€120
A Victorian Boy's Diary
Manuscript: A volume measuring 19cms x 13cms, bound in hf. calf with brass clasps (hasp missing) containing diary entries of William Winter of Birmingham.
They begin on 15 November 1868, shortly before his 13th birthday, and continue in some detail over the next 40 or so pages down to the beginning of 1871. They record his family life (his father was a clergyman), school days, meetings with friends, outings, parties, and crushes on girls. On holiday to Fontainebleau in 1870 they are caught up in the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War and he and his father are arrested as Prussian spies.
Thereafter the entries consist of sparse notes recording his entry into Oxford, his studies there, his ordination as a clergyman and services as a curate. In 1885 he reluctantly accepts a parish in Devon but resigns within months as the parish is not financially viable. In 1886 he and his new wife emigrate to New Zealand.
The only subsequent entry, dated 12 Jan. 1916 and barely legible, states that he has been diagnosed with a fatal heart condition and expresses his love for his wife. As a m/ss, w.a.f. (1)
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