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Lt. Col. Robert Story - Diary notes 1884
Notes from Robert's diary (Winchester) by MN D-W
Jan & Feb 1884
"The new year finds us at Winchester awaiting orders from the Horse Guards as to where and when I am to appear before a board. Floré & Vida both very well though a little delicate from the effects of a cold a short time ago. My back is still very weak, but otherwise I am wonderfully well."
Robert turned some cocus wood candlesticks and Frooms fitted up the circular saw. Floré was in bed for 4 days with a bad cold. Robert sang in two trios in People's Entertainment and two Irish songs as solos. On the 10th he went before a medical board at the Station Hospital in Portsmouth. He began a butter dish, finished Aunt Caryy's candlesticks, tried some hook tools with Wheler and turned a sycamore bowl. He also measured up for a mantle board for Liebicks room and started the pillars for a corner bracket.
Tuesday 22nd. "Heard from Horse Guards that I am to be placed on retired pay. Turned some more of the pillars of my bracket. Richards came to see Vida and said that she had had a croup attack & must be very carefull tended. Mrs. Lloyd and Amy came to tea also Henry Ward. The parrot got upon my writing desk and damaged the old book of family prayers - took it to Warren to be mended."
On the 25th Robert wrote to Lord Farnham to see if he could obtain work in Cavan. On the 26th he saw Col. Montgomery about going in to the militia and started looking at cottages and studying furniture lists. Arthur came to stay and heard Robert sing "Tickling Trio" at the People's Entertainment. At the lathe Robert was making a corner bracket with pillars and finials, a small box, a string box etc.
February 1st Arthur had a telegram to say that he had again failed in his Medical Preliminary Examination, he went home next day. Robert painted and put up his bracket and made two vases of yew.
8th. "Met Mabel Forrest on my way to the workshop, took here there, and turned a small vase for her. Played raquets with Sir Guy & Johnny Campbell & Kinlock. Went to the People's Entertainment after dinner. Pimlock's choir performed some execrable (extremely bad or unpleasant.) music to which the audience gave any amount of ironical applause. Smoked in Marshall's room afterwards.
9th. "Floré went up to London to see Aunt Fanny and have a talk to her about our plans. I helved (?) a mortise chisel & got the wood for, and began a screen. Floré came back by the 9.30pm train. Vida cut a quantity of her hair off when her nurse was not looking."
12th. Robert went to the Guildhall to hear David Garrick. On the 13th he got medical and character certificates from the army.
16th. "Cleaned plate all the afternoon." Ted wrote asking him to go out with his Militia, and came to stay soon afterwards. Robert was working on the legs of another table, a friend called Warburton often came in and worked on the other lathe.
March & April 1884
March started well with a cheque from Robert's mother for £200 to buy furniture. Robert took Ted to lunch with Miss Rivers and to the People's Entertainment. Hew was also house hunting and finally found Winnal Manor. He played tennis in a Southampton skaing rink and went for a 5 mile ride on a tricycle, he also tried a double tricycle or sociable with Ted. Ted fell off his tricycle twice. He refers to the Egyptian campaign several times - 13th. "Graham defeats Osman Digma - the first name among the killed was Montesor of the Euryalus (?)." Montesor was a friend.
Robert and Floré chose new diningroom wallpaper for Winnal House and bought £50 worth of furniture at a sale in the Corn Exchange. They spent all the last part of the month moving their things into the new house and arranging the rooms - "Had a hole made from the kitchen to the dining room." (For a hatch). Ted went back to Clifton.
In April they went to London to get more furniture at Lefevres, glass & china at the stores (Army & Navy?), carpets and fenders at Maples and a washing machine. They moved in the 8th with a cook and a housemaid. Robert went to the Passion Music at the Cathedral on Good Friday. During the next few days - "Put up horns and heads in the diningroom and hall." "Tried the new washing machine and found it works very well." "Piano came from Jones, & the drawing room sofa and cabinet (Chinese?), and the dinner waggon, mowing machine and a wheel-barrow." He went to see dioramic views of Egypt and the Sudan at the Guildhall.
19th. "Very seedy all day from nausea. Got me some champagne which did me some good. Mowed part of the lawn. Asked Liebick to dinner but he could not come, but turned up just after 10pm when we had gone to bed." When they moved to their new house people called on them in great numbers, they did all the staining of the woodwork themselves, but Robert often felt 'seedy' and had to rest.
On March 6th Robert's commission came through as Captain in the Militia Forces.
May & June 1884
On May 1st Robert went to stay at 36 Canynges Square, Clifton where Frank was very ill (his erstwhile lodger). While there he went and saw Lou's baby, played billiards with Ted and sent off some rent agreements to Tatlow. He helped his mother get in two doctors for Frank but he did not improve. Robert spent a day at Bradford visiting his old home, the Priory, the Grange, Wheler etc. Back at Cluifton he met Ralph Heppenstal.
The 5th found him at Camp Maindy, Cardiff (presumably on militia training). Ted was there too "Big drink of course at mess".
