Anne Sharp of Drigg Cross, Holmrook

[Annied22]

I worked out how to enlarge and move the maps around!

My money would definitely be on Joseph Steele the iron miner turned farmer and his wife Ann being the parents of William. It all fits, not only the Drigg connection but even down to family names being passed on.

I think you've done it! I've now made a fair copy of all the information you've turned up which I think contains all the information we have. I'll make a copy on acid free paper to put inside the book.

[maddys52]

That's great Annie. So happy to help, I feel quite attached to this family now! 

[Annied22]

Oh me too! Social history interests me and has a lot to do with the antiquarian books I buy. It makes it all even more fascinating when I'm able to have a peep into the lives of the previous owners.

In this instance, what strikes me is the differing fortunes of some of the family members. There's poor Hannah, who for the last 10 or more years of her life ended up as a charwoman and yet her niece Ann(e) left today's equivalent of nearly £73,000 to her daughter.

Thank you again for all your help. I'm only sorry you're too far away to see the book itself. It's currently still in pieces, but if I'm happy with the end result, I will at least post a picture or two of it.

[maddys52]

Please do, would love to see it. 

I have inherited a few old books over the years, the oldest is published 1889 (a book of jokes!). Very special to have.

[Annied22]

Most of mine are pre-Victorian. I have a lot of very old cookery books, the rest is a mish mash of whatever looks like it might give an insight into life at the time it was written. What I especially like is that nothing much ever changes, people moaned about exactly the same things 300 years ago that we moan about now; it's somehow very reassuring!

[Annied22]

As promised, here are some pics of the actual book. As usual I never thought to take any pictures of it before I began working on it, but the hinges had split and the covers had all but parted company with the book block. It now has a new spine, with the original one glued over it. The frontispiece was missing, but I found one online I could download and incorporate into the book. The dirt on the final page of text was the sign that it must have lain around unbound for some time.

Front
Endpaper incorporating Anne's signature and address
Frontispiece and Title Page
A couple of pages of text
Final page
Spine

[maddys52]

How lovely. It must be very satisfying restoring a precious object like that.

Some good advice for mother to daughter even for today - love the "Let her not be suffered to taste the draught the world offers to her, until she has learned that if there be sweetness on the surface, there is venom deeper in the cup". Much as we want to protect our children though, some things can be only learned through experience.   

[Annied22]

Yes, it is. It's tremendously satisfying to think that a book that might easily have been consigned to the bin may well now be around in another two or three hundred years time. It also means that I can use them as much as I like without worrying that the old leather will crack and the condition of the book will deteriorate even further.

Repairs aren't my strong point as the books I buy are usually too far gone to repair and need a complete rebind, and as a result, I don't have as much experience where they're concerned. This one is an 1808 cookery book by a lady called Mrs Raffald that I hope now looks much as it might have done when it was new.