Daybook from the Years 1897/1898 of an employee of Aperfield Court Estate, Biggin Hill.

The manorial estate of Aperfield Court was broken up after its purchase in 1895 by Frederick Henry Dougal of Wandsworth and the land sold off cheaply in small parts. It was not until after the Second World War however that the name of the area was changed from Aperfield to Biggin Hill in recognition of the Biggin Hill Aerodrome and the role played by the inhabitants of the area during the war. The first entry in this diary written on Sat 13^th February 1897 reads, ‘Arrangements made by Harry that I should look after his interests at his property The Aperfield Court Estate by going there next Monday.’ Each following diary entry begins with a one word description of the weather and summarises the day’s workload cutting hay, making new ladders, hanging doors and painting cottages. The last entry is recorded Thursday September 15^th 1898 leaving the second half of the diary empty.

DESCRIPTION: Ledger with cloth covered boards in good condition. Corners a little bumped, some spotting, a large dark stain to front on which is hand written 1897 and 1898. Spine a little worn to top and bottom, ‘ledger’ written in gilt over red ground to top. DIARY inked below. Text block edges decorated in a blue and red floral motif. Marbled endpapers in very good condition front and rear. Stationer’s mark to top of front pastedown reads ‘George Powell, London’. 11-page A-Z address section left blank. 157 pp of the ledger have been appropriated as a detailed diary, written in a legible contemporary cursive. Circa. 110 pp remain blank. Internal leaves are clean, crisp, in very good condition. Text block very solid. Inlaid is a typed, signed letter to a Mr White (Reginald James White, historian) dated 20^th November 1957 from Tennyson Jesse (Fryniwyd Tennyson Jesse Harwood, Daily Mail and Times journalist, author and criminologist) on headed paper addressed Pear Tree Cottage, Eleven Melina Place, St John’s Wood, NW 8. The letter discusses ‘Dougal matters’ [Frederick Henry Dougal?]. Inlaid also on loose paper is a note in same handwriting as diary entries outlining 1901 and 1902 charges.