The Diary of Nathaniel Bryceson (Part 5)

[Ruskie]

I can't see George.. I must be doing something wrong...

He's on the top right of the link provided by Linda. Page 128

[karenlee]

No No NO..... I mean on Census etc.....

[Colin Cruddace]

I was thinking about today's diary entry - and yesterdays. It does seem odd the way Nat writes about something sad (as in his mother's illness today) and the next sentence is so upbeat. I've come to the conclusion that he may not sit down in the evening and write the day's events in one go. Perhaps he writes one thing, then returns later to add something else and so on. But he doesn't start a new paragraph so it reads oddly. Maybe this is why the entries sometimes seem a bit disjointed.

He doesn't seem to be very close to his mother. But he is her 20 year old son - isn't that normal? 

Thanks Linda - I was hoping there might be someone with Henry Shepard who may be Mary ... 

NB's diary is a ledger book, so I was wondering if it was hidden among other books where he worked, rather than at home, and his entries were written at work. Or could they have been kept at home and it was his secret diary/diaries, expecting that nobody would be interested in looking at his ledger books?

Colin

[deb usa]

I was thinking about today's diary entry - and yesterdays. It does seem odd the way Nat writes about something sad (as in his mother's illness today) and the next sentence is so upbeat

Hi everyone

Ruskie ...you and I must have ESP 

I was thinking about the 9th entry and how after all the excitement of seeing Ann and her new hat     that he just went on writing something else.

I have not read today's entry yet but earlier I was wondering if he would mention how he was going to go further with Ann and how thrilled he may have been by the night before's 'wicked tricks'


He does seems unusual for a 20 year old man/boy!

deb

[deb usa]

He does seems unusual for a 20 year old man/boy!

deb

errrrr maybe BoyToy and not man/boy 

[deb usa]

question:

What would a Nusery maid being doing at his job?

"Nursery maid at Wharf left her situation."

I remember him going to work one day and a young woman who worked there gave him a kiss ... (need to find that in the diary) , but what would a nusery maid be.... was she looking after children 

deb ...clueless  ...and needing chocolate

[karenlee]

Maybe he was refering to the family for whom he worked...??  Did they live close by to the Wharf do we know??

[deb usa]

thought before I go to bed...


Poor Mary had another year of illness to get through..... I feel such sympathy for her! Thank God, her mum was around to look after her. I cannot imagine her unbearable pain whilst living with fleas, the heat, the cold and the lack of good medical care. I am sure when her time came ... she was glad, relieved tired of tiredness and pain and was happy to go!

She was obviously not the only person suffering in those days, but NB's diary has given us a view of what it was like.

I shall say a pray for her tonight and to good old Granny Shepard!

deb

red post ...Hi karen ... Not sure ... I know George Lea his boss and cousin had family but I doubt that they lived near the wharf ...I think we have traced George and family. George was also the one who bankrupted the business by socialising and not being around too often. So I don't think the nusery maid had anything to do with the Lea children. 

I think George was the one who kept buying horses that kept dying for some reason or another

[Siamese Girl]

I have to say I find something depressingly callous about today's entry. His mother was was so fatigued and ill that she was obliged to be brought home in a cab and was expected to die on the road. Yet he seems more interested in buying a new penknife 

I wonder if the nursery maid is a joke - perhaps he's talking about the dog  who had the puppies a while back 

Carole