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John Pedley of Great Barford, 1773-95

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 July 2023

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Summary

Introduction

The seven volumes of the diary of John Pedley, the Great Barford farmer, cover the whole period 1773-95 apart from 1780-82, for which the volume is missing. Those who spend most of their lives in the open air and depend for their living on the soil and on the round of the seasons are seldom introverts. Pedley, with his countless entries about poor health, was an exceptional farmer in this respect. His monotonous reiteration of minor ailments, often little more than normal fatigue, give the impression of his having suffered from self-centred melancholia of a mild character. Nine entries out of every ten are petty comments on the state of his health, with its barometric downs and ups, and his corresponding prayers and thanks to the Almighty. Thrice he confessed to drinking too much; on each occasion he was with his fellows on public business, so there was some excuse. Once it led to a fall from his horse. A single reference to gout suggests that he was moderately fond of the bottle. Only entries relating to genuine sickness have been extracted. Except for a short illness in January 1776, he does not seem to have been seriously ill until April 1794, soon after which his diary ends, and he was buried on 14 October 1795 at Great Barford aged 64.

Despite the paucity of informative entries, John Pedley is there; family man, farmer, busy with his crops and his journeys to fairs as well as with parish business; anglican, but not averse to worshipping with nonconformists in the new meeting-house at Bedford (now the Howard Congregational Church), at Cotton End, Cardington, or at Blunham (having been to his parish church in the morning).

Where the Bedfordshire Pedleys came from, where John was born and married, are not evident from a brief search. There were Pedleys a generation earlier in the adjoining parish of Roxton. His father (William Pedley, farmer) who was buried at Great Barford in 1753, seems shortly before this to have bought some parts of the lands of Creakers manor (the estate

was already fragmentised).

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Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
First published in: 2023

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