| Disgrifiad | It is open to some doubt whether these diaries or the Morris Letters are the most important for a conspectus of Anglesey life in the 18th century. Bulkeley was no hide-bound devotee of his class : he has some caustic references to the local parsons; occasionally he intervened to shield persecuted non-conformists as in the case of William Prichard of Clwchdernog and William Jones of Trefollwyn ('Cylchgrawn Cymdeithas Hanes Methodistiaeth, xi, 78-79; xii, 30) and is even said to have written a pamphlet in opposition to the attitude of the extreme Anglican party. All this did not prevent him entereing with zest into the common diversion of Anglesey squiredom - their petty local jealousies, their boisterousness at elections, their orgies of drinking at meetings of Quarter Sessions.
The diaries are invaluable for their account of farm-life : tilling, sowing, wages and prices. And not a day passed without Bulkeley noting very carefully which way the wind blew!
These diaries have been digitised and can be viewed online.
A volume of the diaries extending from 1743 to 1747, had been lent, lost, or misplaced before October, 1927. |