{"id":1286,"date":"2020-03-09T09:09:33","date_gmt":"2020-03-09T09:09:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=1286"},"modified":"2020-12-18T14:26:07","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T14:26:07","slug":"the-diary-of-john-foss-march-1851","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2020\/03\/09\/the-diary-of-john-foss-march-1851\/","title":{"rendered":"The Diary of John Foss: March 1851"},"content":{"rendered":"

We are sharing a monthly look at the farm diary of John Foss, written from his dairy farm in Kingston Russell in 1851.<\/p>\n

March 1851<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In March, the weather starts cold, but soon gives way to rain and mild temperatures, with some stormy days at the end of the month. The farm begins to plant and sow crops such as potatoes and carrots.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Winter sniffles<\/u><\/h3>\n

The cold weather seems to be getting to the Fosses. On Monday 3rd<\/sup>, the whole family is seemingly unwell:<\/p>\n

\u201cEmma very ill in bed with a raish about her, Susey not very well, Fanny a bad cold, Wm the tooth\u2026 Cooper not well bad cold, thankful to day I am well\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unfortunately, John\u2019s luck doesn\u2019t last, as by the next day he writes: \u201cI have a very bad finger\u201d. <\/em>Emma and Susan are still unwell, and their servant Cooper has pain in his stomach\u201d<\/em>. John continues to mention his finger for the next few days (perhaps as a sympathy ploy?) until Thursday, when \u201cEmma and Susan and my finger is better\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

Unfortunate accidents<\/u><\/h3>\n

On the 8th<\/sup>, John hears of his brother Samuel\u2019s \u201csad accident\u201d<\/em> \u2013 he fell whilst carrying a \u201cbag of flower\u201d<\/em> for a neighbour and broke his knee cap. The next day John heads down to Coryates, just outside Portisham, to see Samuel:<\/p>\n

\u201cfound him in bed very ill his legs very much bruised and and swoln and his right knee dreadfully hurt\u201d. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Samuel seems calm about his injuries, but John has a more pessimistic view: \u201cI hope it will do well but fearing he will be a cripple\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Some good news comes on Friday 21st<\/sup>, when John\u2019s brother-in-law James Vine called into Pitcombe from Coryates: \u201cSamuel is much better going on very well\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

Local drama<\/u><\/h3>\n

Much like any community, the people of rural Dorset loved a gossip. It seems that a local lady, Mrs Isaac, has opinions about the quality of the Fosses meat, reportedly telling a neighbour that \u201cthey Kill nothing but what the butcher would not bye <\/em>[sic] and very young\u201d<\/em>. John is of the opinion that \u201cMrs Isaac have busyed herself rather too much for my liking\u201d <\/em>Indeed, he writes that<\/span> \u201cshe has tried to Poisoned peoples minds towards us\u201d<\/em> and she \u201c<\/span>advised people to be aware of buying our Butter because it was not <\/em>[weighed]<\/span>\u201d<\/em>! John finishes his day by writing: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Cannot think she is one to be depended on for just dealings because she is possessed of so bad \u2026 and wicked mind towards us.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

More from the \u201cMrs Litchfield affair\u201d<\/em><\/u><\/h3>\n

Following on from last month\u2019s saga<\/a>, Mrs Litchfield returns from London on the 7pm train on Saturday the 22nd<\/sup>. John receives a letter letting him know of her plans the day before, and writes: \u201c[she] want me to stay at Dorchester for her \u2026 don\u2019t know what to do to stay so late\u201d <\/em>\u2013 perhaps he killed some time at the pub?<\/p>\n

Mrs Litchfield brings word that Mr Litchfield may not be returning from London for three months, but when John takes her to the station at the end of the month he writes that \u201cMr L. do not think of returning again\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Interested in learning more about John Foss? Explore the other months of his 1851 from the list below:<\/p>\n

January 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

February 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

March 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

April 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

May 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

June 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

July 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

August 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

September 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

October 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

November 1851<\/a><\/p>\n

December 1851<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are sharing a monthly look at the farm diary of John Foss, written from his dairy farm in Kingston Russell in 1851. March 1851 In March, the weather starts cold, but soon gives way to rain and mild temperatures, with some stormy days at the end of the month. The farm begins to plant… Read more The Diary of John Foss: March 1851<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[82,124,123],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1286"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2115,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1286\/revisions\/2115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}