Farm and family in early nineteenth-century Fife : the diary of Thomas Graham Bonar of Greigston

Abstract

The Greigston diary was written by Thomas Graham Bonar between 1824 and 1833. It is mainly a record of happenings on the small family estate of Greigston in east Fife, which comprised two farms and subsidiary holdings for much of the diary period. Besides farming matters, it records visits and visitors, and a note was kept twice-daily about the weather, including a temperature reading for part of the period. This electronic book comprises an introduction to the diary in four chapters, the transcript of the diary itself (274 pages), and a postscript. There are extensive footnotes, a glossary, maps, tables, photographs and a bibliography. The text is searchable throughout. On the face of it, this farm diary is a rather repetitive account of the mundane practices that characterised the farming and gardening day and year. Though some detail is noted, no explanation or opinions are offered - just bald facts. However, stories emerge. The diarist's daughter Mrs Cowan was the lady of the house at Greigston, staying at home to look after her father as well as her growing family; her husband comes and goes, as he was in the service of the Honourable East India Company. Her friends the misses Bell and Brown were frequent visitors, while others dropped in to see the diarist, en route to Cupar or St Andrews. Dr Graham from Cupar visited often to deal with family ailments; in the period, smallpox, measles and cholera were all present threats. The diarist's son came home to work on the farm, moving into Westmains next door when the family took it over. The reclamation of a moss occupied much time and effort in the early years, many trees were planted, some new-fangled implements were introduced and experimental crops grown - all part of the farming improvements still being made in the early-nineteenth century. The farm servants who worked at Greigston are named, and some become familiar, Ballingal, Brown and Laing family members for instance appearing throughout the diary. The first three chapters of the introduction are concerned with setting the diary in its geographical and historical context. Sources used most extensively were the weekly local newspaper, the Fife Herald, the New Statistical Account (volume 9, Fife and Kinross), and Henry Stephen's The Book of the Farm. In Chapter One, major issues of the time are considered, including the national cholera epidemic, and the passing of the British Reform Bills, both in 1832. The family of the diarist is introduced. The landscape of the time is the theme of Chapter Two, especially the communications and land-use: farm fields, drainage and buildings, and woods and plantations. In the third chapter, various farming and related topics are discussed in greater depth, including crops, stock, mills, harvest, markets, coal and limestone. In Chapter Four an attempt is made to summarise the diary under the headings 'family' and 'farm' for each two-yearly period. In the Postscript, further genealogical detail about the Graham Bonar family is given, based on local Old Parochial Register and population census records and other sources of information, beyond the diary itself.