This article was written jointly with Philip Ashford.
In SDNQ volume 37 pages 412-24 is a paper on Edward Berkeley’s diary for the year 1690. In the library at the Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles is Edward Berkeley’s diary for the year 1684.1 With the kind permission of Rebecca Fenning Marschall, Manuscripts & Archives Librarian at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library extracts from his diary are reproduced here. The diary was acquired by the library in 1989 from Bernard Quaritch.2
Preliminary pages
The once blank pages at the front of the diary were used by Berkeley to record notes of his various activities. For example, on one of those pages he wrote ‘7li: 5s: 1d pd Sr E:P:’, signifying a payment to Sir Edward Phelips (1638-1699), high steward of Ilchester from 1679, steward of crown manors in Somerset from 1680 and a zealous Tory of Montacute.3 He also noted the value per acre of lands and financial transactions, including one with Richard Smyth. Other notes record unpaid debts from the previous year and moneys due to Berkeley from bonds and lands at Pyll and Lamyatt.
Berkeley used his diary as a memoranda book and made an entry dated 4 January 1683, the year before the dairy was printed, recording information from F. Pittman relating to the dispute with Pern, which is documented in the previous paper. Berkeley recorded on a separate page:
Memorandum
To get ye Record from ye Tryall before Willoughby and Grove: ye Forge Acquittance to get Fortune Ellis to strengthen Clarkes Evidence.
Berkeley’s interest in the welfare of his horses can be seen in the cures written on two of the preliminary blank pages:
For hard redding if you thinke you have seird the greace
Take Aloways flower of brimston Jalupe diapenla of each 2 drakins make it up into balls wth syrup of rosses give them & rid him till noe cold water that day.
For balls Take diapenla Ainseeds Caroway seed yalow Sanders flower of brimston Alicompain licorish and Aloways of each one ounce make them up into balls wth hony or wth ffiggs & raisons stoned
Put 20 drops of Cimacall oyle of Aniseeds in them
For a great Could Diapenla London treacle Alicompani of each one ounce 2 heads of garlick brused & putt in a qt of ale and give it as hot as convenient ride him to Curle his haire but give him no cold watter that day
Aniseed, caraway, liquorice, brimstone and honey were all ingredients of mixtures, ‘horse balls’, to give horses with coughs, colds or fevers. The recipe including treacle, garlic and warm ale was most likely to have been used as a potion after the horse had received a venomous bite.4 It is interesting to see these recipes are very similar to ones written up and published a hundred years later in 1796.5 A book on horse health published in 1684, the year of the diary, includes brimstone and liquorice in recipes for horse coughs and colds as do other such volumes published in 1708 and 1720, though neither of these recipes are as close as the 1796 one.6
Another page was used to record the names and addresses of people he may have visited, including Mr Charles Chapple who lived in Battersea and a Mr Darydon at the ‘Pessell & Morter’ in King Street, Westminster.
Facing the title page is a note of his accounts dating back three years:
li s d
1681: 2 Aug: att Lymiet 5 : 0
to Mr Studly when he came down 1 : 0
in clothes 3 : 15 :
sent by Capt. Bennett 1 : 1 : 6
sent Dr Samber from Sarum in Mich Term 5 : 0
delivered Capt: Benett att Lymington 5 : 0
[total] 20 : 16 : 6
1682:
May 24: sent by Capt Benett to Studley 5 : 0
1683
Oct: 17: sent by C:B: 20 : 0
Feb: 18 sent by Phillips 05 : 0
1684
Sept: 17: p[er] Mrs Bradsher att Sarum 15li due att Mich: next.
