Two printed 19.5cm x 12cm paperback Letts Desk Diaries belonging to Louisa James, a 53-55 year old farmer's wife, living in Bredwardine, Herefordshire. The diaries are 1 week to 4 pages (1948) and 1 week to 2 pages (1949), and contain manuscript entries for every day throughout 1948 and 1949. Entries are predominantly recorded in blue or green ink, with some entries in black ink or pencil. Opposite the front and back covers are advertisements for companies such as Dunlop and Rankin, the Church of England Building Society, and the Royal Alexandra School. It is likely that Louisa kept more diaries as she mentioned purchasing a diary for 1950 in Hereford on 2 November 1949.
Entries commence on 1 January 1948. They are recorded daily with no omissions, and are consistent in content and structure. They generally begin with a comment about the day's weather, and its effect on Louisa's ability to complete her laundry tasks. They go on to discuss Louisa's daily life living and working on the farm, including household duties, working with farm animals, and making and selling produce. The diary entries also discuss Louisa's family and social life, including details about visitors, letter-writing, and trips to nearby towns and villages to purchase goods. She also frequently discusses the ill health of both herself and her son. From 11 January 1948 onwards, Louisa describes the content of her evening meal daily with very few exceptions. She also marked each day with between two and four coloured dots, which appear to refer to 'test' results. This is probably because Louisa was diabetic.
The diaries cover a period in which Louisa was living with her husband Pryce, a farmer, son Dick [Richard], and a young farm hand, Ann. In 1948, Bill, another employee, is also living with the family. Pryce and Louisa were renting an agricultural property with land, known as 'Old House'. They grew crops of wheat, corn, barley, potatoes, and various fruits and vegetables. They also kept sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese.
Louisa's diaries discuss many different aspects of work on the farm, incorporating both domestic and outdoor tasks. All members of the household were involved in farm work in some way. Pryce was engaged primarily in manual agricultural labour including ploughing fields, sowing, planting and harvesting grain and vegetable crops, hedging, threshing, draining, and hauling manure. He also constructed and fixed outbuildings and fences, sheared the flock of sheep, and bought and sold livestock at markets. Male farm hands including Bill [in 1948] and Howell Bebb also worked outside most days, assisting Pryce with ploughing, hedging, harvesting crops, hauling manure, erecting fences and digging the garden. There appear to be other casual male employees helping Pryce with larger tasks such as ploughing, sowing and hedging, including Stephens [likely James Stephens who lived at nearby Keepers Cottage on the 1939 Register] and Ted Andrews. The family owned a tractor, which was driven by several people. Pryce also owned or borrowed various other farm equipment including a reaper-binder, a corn drill, and a ferret for rabbiting.
Most of Louisa's time was spent completing household tasks and preparing farm produce for sale. She undertook laundry, cooking, and cleaning of the house and farm buildings daily. Louisa often referred to undertaking a 'weekend clean' on Thursday or Friday, and phrases such as 'usual Wed [Wednesday] work' (2 November 1949), and 'Saturday's work and weekend cooking' (19 November 1949) suggest that Louisa and Ann followed a fairly rigid and consistent structure of housework. She also appears to have been responsible for milking the cows, churning butter, and making lard. Ann assisted Louisa with laundry and cleaning, picking fruit in the summer, milking and mucking out animals, and running errands such as collecting and delivering post. She also worked with the men in the garden and with the tractor. Ann was also the only member of the household who Louisa's diary explicitly mentions attended church regularly.
Dick, who was 17-19 at the time Louisa was writing the diaries was often ill, coughing and staying in bed for days at a time. Louisa appeared to care for Dick, and when he was not ill, he occasionally helped Pryce in the fields. He also accompanied his parents to sell produce in nearby Hay [Hay on Wye].
