Rich Man, Poor Man

The Family Chronicle of the Grahams of Edmond Castle

In 1818 the Grahams of Edmond Castle were living in Clapham, close to London. Thomas (vi) Graham had died in 1813, and his widow, Susannah Davenport, was raising their family of two boys and three girls.

Her eldest child, Thomas (vi), was 25, and trained as a lawyer. He had already inherited the Graham estate. John, the next child was 24, and another lawyer. John and Thomas lived mostly in Gower St., London, presumably working at the law practice, although I doubt that Thomas worked very hard, given how wealthy he already was.

The three girls were living with Mamma; Elizabeth Maria was 23, Emily was 21, Harriet had died in 1806, and the baby, Anne Margaret, was 17. They lived in The Hall, one of the largest and grandest houses on the north side of Clapham Common, spent the season in town, in Gower St., and the summers/autumns in Eastbourne.

Widow Elizabeth was a well-known author of the time, writing, under the penname Theresa Tidy, books for children about neatness and decorum, and grammar. Her children spouted doggerel like it was casual conversation. They wrote travel diaries and journals, they sketched sketches and painted paintings, they wrote about themselves, about their neighbours, they told the world about all the silly things they did and thought, and where they went, and what they ate and who they met. And then they collected it all in a Family Chronicle, published every Saturday afternoon at 3 pm. They were real Georgian bloggers.

One complete year, 1818-1819, of The Family Chronicle survives.

I defy anyone to read this Chronicle and not like this family.

The whole Chronicle (including a reproduction of the original pages, together with my transcription) is almost 700 pages long. It's a big download and a lot of stuff to read. A bit indigestible, taken all at once. So, as well as providing a link to the entire Chronicle, I've provided some excerpts of bits that I found particularly interesting.