Dated diary entries
The number of dated entries he recorded in his diary is smaller than the number recorded by him in 1690. Opposite the printed page for January he simply recorded ‘18: win 20 bush: 2 pecke’ above another entry ‘25 win 17 bush 1 peck’ and no other entries for that whole month. Whether this was an amount of grain he used or sold is not stated. March is a little more illuminating as he recorded dates of the Sarum Assizes on the 1st, Dorchester on the 6th and Taunton on the 22nd. Like his later diary it is not clear if he actually went to those places on these dates or whether it was just a record of an event he was aware of. For April he only made on entry recording how on the 15th he made an agreement with Pern at Castle Cary and on the 25th ‘8 bushell 3 peck’. In May more bushels and pecks were recorded but of more interest is the entry on the 6th recording ‘A pression between Milborn & Lamyat’, ‘the 13th day of May is oppoynted to meete at Rodstocke bridge’ and on the 31st ‘to meet att Brewton Farmer Hardin Lamyat’. Other entries for this month are illegible but may relate to manorial courts.
The 3rd of June saw a ‘Forcible entry’ at Ditcheat and a reminder to ‘buy my Cousin Symes a case of Knifes’ and in July entries of note included dining at Mr Clarke’s at Cossington on St James Day and on the 28th when he spoke to W. Lynton about looking after the ground at Lamyatt. August has only three entries. On the 13th is note that he had to be at Wells on that day. On the 17th it appears he killed a cow worth 3li and on the 26th he held a manorial court at Pilton. The scant entries in his diary for 1684, prior to September, suggest that he led quite a dull life based on the type of events he was involved with and the fact he recorded so many entries relating to bushels and pecks. However, September saw more activity:
5: att Cary I tendred Pern his mony …7
10: a cow killed at Pill
15: Shroton Fair Mr Boulting
16: att Ham & Pierston
17 att Harnham
23 : 24 a muster att Wells 2 daies
Joseph & Joyce of Shepton a greyhound
October was equally busy:
3: to be att Cary concerning Almsford bridge
9: Dr Kent comes to Gillingham
9: My Colt came home from Harptry
13 to be a Sarum
14: 15: a court
20: My Cousin Hussy dines at Pile
21 A court at Pile
black venus of Orchard G: Hare
November saw only one entry and that did not relate to that month. Berkeley wrote ‘4 of January a doc from Sr Jo: Coventry for Dr Sellick’. This was this the same Dr John Sellick (c.1612-1690), of Nether Stowey who was a friend of Humphry Blake of Plainsfield at the time the latter wrote his will in 1664.8 Dr John Sellick the elder of Wells, Archdeacon of Bath,9 served as archdeacon from 6 June 1661 until his death on 23 June 1690.10 The connection between Sellick and Sir John Coventry may stem from the appointment by Coventry of Sellick to the parish of Clifton Campville, Staffordshire.11 Sellick had also written to Henry Coventry regarding a dispute between Sir John and the Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1676.12 Exactly what the document was that Sir John sent in 1684 would be revealing.
Opposite a printed page listing places of ‘Faires’ in 1684, Berkeley recorded the local fairs:
Faires at Wells 2 daies Fair on …. last Thursday
Publick wool [?] market wednes fortnight
horse & beast market ye 1 wednesy in every month
1: Fair 6: March 2 markets ye 1 wednessday in Aprill next
Notes following the last printed page of the diary
At the end of the printed section of the diary Berkeley recorded an interesting series of dates concerning the lunacy of Edward Blacker. The four entries read:
Ed: Blacker dyed 1658:
Ed: Blacker ye miner dyed 1672:
Ye writ to inquire ye Lunak March 22nd : ye 6 yeare of C:1:
Executed att Sarum ye 23 of ye same month and was found a Lunatck March 14: 1645:
Why Berkeley included the entries in his personal diary is not clear. Records at The National Archive show that a commission to inquire into Edward Blacker ‘of Wiltshire’ is dated 6 Mar. 164713 and the inquisition14 was held in New Sarum, on the 23rd of March, 22 Charles I (1647), dates which are slightly different to those recorded in Berkeley’s diary. At the inquisition it was found that Edward Blacker, son of William Blacker, ‘is a lunatic and enjoys lucid intervals, but is incapable of governing either himself or his lands’. He held lands at West Harnham, Wiltshire and Gillingham, Dorset. Also mentioned was his relationship to the Willoughby family.15 This suggests that Berkeley’s interest in Blacker and his lunacy may come from a dispute in Chancery dating back to 1629 between Berkeley’s father, Sir Edward Berkeley kt and another, against William Blacker and one of the Willoughby family, over property in Gillingham, Dorset.16
Later entries record Berkeley’s estate interests, particularly agricultural matters which must have taken up a good deal of his time. The way in which he recorded the information relating to his sheep shows the timeline of his management of them during the year, which is transcribed below:
G: Oare: 168417
sent of Hogg sheep18 from Donhead 129:
sent of Hogg sheep from Lamyatt yt was bought at Weyhill 119
Hoggs [total] 248
Sent of ewes 117 & lambs 108 from Pill so yt 9 of these ewes are to ….
