{"id":1655,"date":"2020-06-19T08:30:53","date_gmt":"2020-06-19T08:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=1655"},"modified":"2020-12-18T14:27:10","modified_gmt":"2020-12-18T14:27:10","slug":"the-diary-of-john-foss-june-1851","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2020\/06\/19\/the-diary-of-john-foss-june-1851\/","title":{"rendered":"The Diary of John Foss: June 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.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

June<\/span><\/b>\u00a01851<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

\u00a0<\/span>June\u00a0<\/span>start<\/span>s\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>very cold for the season<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>with storms and strong winds<\/span>, but soon warms up to be fine and hot.\u00a0<\/span>The farm is continuing to focus on churning and potatoes,\u00a0<\/span>and John has started producing cheese.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
D-DPA\/1\/BBK\/237<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Cross county trips<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

For most of June,\u00a0<\/span>John\u2019s wife Rachel\u00a0<\/span>is away from the farm, visiting\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>the old Mistress<\/span><\/i>\u201d in\u00a0<\/span>Bristol<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and her home county\u00a0<\/span>Monmouthshire.\u00a0<\/span>John takes\u00a0<\/span>Rachel and\u00a0<\/span>his<\/span>\u00a0cousin Ann Crofts\u00a0<\/span>to Bridport\u00a0<\/span>on<\/span>\u00a0the 3<\/span>rd<\/span>\u00a0June,\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>to be ready … to start to\u00a0<\/span><\/i>morrowing<\/span><\/i>\u00a0morning for Bristol<\/span><\/i>“.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

He writes a letter the next day, but doesn\u2019t receive a reply until\u00a0<\/span>Monday<\/span>\u00a09<\/span>th<\/span>: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>Had a letter from Mrs\u00a0<\/span><\/i>to day<\/span><\/i>\u00a0wrote it Thursday she arrived safe at Bris<\/span><\/i>t<\/span><\/i>ol Wednesday foun<\/span><\/i>d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0the old Mistress quite well very glad to see her<\/span><\/i>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He immediately replied, and they exchange a handful of letters over the month.\u00a0<\/span>Whilst he doesn\u2019t explicitly say as much, John clearly missed Rachel. He regularly wrote \u201c<\/span>no Letter from\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Mrs<\/span><\/i>\u00a0this day \u2013 I expected one to day<\/span><\/i>\u201d,\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0\u201c<\/span>very much disappointed in not having a letter from Mrs<\/span><\/i>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On the 24<\/span>th<\/span>, John\u00a0<\/span>receives a letter that Mrs Foss is on her way home, and the next day he\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>went to Bridport to meet Mrs & to bring her home<\/span><\/i>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whilst\u00a0<\/span>Rachel was<\/span>\u00a0away, her niece Mary-Ann Charles visit<\/span>ed<\/span>\u00a0from Maiden Newton. Mary-Ann was \u201c<\/span>disappointed in not seeing her aunt<\/span><\/i>\u201d but<\/span>\u00a0visits again once Rachel has returned: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>she came about 11\u00a0glad\u00a0to see her aunt & aunt glad to see her staid till 7\u00a0<\/span><\/i>oclock<\/span><\/i>\u201d.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Friendly societies<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

On the\u00a0<\/span>10<\/span>th<\/span>, John attended the\u00a0<\/span>\u201c<\/span>F<\/span><\/i>riendly\u00a0<\/span><\/i>S<\/span><\/i>ociety<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Clubb<\/span><\/i>\u201d meeting at\u00a0<\/span>Bridehead<\/span>\u00a0House<\/span>, followed by dinner.\u00a0<\/span>Friendly societies were local organisations which offered\u00a0<\/span>subscribed workers insurance again sickness or injury.\u00a0<\/span>It is likely that John was a part of the\u00a0<\/span>Litton Cheney Friendly Society, which was established in 1844<\/span>. The society ran for\u00a0<\/span>over 100 years, before it\u00a0<\/span>dissolved in 1948 following the establishment of the National Health Service.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A\u00a0<\/span>Children\u2019s Feast<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On the last day\u00a0<\/span>of the month, John and the family attend a tea party<\/span>, or \u201c<\/span>childrens<\/span><\/i>\u00a0feast<\/span><\/i>\u201d,<\/span>\u00a0at the Rectory in Longbredy.\u00a0<\/span>They have \u201c<\/span>tea & plum pudding<\/span><\/i>\u201d with all the children<\/span>, including John nephew \u201c<\/span>Little Samuel\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Cleall<\/span><\/i>\u201d from\u00a0<\/span>Vearse<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ever the worker, John\u00a0<\/span>goes<\/span>\u00a0\u201c<\/span>to skim the milk<\/span><\/i>\u201d on their return home, \u201c<\/span>or it will be sour before mornin<\/span><\/i>g<\/span><\/i>\u201d!<\/span><\/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.\u00a0\u00a0 June\u00a01851\u00a0 \u00a0June\u00a0starts\u00a0\u201cvery cold for the season\u201d\u00a0with storms and strong winds, but soon warms up to be fine and hot.\u00a0The farm is continuing to focus on churning and potatoes,\u00a0and John has started producing… Read more The Diary of John Foss: June 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":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655"}],"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=1655"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2118,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1655\/revisions\/2118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}