Yorkshire Almanac “The forwardest spring that ever was known in the memory of man”

1 May 1734: “The forwardest spring that ever was known in the memory of man”

John Hobson. 1877. The Journal of Mr. John Hobson, Late of Dodworth Green. Yorkshire Diaries and Autobiographies in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries. Ed. Charles Jackson. Durham: Surtees Society. A (morbid) compendium of everyday England. It is sometimes unclear whether the date given is that of an occurrence or that on which news reached his capacious ears. Get it:

Unedited excerpt

If an excerpt is used in the book, it will be shorter, edited and, where applicable, translated.

Here is the forwardest spring that ever was known in the memory of man: the trees in full leave, the hedges green; a month ago a vast of blossom upon all sort of trees; the sloe trees out of blossom; the haythorn in full blossom; the tulips almost over; everything grand and flourishing.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Comment

The editor comments on Haythornthwaite as toponym, near Doncaster, and surname.

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Comment

The editor comments on Haythornthwaite as toponym, near Doncaster, and surname.

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1 January 1726: Heavy snow stops the post and kills parson William Baines of Dronfield at Froggatt Moss

19 August 1728: An elderly gamekeeper at Pilley recalls the extrajudicial execution of a Dodworth man on the orders of young Sir Francis Wortley during the Civil War

10 October 1730: John Hobson observes a fiery red star to the north over Barnsley

28 November 1730: The troubles of a suicided chicken-thief at Rothwell do not end with death

22 March 1731: “Vegetable caterpillars” amid the artichokes at Dodworth (Barnsley)

5 May 1732: William Lindley of Dodworth recalls how charcoal burners would cheat coal merchants at the time of the Restoration

29 May 1732: Old William Lindley of Dodworth tells various marvellous stories from his youth

24 March 1733: Several couples ensure their marriage licences are Latin

1 January 1735: Silkstone parish sends the presumably destitute James Lindly (7) as a servant to John Hobson in Dodworth

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Comment

I believe that Dodworth then formed part of Silkstone parish. Had James Lindly truly been abandoned, or is there some connection with William Lindly, a favourite with Hobson? Was the arrangement under the 1601 Act, or under later legislation, also tagged here?

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