticoat and one lucky boy, a pair of shoes.
D-BKL: Bankes of Kingston Lacy
The bigger the household the bigger the list it seems. At Kingston Lacy Henrietta Bankes had a lot to think about.
All those plum puddings…
…and all those servants to buy for in 1902!
D-1864: Joan Sluman archive
Joan was very organised with her Christmas card lists. One of her notebooks reveal who she sent cards to, from 1955 up until 1992. This little Memo book is full of all sorts of lists and handy household hints. She also makes a note of people she didn’t get cards from and, in some cases, why.
Her present list shows that slippers and socks were a firm favourite then as now, but it’s difficult not to feel a little sorry for Daphne who is getting a ‘coal glove’!
Thanks to her neighbour, Dr Glanville J. Davies, we have a small biography of Joan and her husband Tom, otherwise we would know very little about them.
‘She sometimes said that after her death there would be no one to mourn for her. Her friends did, but when one considers her surviving family members, she was right. There seemed to be no contact with Tom’s family, and very little with hers.’
Joan enlisted with the Women’s Auxillary Air Force in 1940, and was posted to Gibraltar where she met her husband he met her husband Tom. They eventually moved to Weymouth where she became involved in local, amateur dramatics and Tom taught woodwork in secondary schools, including Ferndown and Bovington.
Dr Davies reveals,
‘she was always extremely careful about spending money, and she literally counted every penny. […] In 1995 I was asked to help her open a tin. I went to her house only to discover that it was a rusted tin dating from 1940 which contained chocolate. I failed to open it, […] Joan, hours later managed to prise off the lid, and ate the chocolate, even though she admitted it didn’t taste very nice! She certainly wasn’t going to waste it.’
D-PPY: Poole Pottery
Finally, when we are all having to tighten our belts this winter, we find an illustration from the Poole Pottery archive. ‘An acceptable Christmas or wedding gift?’ This caption is printed underneath the, ‘Carter, Stabler and Adams Ltd., Potters:Poole:Dorset label.’
Wishing everyone a warm and happy Christmas from all the team at Dorset History Centre and try not to lose your lists!