Manuscript Diaries.
Diaries of a Provincial Victorian Woman
[Diaries]. Orlebar, Faith Harriet Bourne. Diaries. 1877-80; 1896-1905.
4 vols; 12mo; commercial wrappers; chipped at spine; tears; soiling; cover of 1879 vol. detached.
Together with:
10 vols; 12mo; soiled; rubbed; some hinges weak; hinges of 1904 vol. cracked; clippings, letters, handbills, postcards, and other matter loosely inserted; commercial cloth; stamped in blind and gilt; some edges marbled or stained.
14 volumes of the diaries of a middle-class Victorian woman. The first four volumes of Faith Harriet Bourne’s diaries, documenting their author’s life from the ages of 10 to 13, vividly portray the life of a provincial Victorian schoolgirl. The first of theses volumes is labeled “Private” on the upper wrapper, and implores “Please do not read it” from the lower. Ignoring these warnings, the reader finds within the early volumes a detailed account of the excitement, ennui, and whimsy attendant to every childhood. On July 12, 1878, Bourne informs, “There is a girls friendly society here. Eliza Maria and Emily are in it, they all went to Havebury [?] where Lady Georgina gave them a nice treat and enjoyed themselves very much.” February 19 and 20, 1877, report by rote, “Went to the beloved school did not do much. Rather nice day;” “Went to the school again did not do much rather nice day.” June 15, 1877, declares, simply, “Washed Fido!” Throughout these early diaries, Harriet dutifully records church and school events, walks through the country, visits from friends and relatives, and the weather, which more often than not is “rainy,” “damp,” “windy,” or “cold.”
The narrative resumes 16 years later— during which interval Faith Bourne has become Faith Orlebar, of Hinwick House— with the diary of 1896. Over this ten year period, Orlebar writes frequently and lovingly of her son Augustus (“Astry”) and her husband Richard (“Dick”); of visits from friends and dinners at Hinwick House; doings of the Poddington Parish Council; garden parties; and, of course, the weather. She also reports on local trips by carriage, and on travels abroad. In the entry for March 14, 1905, on a page headed “Hotel de la Cité du Retiro,” she observes, “Paris is cultivated to a minute degree. Not a bit of ground wasted anywhere.” March 18th she reports, “I went by underground to the Louvre...came back by Tuileries garden and watched the old man with his tame wild sparrows. They take food from his hand...He calls them by name, ‘Gabrielle’ ‘Margarite’ ‘l’Etoile’...and they seem to understand.” In addition to her entries, dozens of pieces of ephemera are loosely inserted or attached by bobby pin in the later volumes. Concert and recital programs, gallery booklets, press clippings, invitations to tea, and social announcements testify to Orlebar’s active engagement with the cultural and intellectual affairs of her community.
Faith Harriet (Borne) Orlebar (1867-1951), was the daughter of Major Robert Bourne of Grafton Manor, Justice of the Peace for the County of Worcester. Her husband was Richard Rouse-Boughton Orlebar, of Hinwick House, near Wellingborough, Bedfordshire.
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