brought home 97 lambs
July 3 sent 106 lambs & 20 ewes
Sept: 20 weathers brought fr 12li
G: Oare 1684:
Aprill 3:
Remains of ye last yeares stock 9 welch burres 9 of these are sold & accounted
2 bulls & 5 cowes:
10 stears of my own breed
07 beast & 2 calfes from Cary
24 welch cowes at 2li:2s:6d a peece & 6s open herd [?] 51li:6
22 cows May 19: att 2s:18 63li:6s:
10 welch burres Aug: 25 cost 27li:11s:6d
4 cows cost 8li:2s:6
10 cowes oct: cost 16li:5s
2 oxen cost 8:2:6
July ulto G: O:
Brought home 5 cowes 4 sold att Lydford fair 1 kept att home 3 killd in house Aug: 17: pr 3li
2 oxen brought home
Nor 10 steares brought home
Jan: 14 brought home 6 burrs 1 bull and 1 cow:
Pill & Splotts
May 3: 1684
8 welch burrs ye last years stock sold
4 plowe oxen let of19
19 Graising Heiphers
01 cow of my own
14 Milch cowes
03 bulls
04 heiphers for ye Payle
18 plow beast
sheep
10 welch burrs cost 26li:10s
05 Heiphers of Ed: Han: senr
Aug: 15
3 milch cowes turnd of
2 Heiphers of my own breed, turn of for fatt
Donhead 1684
21 two years age beast
19 yerlins
19 calves sent up Aug: 10
Splotts
May 20: Donhead
16 [?] burrs
12 [?] calfes [?]
1 heipher brought home
1 steare was giddy – killd
No: 7: brought home 17 calves 19 two yeares age beast so yt was left behind
18: young beast
Lamyett 1684
10 welch steares att 2li:5s cost 28:10s:
There are several terms which warrant further explanation. Weathers were castrated male sheep kept for wool production and eventual sale for mutton. The fact that weathers are only mentioned once could point to the effect on agriculture of the depression in the Somerset woollen industry during the latter seventeenth century.20 This depression may have caused Berkeley and other farmers to concentrate on cattle, livestock which are mentioned prolifically in the diary.
Grazing heifers are young female cattle which were being fattened for sale whilst the better ones, the ‘heiphers for ye payle’ were ones which were more suited for dairy and milk production so were destined for the bull, calving and lactation for milking. Dry cows are those at the end of lactation and were waiting to go back to bull. The 21 two-year-old cattle, 19 yearlings and 19 calves shows that about 20 calves were being born every year on that particular farm, meaning that a herd of about 25 cows were being managed. The steer with ‘giddy’ that was killed is likely to have had ‘gid’; this is a brain/spinal cord disease that both sheep and cattle can contract, which is caused by an infestation of tape worm larvae, the tape worm of dogs.21 The fact that many welsh cattle are mentioned in the diary points to the importance of the trans-channel cattle trade to Somerset farming in the seventeenth century.22 Despite extensive research, the meaning of ‘welsh burrs’ is still unclear, though it may refer to young female cattle. Lydford fair, as a source for cattle is logical as it was local to Berkeley and easily accessible from Pylle along what is now the A 37. The fair is thought to have begun about 1630, it was held in August in 1692 and cattle dealers are known to have been present at the fair in 1701.23 Berkeley seems also to have bought cattle at the fair in August.