Food features prominently in Louisa's diaries, and she included daily descriptions of the evening meals she made for herself and her household. These most often consist of roasted or boiled beef or pork, fried eggs, potatoes and vegetables. Most of the meals Louisa cooked for the family include seasonal produce. For example, turnips are common in winter, tomatoes and berries appear in summer. The foods eaten by the family also often mirror the harvesting tasks mentioned in the days before. For example, they ate blackberry pie the day following Ann's trip to Gobbetts to collect blackberries (8 September 1949), and 'pig meat' the evening after Tom visited 'to kill the pig' (21 December 1949). Louisa preserved a lot of seasonal fruits and vegetables such as raspberries, damsons and onions in jams and chutneys, and made puddings and pies. Dessert was usually a fruit pie or tart also prepared by Louisa. Occasionally the family consumed tinned food such as baked beans or tinned peaches – although this notably becomes more frequent during 1949 than in the previous year. Louisa appeared to spend a large portion of her day preparing food, especially cakes, scones, pies and puddings. There are also regular mentions throughout the diaries of Louisa writing to the Food Office, particularly to request rations for threshing or harvest, and various permits.
Louisa also used her diary to keep track of spending on clothes and farm equipment, wages for workers including Ann, Bill and Howell, and income from selling produce, suggesting she was responsible for the household finances. The produce generated from farm work was mostly sold, and Louisa regularly mentioned the sale of eggs, butter, lard, meat and fruit and vegetables to neighbours, friends and family. Sales took place both from their home, when visitors came to purchase goods, and when Louisa, Pryce and Dick [often referred to simply as P and D] travelled to nearby Hay [Hay on Wye] most Thursdays.
Illness and health are persistent themes throughout Louisa's diary, and both her and her son had ongoing health problems. Louisa appeared to have been diabetic, making regular comments about low sugar levels, having 'bad turns' and needing to have sugar, taking frequent 'tests' and purchasing insulin. This could explain the coloured dots present on each day's entry, referring to 'test' results. Dick was also often ill and appeared to struggle with a number of different ailments including his wrist, hearing, mobility and boils. He regularly visited the hospital in Hereford, or was seen by a doctor. It seems likely that he also had cerebral palsy. Louisa often dressed Dick, and he also had a specialised car seat (27 September 1948) and a 'push chair' [?wheelchair] (16 June 1949). Louisa was also in communication with the 'Midland Spastic Association'. Louisa was also compassionate about others' sickness, regularly sending cakes and food supplies to friends, family and neighbours who were in ill health.
Socialising with friends, family and the local community was another large part of Louisa's daily life, and she regularly mentioned many people with whom she seemed to have almost daily contact. Visitors to the household often stayed for a meal, and Louisa often mentioned events such as weddings that have been discussed during these visits. Most days, visitors came to buy produce - particularly eggs by the dozen. Louisa always noted the quantity and income gained from the purchase, as well as the purchaser. Letter writing was another regular activity for Louisa, and she sent and received letters from friends and family most days. Her letters were often to arrange meetings, and to discuss family news such as births, marriages and illnesses. She also sent produce through the post, including meat and cakes.
As well as socialising from their home, members of the household also regularly ventured out, and Louisa regularly wrote about trips to nearby towns and villages – most often Hay [Hay on Wye], Hereford, Kington, Moccas, Peterchurch and Bage Bridge. There appeared to be multiple reasons for these trips, including to sell and exchange produce, visit friends and relatives, purchase clothes and household goods, and visit the bank and the doctor. These visits were undertaken by all members of the household, although not always together, and occurred a few times per week. The household also appeared to be involved in community social events. A nameless social 'club' was mentioned regularly, and in February 1948, Louisa wrote that she had made and iced a cake to be won as a prize in a 'club draw', which Bill sold tickets for. Mentions of 'the club' continued throughout Louisa's 1949 diary, and Louisa attended the 'Red Lion Sale' on 9 September, and cooked for the local YFC [Youth For Christ] party at Moccas on 28 December.