Biddy's Diary

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Ian Hunter

Biddy’s Diary

Winter 1813

23rd December

The dark and dull nights are ever present in the midst of winter, rain and snow seems to flow constantly.  The soggy marshes are becoming almost invisible due to the mist glooming over the barren landscape.  My vision is   obscured and it is no longer possible to see the hulks prison ships.  I write this in the warmth and luxury of the inside.  I have just finished getting lessons prepared for the children I teach at the local dame school, well the front room of Mrs Wopsles house and also a small shop.  Mrs Wopsle is in charge of the school but doesn’t seem to want to teach or care for the children.  I shouldn’t really be saying this as I am in her residence and she is giving me some work.  As I was preparing lessons for tomorrow I noticed the loud noise of cannons being blasted from the hulks.  The sound is even more chilling in these dark winter nights.  Many convicts from the hulks try to flea the prison and escape offshore.  Not many succeed, a lot of these convicts would have been punished for trivial crimes such as stealing a handkerchief but even small crimes could get you capital punishment.  The Hulks is renowned for its shoddy and almost cruel conditions, the convicts would be given very little food and a lot of them would die or become seriously ill due to under-nourishing.  Although the floating prison is highly unattractive, it became a place for sightseers to visit and take a ‘tour of the hulks’ as it is called.  I better go and think of a recipe for a Christmas Pudding which Mrs Wopsle demands I make for Christmas Day, which is no inconvenience as I enjoy cooking for others.  

Christmas Pudding recipe 

225g plain flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 grated nutmeg

1 ground all spice

1 tablespoon salt

100g fresh breadcrumbs

3 raisins

350g cup sultanas

50g almonds

220g brown sugar

220g soft margarine

4 eggs

200ml milk

100mm cup brandy

26th December

As I woke up this morning I noticed how damp and rimy it was outside, as every rail stood clammy and moist.  There was still some snow lying on the ground but it was melting rapidly.  The hulks still had a glow of white on its deck but u could see it was soon about to disappear.  Today was all about a day of relaxation as Christmas day had been and gone and my Christmas pudding went down a treat.  It makes me think how lucky I am not to be back inside an orphanage.  I also feel now that there are many people who are worse off than me such as children who work in the terrible conditions of workhouses.  Where children are fed nothing apart from gruel and thin bread.  Today was also a day in which I stopped and thought about how things could be improved and how the state of education and conditions is simply appalling.  Mrs Wopsle’s dame school is hardly what you can call a place to get educated the pupils hardly learn a thing especially when Mrs Wopsle is teaching she seems to put no effort into what she is doing, it’s a good job she makes me teach most of the time.  

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‘The darkest month of all the year is the month of Janiveer’

2nd January   

It was an early wake for school this morning, as I wanted to make sure I was ready and lively to teach the pupils.  It is hard for me to walk into the room I’m teaching in without thinking that these aren’t the correct working conditions for children to learn in.  The children all trundled in from the frosty conditions outside with flushed faces.  The children would wear rags for clothes with a shawl and a bonnet to keep them reasonably warm.

Today ...

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