|
EXTRACTED FROM THE DIARY OF HARRIET ELLEN FENWICK - PAGES 1 AND 2 DIARY OF HARRIET ELLA FENWICK 1866 - 70 I was born at Raleigh House near Barnstaple two days after the family had moved there from High Bickington a distance of about 11 miles, on the 31st day of March 1866. I believe I was a small babe, dark, and nearly bald till two or three years old. I think I was rather an independent child, Uncle Ted was with us a good deal, and I and Arthur were very fond of him, he used to take us out nutting, and help us across the, to us, dangerous bridges. We used to play hide and seek and chase him all over the house, up the back stairs, down the front, he was so good natured, and always amused us. He went out to Australia when I was six/72. Tom's birth was an event. The three eldest went to school at Mrs Maunders, I was then too young to go, and did lessons with Mother, howled often over my music, was occasionally slapped, and smacked, I was always very ashamed when I cried and used to hide, and wash my face to get rid of the tell-tale traces, I was in the dining room waiting for dinner, when in rushed Annie, Edie and Arthur "there's a new baby, there's a new baby," whereupon we all ran upstairs to listen outside Arthur's door to hear the baby cry. This was on 29th September 1870. Sometimes in the summer we used to drive to Instow for the day. Mother used to go to Northam to see Aunt Isabella Lloyd and often took me with her, one day staring out of the window I lost my hat, and did not at all like walking up Bideford with my waterproof over my head, till Mother bought me another hat, when we returned the porter had picked up my hat and gave it to me. In 1892 Annie and Edith went to stay at Woodford for about a month or six weeks, we others went to Croyd, where we ran wild all day. Arthur and I wore no stockings only sand shoes, and paddled, caught prawns wandered over the sand-hills all day long. We bathed very often, once I nearly got out of my depth, after which I was more careful. Tom bathed once, but he was too small to come with us much. Papa used to take us to Baggy Point a wild and magnificent place where we watched the waves lashing in over the rocks and the seagulls sitting on their nests or whirling about, we could look into a cave, which I always longed to explore but never could. The walk there was also wild. Along a narrow path sloping steeply down to the sea on the left hand on the other an as steep ascent; here we used to see the rabbits scuttling about, and they made me quite anxious for them, when I saw them go skipping down to the rocks on the shore. We saw a good deal of the Browns and used to go walks with them, picking red cup moss, flowers etc. or hird's nesting. I was a great torn-boy and climbed trees as well as a boy. Annie and I used to go out walks together, I never went so much with Edie, it was Arthur and I, or Annie and I. The Vynings lived near and we used to go there and Eimmy came up to play with me. I used to take charge of Tom and take him up the drive, and carry him on my back and look after him. Auntie Cilia married Henry Vigne December 15th 1870. Annie and Edie were bridesmaids, I was very disappointed at being too young to be also, she had eight. I went to the wedding and drank champagne at the breakfast. 1873 - 4 When I was seven 1873 we left Rawieigh and came here to Abbotts Ann Rectory. I, and I think all of us, were excited and pleased with the idea. We left Rawleigb early about 6.30, Barnstaple stuck me, never having seen it with the shops shut before; we all got very tired in the train, some of us went to sleep. We drove out from the station in a kind of brake. The weather was hot and dry, we thought Abbotts Ann would never come, and Hampshire we thought more hideous than we had imagined a county. The first thing we did was to tear around the place finding birds nests. When we came here the place was very nice. A large barn, cow sheds and chicken roost was where now is Annie's chicken and space; there were numerous ducks and chicken houses in good order, but they tumbled down year by year. At first we none of us like Abbotts Ann, for years I imagined I hated it, and used to sigh after Devon, but now I think this infinitely the nicest. Arthur went to school at Winchfield soon after we came here. Our first governess was Miss Mary Adams, she did not stay long, left in bad health; her sister Sarah took her place; she stayed a still shorter time with us; then we had Miss Augusta Adams who stayed with us years. Soon after she came in April/74 we all got whooping cough. Arthur brought it back from school. Annie and Edie had it slightly, Tom and I were worst. Tom had terrible fits of coughing and would rush about the room, black in the face unable to get his breath. I was always being sick, and got terribly thin and weak . In May we all went down to Seaton in S. Devon for change of air. We were recovering then; but I know I was very weak. There was a very steep path from our house down to the sea; and my legs and breath used to give way if I tried to run up or down fast. It was very hot there; we used to feel cooked walking underneath the cliffs to the rocks, which lay to the left of us, nearly to Bier. We did very few lessons there and nearly every day we walked inland bird's nesting; we got some nice eggs. We also bathed. The beach was shingles and sloped very rapidly so we were not allowed to bath without a rope tied round us, and the waves receding nearly made the rope cut us irt two, also the shingles hurt our feet. Once or twice Papa took us out boating, one day Annie and Arthur fished and caught seven mackerel and two gudgeons. It was fun watching the mackerel fishing, the huge nets drawn in with their heaps of mackerel and sometimes other strange fish. From what I can remember Seaton was an old fishing town with not many visitors, a relaxing place with red and chalk cliffs. We had mumps, soon after or next year, they were most horrible things, luckily not lasting long, we could not eat without agonies, only thin bread and butter soaked in tea. In August 1874 Annie, Edie and myself went to stay at Woodford; it was the first time I had been there. We went to the zoo, polytechnic and M. Tussauds. ******** |
TOP OF PAGE BACK TO FREDERICK AND HARRIET ELLA DE PARAVICINI