1899 Diary of Elliot Woolford of Hook Farm, Lydiard Tregoze

1899

The 1899 diary opens with Elliot and his elder, widowed brother William Charles (Charl) and younger brother Rowland (Rowl) working at Bagbury Lane Farm, Purton. However, by January 17 life was to change as Elliot takes over the tenancy of Hook Farm. But Elliot was soon to wonder if he had made the right decision. On March 27 he writes in his diary: - “Rowl & I sleeping at Hook Farm for the first time it is so comfortless we almost wish we was at Bagbury again.” 

The 1899 diary was transcribe by Frances Bevan in 2021.

In a meticulously kept and unbroken series of diaries, Elliot Woolford provides the reader with a no-nonsense view of farming life at Lydiard Tregoze spanning more than 45 years.  His livelihood was forever at the mercy of the vagaries of the weather and fluctuating market prices.

Background

Elliot and his brother Rowland acquired the tenancy of Hook Farm in 1899 from the 5th Viscount Bolingbroke. In 1930 Elliot was able to purchase the farm when part of the Bolingbroke estate was sold by the Viscount's widow, Mary in 1930. The Woolford family remain there to this day.

The 1899 diary was transcribed by Frances Bevan in 2021.