Hardback facsimile reprint of an edition, first published 1991, of the diary of a prominent inhabitant of Dorchester (Dorset, southern England), a strongly Puritan and political town, during the years leading up to the English civil wars.

William Whiteway of Dorchester

Biographies & Memoirs

Whiteway, William

Historical

Hobnob Press

Ralph Treswell's Survey of Sir Christopher Hatton's lands in Purbeck, 1585-6 (Dorset Record Society)

History

Europe

From 1813 until his death in 1847, Thomas Pinniger kept a detailed daily account of the sheep and corn husbandry he practised first at Little Bedwyn Farm to 1825, and then as the owner of Beckhampton Farm in Avebury parish from 1829. These periods were separated by a stay on Sambourne Farm in Chippenham, when he was more an observer than an active farmer. These 'Farming Memorandums', as Pinniger described them, provide a fascinating and detailed record of the challenges that he faced throughout his long career. Farming practices and developments, prices of corn and livestock, and the weather were all recorded in detail. It is clear that they were not just kept for the sake of posterity, but as a body of knowledge and experience on which he could draw. His relations with his labourers and neighbours, not always cordial, add to the wealth of the content of the diaries. Having moved to Beckhampton, Pinniger bought the eponymously-named established coaching inn in the village. Stables were constructed for both the farm and the inn, with the latter specifically for race horses. The fortunes of the inn faltered with the coming of the railway in the early 1840s. As well as the obvious subject matter, Pinniger also noted the births, marriages and deaths of relatives, friends and acquaintances, revealing the social milieu in which he lived. Dates of funerals and of funeral services were also often provided, the latter rarely recorded in this period. He also provided a first hand account of the unrest of the Swing Riots of 1830, which he viewed as a serious threat. The years 1823 to 1838 have been transcribed, but the whole span is covered in the introduction. In keeping such meticulous daily records over so long a period, Thomas Pinniger stands as the principal representative of the class of yeoman farmers, from early to mid 19th-century Wiltshire.

The Farming Diaries of Thomas Pinniger, 1813-1847 (Wiltshire Record Society)

One Way of Seeing

UNKNOWN

History of Imber, a remote village on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, which was evacuated for military training during World War Two, and the unsuccessful campaign to permit the villagers to return. First published 2001.

Little Imber on the Down : Salisbury Plain's Ghost Village

Rex Sawyer

In a bid to preserve and enhance Avebury's famous stone circle, a policy was in force from the 1930s to the 1970s that sanctioned the demolition of properties within the monument, including medieval cottages. Avebury is the subject of one of the 34 parish histories that comprise this volume introducing the landscape and people of the eastern borderland of Wiltshire, encompassing most of the Marlborough Downs, Savernake Forest, the Kennet and Upper Bourne Valley and the principal town of Marlborough.

Marlborough and Eastern Wiltshire

Chandler, John H.

Charlton, Michael [Illustrator]

A Higher Reality : The History of Shaftesbury's Royal Nunnery

John Chandler

Salisbury : History Around Us

John Howard Chandler

World

The second part of Chandler's county history of Wiltshire covers 42 parishes, from Bromham, Seend and Erlestoke in the west to Wootton Rivers in the north-east and Netheravon in the south, including Devizes, Pewsey and Pewsey Vale. Conceived as 'prelude perhaps to an afternoon's exploring, or a handy compendium on any Wiltshire bookshelf', Chandler's historical essays are accompanied by Ordnance survey maps from the 1890s and illustrations by Michael Charlton.

Devizes and Central Wiltshire (Wiltshire: A History of Its Landscape and People)

CHANDLER, John

Forgotten labour: the Wiltshire agricultural worker and his environment

WILSON, Avice R.

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