We are sharing a monthly look at the farm diary of John Foss, written from his dairy farm in Kingston Russell in 1851.
September 1851
“A very dry scorching day” best described September in 1851. Hardly any rain falls until the end of the month, causing the potato crops to wilt and the cow’s milk to wane. As usual, John spends much of his time churning butter to sell at the Saturday market. He also begins to dig up the potatoes: “a fair crop, not many rotted”, and to harvest apples for Cider.
New family members
On 15 September John’s nephew, also called John, visits the dairy with news: His mother gave birth to a son on Sunday morning. John doesn’t record any more information, but we can check our parish records to find out more. Looking on Ancestry, we can see that a Frank Foss, son of Samuel and Thirza, was baptised on 12 October 1851 in Portesham!
Meetings at the School Room
One evening, John, along with Rachel and his two daughters Fanny & Emma, attend “the Missony meeting in the Evening at Longbridy School room”. John writes that it was “a very large meeting Indeed… most excelent”, with many speakers taking the floor over the evening, one of whom have travelled from London.
The night ends quite late, half past ten, and
“Mrs Taylor & Miss Richards from Winterbourne had to walk home very late for them by their selves”.
The Great Exhibition
In 1851, The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations took place at Hyde Park. It ran from May to October, and was housed in the Crystal Palace, a monumental iron and glass structure built specifically for the occasion. Visitors travelled from around the world to see the exhibits on display, and humble farmers in Dorset were no exception. John’s daughter Fanny heads up to the capital at the beginning of the month, whilst his son Samuel joins the rector and a group of boys from the village to travel up mid-September.
Indeed, John himself sets off for London on the last day of September, with his son William and another local boy, James Read. After an early start,
“Cooper drove us to the Station in very good time … arrived at London about 5 in the Evening”.
Will John have anything to say about the Great Exhibition? Find out next time!
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Interested in learning more about John Foss? Explore the other months of his 1851 from the list below:
I trust that Adelee is enjoying these blogs as much as I am. Hopefully she has some response from ‘downunder’. If she would like to share Foss details , the Dorset team will give her my email address IF she requests it.
Excellent presentation and the months do not pass quickly enough for a further taste. However there are some other very interesting items being covered in between. Thank you Dorset Team.