Agricultural History Review, Volume 66 Part 2 (2018), p. 292

The diaries of John Carrington were originally deposited at the Hertfordshire Record Office in 1943 and a typed transcript was prepared in the 1950s. This resulted in two popular accounts, which were published by W. Branch Johnson in 1956 and 1970. In 1973, some three-quarters of the diary, along with extracts from his so-called Arithmetic Book, was also published. All of these works are now long out of print, although they are readily and cheaply available second-hand. In 2010, the Hertfordshire Record Society decided to republish the diaries in full: this book is hardly the new presentation of unknown archive material.

This first volume includes the diaries from 1798 to 1804 along with the Arithmetic Book; the second is due for publication in 2018. As well as being the farmer at Bacons Farm, Bramfield, John Carrington was Chief Constable, Tax Assessor, Surveyor of the Highways and Overseer of the Poor in his parish at various times throughout the period of the diaries. This is reflected in his diary entries such that the record of agriculture relates primarily to the world beyond his own farm. As a result of this, there is little detail of the work going on at the farm, although on p. 123 he records ‘Shore my sheep 83’, although his own name is not amongst the names of the shearers. The only evidence of the work of the farm interrupting his daily life is on p. 167 where he writes, ‘Not market as being buisey at Oates’ cart’, having noted earlier on the same page that ‘In generall, crops very great’.

Carrington was clearly a man who liked his food and drink, yet he was of a charitable disposition. The diaries have plentiful records of his expenditure at the various hostelries he visited, as well as his gifts to the poor and others. Even in 1801, when he notes that the price of cattle and meat were ‘so dear’, his personal consumption continued: however, he did recognize and record his excesses as on p. 77: ‘Got fuddled, fell of my poney. O for Shame’. In the entries in the latter part of the volume, the impact of the threat of invasion by the French on Carrington’s public duties are noted – forms to complete, to deliver personally and to chase up late returns – many requiring visits to local inns.

The Arithmetic Book extracts presented in the first appendix comprise notes on events occurring mainly beyond the parish of Bramfield, both county-wide and nationally, including records of very high winds, great floods, large fires and army manoeuvres, although there is no chronological order to the entries. These notes are written amongst a series of mathematical calculations which have not been reproduced in the volume. Appendix Two is titled Hertfordshire Inns, whilst Appendix Three presents selected biographies of some of those mentioned in the diaries. As would be expected of any Record Society publication, the book includes a glossary, bibliography and an index for each of names, places and subjects. Whilst a contemporary map of the county of Hertford dated 1794 is presented in the rear endpaper, which marks Bacons Farm and Bramfield, the introduction to the book would have benefited from a clearly drawn map of the key places around Bramfield that are mentioned in the diaries.

Whilst this volume represents the publication of the complete diary for seven years during the Napoleonic War period, there is little detail about the day-to-day workings at Bacons Farm to satisfy agricultural historians: indeed Flood has presented a comprehensive summary of Carrington’s farming activities in her introduction using the limited material available. However, it does offer an account of rural life in Hertfordshire during this period, as well as describing the activities carried out by Carrington as an individual in fulfilling his various public duties.