Diary of Charles Stevens

The personal diary of Charles Stevens of Lewisham for the year 1889 kept in 'Charles Lett's Improved Diary'. The entries give details primarily about the writer's leisure activities and life with his family, while his daily work receives little mention.

The home address of the writer of the diary from April 1889 is given as 10 Wemyss Road, Blackheath. Census returns for the civil parish of Lewisham in 1891 list the occupants of that house as Charles Stevens (b 1852) of Lewisham, a Civil Service clerk and his wife Loetitia A. Stevens, two children (Charles,aged one and Alice D. aged 15), his mother-in-law Clare Buckfield, and a domestic servant. Internal evidence in the diary supports this information, although the writer calls his wife Annie or Nancy. She gives birth to a son on 15 December 1889 who is subsequently listed as the one year old in the 1891 census. Charles Stevens often mentions other children in his diary: these may be his children by a previous marriage but they do not live with him in 1889 at the time when he maintained this diary. It is therefore probable that Charles Stevens' wife referred to in the diary is his second wife. Her age is given as 29 in the 1891census and she is unlikely to be the mother of 15 year old Alice Stevens who is listed as a daughter of the household. The diary does not contain references to Alice but does mention a girl, Dorothy, who celebrated her 14th birthday on 2 July and to whom presents were sent. Dorothy, who would have been 15 at the time of the 1891 census, may be the same girl: Alice's middle initial is given as D. in the census return.

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Purchased in October 1998

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