In addition to keeping a close account of his stock he also managed his land holdings.
Dec: 6th : 1684
It is agreed between me and Geo: Jacob of Milton for the new inclosure leading down from Creechill to Brewton he is to give me 20s pr Acre for two cropps if corn viz one crop of Lent corn24 the other wheat, at 16 feet pr Acre. 2 Acres of this he is to sow to Turnipps if he pleases he is to pay me 6s: 8d an acre for the first crop and 13s: 4d for the last crop he is to have the ….. for upon the premises I have received 2s 6d in earnest
[signed] George Jacob
Test
Cha: Browne
Witt[nes] King Sand Bickham
The last entry is a good example of the private arrangements that were entered into for the enclosure of lands before they were formalised by Act of Parliament in 1760. The land rented out to George Jacob at Creech Hill was on a short lease. Since it had been newly enclosed, ready for improvement the rent for the first year was half that of the second year to enable the tenant to invest in improvements including liming and sowing Turnips which help ‘clean the land’ from weeds. Once Berkeley had analysed how much the land had improved, he could then set rents for subsequent years. Even so, the rents he charged Jacob, 6s 8d and 13s 4d were not insubstantial. One hundred years later, annual rent on poorer Mendip land was 6 shillings per acre whilst better land in east Somerset was rented at 10 shillings per acre.25 The use of turnips as a field crop was relatively new. Prior to 1650 they had generally been used as garden crops, but then, in the 1670s management of the crop at field level had developed in the south-east of the country.26 Berkeley was therefore concerned with innovation in agriculture. One hundred years later, John Billingsley of Ashwick Grove, near Shepton Mallet who trod the same roads as Berkeley noted the use of turnips, in eastern Somerset, in rotations as a preparation for grain crops.27
Berkeley also used his diary to record details of agreements concerning letting land:
Dec: 9th: 1684
Lett to Tho: Cooper the lower ground & Padock Sellwayse close 20 Acres ye other ground which is limed ye Lyme Kiln close & all the 4 grounds next the house and 200 of faggotts & he is to give me 40li pr anm 5s in earnest
The marke of Tho T Coopper
Test: Jo: Boulting
John Miller
Rich: Tucker
more about ye same time I let to Geo: Jacob the new inclosed ground going downe to Brewton for 2 lent cropps 20s pr acre, he is only to hew ye shere[?]
Mich: 1685
Lett to Ralph George great Ramsley for 2 cropps viz one wheat cropp and one oate cropp at 1li: 5s: pr acre
A further page is taken up with a record of oats purchased since the 1st of January.
The reference to ‘ground which is limed’ referred to a well known practice for agricultural improvement in Somerset. The liming of agricultural land had been known practiced from Tudor times and it is known that land in the Watchet area was improved using this method in 1635, as was arable land in Creech St Michael in 1716.28 The use of lime to improve pasture is mentioned in relation to east Somerset in 1797 when ‘fine herbage’ was observed in the years after its application.29
Not all of the final pages were taken up with estate management, as a short entry reading ‘Simon Gayte of Stone Easton trespassers John Solomon [and] Jo: Reade’ reflects his duties as a justice of the peace. With a final page reading:
Hic potum est bona
Jo Raynes Phillip Raynes junr Will Raynes Jo Tucker junr No: 5
Will: Sevier Test.
