The Diary of Nathaniel Bryceson (Part 7)

[Ruskie]

Should have expressed that better - i meant 5 x 5 x 5 feet cube  = 125 cubic feet.  - might be a little less as coal has a specific gravity of 1.5 - if it was 1 then it would be 1 metre cube for a ton. But there is the voiding (air) as its not an interlocking solid mass. Not an exact science

 
Would you mind repeating that?
No, no please don't.

I have no idea what you're talking about, but I believe you. 

That pumping station looks absolutely amazing. I think I saw something about it on TV in the dim and distant past - it rings a bell.


Hi Deb! I was a bit disappointed with the lack of italics in today's post.  Maybe Ann had to work? ....  or .... Do you think she may have other male friends? I'm sure Nat is still interested in both Ann and Mrs S. He mentioned Mrs S a week or so ago? 

[Siamese Girl]

My husband has just gone off to Bromley today - he works there. 

Carole

[drykid]

The church in question:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Peter_and_St_Paul,_Bromley

(Not that it took much finding, but it saves anyone else the trouble...)

Apparently pretty much everything but the tower was destroyed in WWII and an essentially-new church erected in its place. However the monument to Johnson's wife survived and was transferred there.  Incidentally the inscription referred to by Nat reads "Formosae, cultae, ingeniosae, piae" ("beautiful, elegant, talented, dutiful.")  I wonder if Nat would actually have been able to read Latin (I know I can't, in case it appears I'm being patronising.)  But he doesn't actually say whether or not he understood the inscription, just that he was grateful to have seen it.

[Siamese Girl]

I'd be surprised if Nat's education included Latin, but who can say? He must have had a reasonable grounding somewhere.

I only found out how much of Bromley church was lost when I sent my OH there in his lunch hour to look for a memorial to a Joseph Shrimpton but it had gone.

Dr. Johnson had an odd ( what else would you expect?) relationship with his wife Tetty - but the learned gentleman has not gone entirely. I am not a Tweeter but I do know that he still communicates with us mere mortals through the medium of Twitter http://twitter.com/drsamueljohnson

Carole

[Aniseed]

Nat has only seen Ann Fox once since he managed to get her drawers off, and that was for a sedate walk over Westminster bridge. Is she avoiding him, maybe? Fed up that he only seems to be interested in 'one thing'? Or has she gone on holiday somewhere, and isn't around? Do we know what she does, or is she a lady of leisure? I have to say it did occur to me that the name Ann Fox might be a pseudonym for her own protection, and if that's the case we'll never find out anything more about her.

[Mongibello]

Ref Bazalgette & the London Sewage system, Anyone interested should read "The Great Stink of London" by Stephen Halliday, subtitled "Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the cleansing of the Victorian metropolis."

[Ruskie]

Nat has only seen Ann Fox once since he managed to get her drawers off, and that was for a sedate walk over Westminster bridge. Is she avoiding him, maybe? Fed up that he only seems to be interested in 'one thing'? Or has she gone on holiday somewhere, and isn't around? Do we know what she does, or is she a lady of leisure? I have to say it did occur to me that the name Ann Fox might be a pseudonym for her own protection, and if that's the case we'll never find out anything more about her.

We only know a little about Ann Fox> This is from Deb back in Part 2:

1841
St Pancras
STEPHEN STREET
Lots of people all living in seperate "rooms?"
including:
SOPHIA OLLIVE 50 DRESSMAKER Y
ANN FOX 30 F S , yes
(refer to diary and mention of Mrs. Olive)

1851
27 Stephen Street
Cock Family
John BURNS
Mary Elizth KENNINGTON, unm 63, mangling , b Middlesex, St James, Picadilly
ANN FOX, 49, Charwoman, b Middlesex, Queen St

[Ruskie]

I found this the other day:
The Post-Office London Directory, 1829
Charles Lea, Coal merchant, Regent's Park Basin

I think this is Granny Shepard's brother and George Lea's father.

deb

Yes, it looks like him.  So the Lea family had been in London for many years. It still makes me wonder if Granny Shepard had some wealth. She doesn't appear to (well Nat never mentions her having money, but nor does he mention that she is hard up). I wonder if it is the Lea family who are helping pay for Nat's mother's medical treatment? We also speculated that they may have helped with Nathaniel's education.

We don't know whether Nathaniel had a formal education. If so, would it have included learning Latin? He is so obsessed with collecting Inscriptions that I would imagine that he would either understand some or all of those written in Latin, or he may have the means or knowledge to translate.

[Ruskie]

I only found out how much of Bromley church was lost when I sent my OH there in his lunch hour to look for a memorial to a Joseph Shrimpton but it had gone.

Carole

And how did he feel about you sending him on this errand in his lunch hour?