I would like to thank all of those whom filled in and returned an outreach questionnaire. The results were very promising in that there was a general approval in the events we put on, in fact, given a choice, people seem to want us to do more. However there were concerns over the amount of publicity the Museum does both to Society members and the general public (who are welcome to attend our events). It is therefore recommended that the Group continue with two lectures (Spring and Winter) with a Summer field trip and February day school. The Group will discuss with the Society ways in which publicity can be improved. Full results and report on the Questionnaire can be found here.
On Saturday 22 November an audience of over 40 enjoyed a lecture on George Wingfield Digby: A Victorian Landowner given by Ann Smith, curator of the Sherborne Castle estate. She explored how the estate coped in the lean years of the 1820s and 1830s, through to prosperity in the 1850s and severe depression in the 1870s.
George Wingfield Digby inherited the estates from his Uncle in 1836. He appointed new estate stewards, William and Thomas Ffooks. George's uncle had purchased additions to his estates at the beginning of the century and had tried to protect his estate workers by selling cheaper corn to them during the hard 1820s and 1830s. When George inherited the estate a survey of the properties was carried out. Whilst it revealed that a number of substantial buildings had been added the majority of properties were in poor condition and a lot were tied up with long leaseholds. He set about reforming the leaseholds, reducing the number of lives on the properties thus giving him more control. He also began a rebuilding/repair programme, having identified the importance of the properties to the prosperity of the estate. Other important improvements were made such as the new and improved drainage systems, piped water to the villages, allotments being provided, agricultural shows and prizes being introduced. An estate office within Sherborne was built thus giving a presence in the town itself and not isolated at the Castle. George also subscribed to and built schools, both Anglican and non-conformist in a number of his villages. During the 1880s the estate supported and aided self-help groups, friendly societies and coal clubs. The estate even tried to help their worker s by paying them retainers when they became unemployed.
By the 1880s the recession was beginning to bite so the estate had to start selling land, a number of farms were also divided up since they could not find tenants. A memorial to George was erected at Sherborne Abbey, a mark of his philanthropic work tempered with a professional approach to the management of the estate. It was not until after the First World War that the Sherborne Estate, like so many other estates, began to see the wholesale break up and selling of the estate. By that time the estate was a similar size to how it was at the beginning of the 19th century.
On Saturday 14 February the Group held its annual Day School entitled Working Women and Wanton Wenches: Imagery and Attitudes Towards Women in History. Around 70 delegates heard a series of entertaining and thought provoking lectures.
The first series of lectures discussed the roles of women at work.
Dr Jane Whittle began by discussing the role of women in medieval rural society. Despite the difficulties in finding sources about women and work she described their importance in agriculture taking an active lead in milking, butter making, brewing, spinning, collecting the harvest and going to market to sell produce. It is clear that women played a vital role in the rural economy.
Dr Pamela Horn then described the importance of domestic servants in the 19th century, and the high amount of mobility that many undertook. Indeed Thomas Carlyle had numerous maidservants since he had a large house and only employed one at a time. The poor working conditions and unreasonable amount of work led to a very high turnover. However very few housemaids would complain about their circumstances because the reference was very important in getting a new position.
Dr Judy Ford finished the first section of the Day School by looking at the Lyme Regis census records of 1695 to 1703. It is possible to interpret hierarchy and status between the census records and to track certain families as they rise and fall within the hierarchy, a fate that often befell widows. The records may also indicate a few black slaves that are listed after servants.
The second half of the Day School looked at contemporary attitudes towards women in society.
Dr Sarah Toulalan discussed fertility and the representation of sexual pleasure. She has used 17th century pornography to challenge the assumption that it was in the 18th century that the ultimate level of sexual pleasure for both male and females was through male penetration and orgasm. The literature clearly shows that this was a wide-held belief in the previous century.
Dr Jonathan Barry then looked at the phenomena of witchcraft and concentrated on Dorset cases. He firstly demonstrated that there were very few reported cases, suggesting that there never was a moral panic in early modern Dorset. He then discussed the historiography of witchcraft, looking at the various theories to explain witchcraft. He then finished by passing around transcripts of two Lyme Regis cases, those of Mittimus Deanes accused by the Scorch family in 1686/7 and Margaret Way and Anne Traull accused by the Callway family in 1700. The audience then went through the text looking for clues to explain the cases.
Dr David Reeve then completed the Day with a discussion of how the Wimborne Minster elite used the church court to impose their moral code on the population. In trying to build a Christian community they were prepared to use the court to deal issues such as fornication, premarital sex and bastardy, particularly with men and women from the lower orders. For women at this level of society unwanted pregnancy led to claims for poor relief. The hierarchy also used the courts to protect themselves from gossip and rumour and many litigation cases took place. He finished by looking at two case studies, Joan Parker who at one time was accused of witchcraft and later turned to prostitution. However the hierarchy were more concerned about whom the possible father of her bastard child was and incarcerated her in the House of Correction. The second case study was of Anthony Pitt who for 30 years or more attacked and raped women from the lower orders but was allowed to carry on living in Wimborne, even receiving alms from one of the local charities. These examples revealed a rather disturbing attitude towards women of this level of society, particularly if they stepped outside of the prescribed moral code.
Field Trip: Sunday 13th June 2004 (please note change of date): a walk around the medieval Borough of Newlands, Sherborne led by Dr Katherine Barker. Meet at Somerfield Car park 2.30pm.
Winter Lecture: Saturday 20th November: Poverty and Rural housing in 19th Century Dorset by Martin Ayres who is at present studying for his PhD at Leicester University.
Day School: 12 February 2005. The topic will be looking at the origin and development of settlement in Dorset and the south-west (title and programme to be announced later).