Other entries do not appear to have any context which will help us interpret Berkeley’s reason for recording the names of two gentlemen, William Goold of Kenton Parva, Dorset, and Robert Tyce of Sedgehill, Wiltshire. Similarly the involvement with men from Lytton and Chewton is not particularly clear what Berkeley was recording. However, the detail he recorded relating to his involvement with agricultural affairs and his estate shows that the year 1684 was very different and far less political than that of 1690 for George Berkeley, or Pyll.
Acknowledgements. Our thanks go to Peter Ashford and Graham Ashford for their insight concerning agricultural matters mentioned in this paper.
[1]. Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles (www.worldcat.org/title/farm-accounts-and-memoranda/oclc/780099563).
2. Ex inf Rebecca Fenning Marschall, 5 Sep. 2014.
3. See the online History of Parliament website containing an entry for Phelips, http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/phelips-sir-edward-1638-99.
4. Ex inf Peter Ashford and Graham Ashford.
5. J. Bartlett, The Gentleman’s Farriery (1796), 31, 212.
6. T. Grey, The compleat horseman and expert ferrier (1684), book 1, 164 and book 2, 213; J. Mortimer, The whole art of husbandry (1708), 159; E. Gent, The experienc’d farrier (1720), 264.
7. Followed by an illegible entry.
8. The National Archive (hereafter T.N.A.), PROB 11/318/714 P.C.C. will 152 Hyde of Humfrey Blake, of Plainsfield, Over Stowey, Somerset, gent. Will dated 17 Jan. 1664, proved 22 Dec. 1665.
9. His will is dated 2 Dec. 1686 and was proved 9 Oct. 1690, see F.A. Crisp, Abstracts of Somersetshire wills. Second series (1888), 17-18.
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archdeacon_of_Bath (accessed 8 Nov. 2015).
11. W.N. Landor, Collections for a history of Staffordshire. Staffordshire incumbents and parochial records (1530-1680), (1915), 71.
12. Longleat House. CO/VOL. CXIX f.8 Selleck to Coventry, 24 July 1676.
13. T.N.A., C 211/2/B1 Edward Blacker of Wiltshire: commission and inquisition of lunacy, into his state of mind and his property, 6 March 1647.
14. T.N.A., C 142/778/159 inquisition post mortem of Edward Blacker of Wiltshire, [22] Charles I.
15. G.S. Fry and E.A. Fry (eds), Abstracts of Wiltshire Inquisitiones Post Mortem returned into the Court of Chancery in the reign of Charles the First, British Record Society (1901), 353-4.
16. T.N.A., C 6/1/34 Berkeley v Blacker, 1629.
17. Presumably Green Oare where he was grazing some or all of his sheep.
18. Hog sheep and one year old female sheep about to go to ram.
19. Plough oxen ‘let of’ probably means cattle that had reached the end of their working life as draught animals.
20. P. Ashford ‘The west Somerset woolen trade, 1500-1714’ in Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (hereafter P.S.A.N.H.S.) 151 (2008), 173.
21. Ex inf Peter Ashford and Graham Ashford.
22. J. Betty, ‘Livestock trade in the west country in the 17th century’ in P.S.A.N.H.S. 127 (1983), 123-8; C. Gerrard, ‘Taunton fair in the seventeenth century’ in PSANHS 128 (1984) 65-74; P. Ashford, ‘Four hundred years of maritime travel via the Somerset coast’ in A.J. Webb, ed., A maritime history of Somerset 2 (2014), 7.
23. M. Siraut, West Lydford fair and Fair Place, found at www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/explore/items/west-lydford-fair, accessed November 2015.
24. This is corn that was sown in the Spring.
25. J. Billingsley, General view of the agriculture on the county of Somerset (1797), 96, 136.
26. J. Thirsk (ed), The agrarian history of England and Wales 4, 1500-1640 (1967), 262.
27. Billingsley, General view, 42, 218.
28. P. Ashford, ‘Porlock Weir’s quay and trade development 1420-1790’ in A.J. Webb, ed., A maritime history of Somerset 1 (2010), 55.
29. Billingsley, General view, 106.
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