Victorian Diary Serialised Online

M@
By M@ Last edited 170 months ago
Victorian Diary Serialised Online

brycesondiary.JPG On this day, 164 years ago:

Mr George Lea proposed to advance my wages to 20s per week, he being well satisfied with my conduct. In this course of which he gave me two glasses of port. By my word this is surprising news.

So runs the heady life of Mr Nathaniel Bryceson, a 19-year-old wharf clerk of Pimlico. His diary, chronicling rising fortunes and saucy love affair is being serialised by Westminster Council, with a new excerpt appearing each day.

The diary offers insights into everyday Victorian life. Bryceson makes frequent note of his dining habits, visits executions and takes regular walks about town with his lady friend Ann Fox. Each entry is no more than a paragraph long, allowing easy daily digestion. Bizarrely, there's no RSS feed, so you have to remember to visit each day (although not as bizarre as the Standard who write a passably researched article about the diary, only to forget the most important bit of info - the link).

For more fun information on personal diaries, be sure to check out the excellent Eight Rooms, Nine Lives exhibition at Wellcome Collection (till 6 April). And for more online Victorian literature, we recommend Lee Jackson's site, which includes an electronic version of his new novel.

Last Updated 06 January 2010