1899 - William Beechey's Christmas

In a few lines each day, William Beechey's diary records twenty years of information about the events and lives of the people of the Ruperra Estate. Read his entries in the weeks running up to Christmas in 1899.

In the census returns of 1891 William Beechey is described as an agricultural labourer from Castletown, Monmouthshire, speaking both English and Welsh and living in a cottage in the parish of Llanfedw. By the 1901 census he had moved to Ruperra Home Farm and was described as a 'shepherd on farm', although he did much more than look after sheep. William was 78 when he died in 1926 and his gravestone can be found in the graveyard of the once Tirzah Chapel which was the Baptist chapel in Michaelstone-y-Fedw. This account is given verbatim so there are spelling and punctuation errors. We are unable to decipher some of the handwriting so have used question marks to indicate where something is not clear.

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• Dec 9 Ivor went to Newport and bought 2 shurts
• Dec 10 Came to Chaple Sunday M? after William Thomas
• Dec 11 Snowing here to night We have had 3 night sharp frost
• Dec 11 Took up sheep so? 25 eggs
• Dec 11 Put lambs in trough 
• Dec 12 A good crop of Snow

William Beechey and young family

• Dec 12 Took the cattle in to Newport 3 Heifer 10 Scot cattle Tom and Harry took them in / a very nasty day they was going to B? to David Thomas but to bad to go
• Dec 12 A consert at Tirzah tonight . Tom Morgan President going to give a book of Poems to the best who will compose a few lines on ? (Tom Morgan was an illegitimate son of Colonel Freddie and organised many jobs on the estate , held meetings and a very good public speaker)
• Dec 12 Killed 2 pigs at the castle today J.Poude? Sam Jones and Myself
• Dec 12 Tom bought a new American saw
• Dec 13 Christmas Market sold 14 head of cattle, three Short Horn heifers, Eleven Scotch Bullocks
• Dec 13 Drathen Club Posted to Daz? Very nasty day snowing all day
• Dec 13 Took up to Castle 19 eggs
• Dec 14 Took up a sheep
• Dec 14 2 Pigs 848 lbs, Cut them up, 1st was 20 stone 10 lbs and 2nd 21 stone 19 lbs
• Dec 14 Sharp frost last night
• Dec 15 Very sharp and cold
• Dec 14 Edward over here with fruit
• Dec 15 Pay Day here today
• Dec 15 I am afraid the mangle Busie? To heat steam coming out??
• Dec 15 Driving out dung at Llanvingun yard Want doing (Llanvention was the name given to the medieval house on the field in Llanvedw)
• Dec 16 1 sheep 80 lbs and eggs 9
• Dec 16 Went to Newport and bought Tom Boot 12/6 and Harry Boots 8/6 
• Dec 16 Thawing snow going Harry? S?
• Dec 17 Jonas Powell preaching tonight at Tirzah and Jim in morning
• Dec 18 The keeper’s been before the Col. for something. (This is the gamekeeper who bred the pheasants in the Preserve Cottage , and had to deal with poachers)
• Dec 18 No hunting now missed 3 days in all
• Dec 18 Took up 3 eggs
• Dec 19 Went to Edward Jones to look for some pigs
  
• Dec 20 Mrs Morris gone from Castle
• Dec 20 Began the new bacon + good
• Dec 20 One of the Heifers Died The best in the slaughterhouse all the butchers very well pleased
• Dec 20 Sowing Bassol? Slag in Caborland? Tom Spring and Jim Spring and William Rook. (the Spring family worked on the Ruperra estate and were the ancestors of Herbie Spring who died recently and who saved this Diary from being totally burned when they were clearing out the old house)
• Dec 21 Entertainment at Tirzah with the children. Tom Morgan Chairman 
• Dec 21 Mrs E Jones brought three loads of oats
• Dec 21 Put 4 black cattle in for next year’s xmas show
• Dec 21 The Hounds met at March field.
• Dec 22 John Powell home bad hand
• Dec 22 Beat at Coedkernew
• Dec 22 Mrs Goal came to castle

• Dec 23 Newport xmas market I went down and bought10 lbs of beef at 8 per lb 6/10
• Dec 23 Harry and Rachel + children came here
• Dec 24 Sunday Dry Day
• Dec 25 Xmas Day Lovely had a good time of it
• Dec 23 Took 1 skin
• Dec 26 Took a sheep up 85?

Extract from William Beechey's diary 1899

• Dec 26 Mr + Mrs Rymer Xmas. Tree good Do a lot these
• Dec 26 Mr G Morris ill. Dr there
• Dec 27 William Jones son died today at Cardiff, went there to spend xmas with his son Charles caught going the R? sent Joe Spooner in with him In bed all the time eat nothing.

Route William Beechey would have taken from Ruperra Home Farm to deliver supplies to Ruperra Castle

Older William Beechey and family

Read stories from the memories of people who worked on the Ruperra Estate in our book: Serving Under Ruperra by Pat Jones-Jenkins - An illustrated account taken from recorded testimonies of people who worked on the Ruperra Estate in the 19th and 20th centuries up to 1939. £6.00.  Find out more about our films and books