Sunday 11th. "Church parade morn at a small church near the camp. Went with Morrison to LLandaff - saw the cathedral and a ruin near the Bishop's Palace. - fell down a flight of steps and cut my hand. Drove with Nicholson & Tom & Ted to Cardiff. Ted & I & Brindley supped with the O'Kellys. Thomas got his leg broken in a row in the town." The days were filled with parades, duties and lectures.
21st. "Ted saw me execute the Deed of Conveyance of part of Shankom to the Great Northern Railway Co."
27th. "Big parade to take the old colours of the 41st to Llandaff Cathedral, Doctor Vaughan preached. Regimental sports afterwards. Died with R.A. Volunteers. Pleasant evening."
29th. "Paid Maple and Co. £21.5. Inspection of the Regt by Col. Barnes. My company highly complimented. Photos taken of the Officers and one of Col. Hayworth's tent with Col. and self in front." They then handed in arms and kit and all went home on the 31st. "The Merthyr rabble all went off fairly quietly, but many were very drunk before we got them away."
Robert was home by June 1st and went, as usual to two services in the Cathedral, it being a Sunday. During the next days he cut a number trees in the garden and rolled the paths, tried out a new syringe and water barrow. On the 6th "Found that the coal cellar had been broken into during the night and my brush box and brushes as well as the keys of the outhouse and coal cellar stolen. Saw the Police about it. Got new locks for the doors and new brushes. Saw the Railway Engineer about the garden wall. Found later on that the tool shed had been into and the shears stolen." He wrote to Lord Farnham about the death of his brother. On Friday 13th he went sailing with a party on Southampton Water "Very pleasant day but very hot on shore."
On the 16th he took the train for Aldershot changing into uniform in the train. While there he spent much time playing raquets and tennis but did watch part of a field day and later a grand provisional parade at Long Valley, and did other inspections and duties. On the 29th he got home for the day. The weather was mostly very hot.
July & Aug. 1884
Robert was still in Aldershot with a full program of military and social life - Brigade field day on the Queen's Parade at 7.30am - Drilled the Batallion after lunch - C.O.'s parade, sports after lunch, saw the tent pegging and mounted competitions, met there the Freelings and Luards and Dashwood who was at Twyford prep school with him. Practiced marching the Battn. points - Divisional field day in the long valley starting at 5.20am. Floré and Vida came to stay a night with the Luards & watched Robert's inspection drill at 8.30am. Parade for inspection by Gen. Fielding 10am - parade at 5am "Marched to Fox Hills and had a sham fight with all three arms present. Distance about 9½ miles. Bounty board at 2pm, lay down in my tent after. Gen. Luard dined with the Regt. ."
10th. "Divisional parade for a sham fight on the Fox Hills at 6am. Got my men extended in very heavy rain, but after waiting some time we were sent home wet through. H.R.H the Duke of Cambridge inspected us after and very highly complimented us." On the 11th he packed up his bath and chest of drawers and next day paid off the men and went home.
Straight away Robert went to see the old servant Farmer who had helped them previously and was now very ill. Robert sent him egg flip and Miss Montgomery sent a nurse. The lathe was soon in use again - yew letter weights, a finial for a drawing room chair. Robert also oiled the bedroom bell wire "(a very dirty job under the roof)" and visited Farmer several times, the last at noon on the 20th and the old man dies at 1.30pm. He cut some more trees in the garden and got netting and posts for a fowl run which Frooms put up. He ordered a spring gun and got some eggs to go under a broody hen.
24th. "Wrote a long letter to Lou with some material for a book she is writing." Floré was in bed for a week with a chill caught gardening. On the 30th Robert went to a dance with Louie and Miss Hopkins and stayed till 6am.
For the whole of August Robert was busy about the house and garden and played quite a lot of tennis. He got a slide trumpet from Dublin, had the family photographed outside the house, he now had two dogs which needed licences and runs. He was, as ever, making picture frames, and once went to the New Forest for a picnic.
Sept. & Oct. 1884
Ted came to stay at the start of Sept. but had to go to bed with a feverish attack. Robert was busy inside and out, a string box in walnut, a brass clutch for the lathe and brass tops for several Benares pots. He got a scythe and mowed the slopes & some pulleys for the curtains but they did not work. One day he took Floré and Vida out in a boat on Southampton Water and say Winan's cigar ship. Several army friends called to say goodbye - leaving for Egypt. He played tennis on the 10th "the last game of the season". He gathered apples, nuts and tomatoes and cut down still more trees. He sent an adv for a boiler to Exchange & Mart.
30th. "Bought 12 foreign birds and an aviary for Vida."
Oct 1st. "All birds died except one. Wrote to the man I bought them from." Uncle De C. Meade came for the day. As the month went by he had men in to fit up the boiler, did more lathe turning at got a list of all the books at Bingfield from his mother. He also had men in to look at the water pump and they found the well was nearly dry. Oswald was at Plymouth and on the 29th they met in London and went to The Sorcerer and Trial by Jury at the Savoy. They went on to Sheerness dockyards and Robert spent the night aboard HMS Dryad.
During this month the men got the boiler in and the engine all connected up to the lathe. The first time they got up steam and started the engine they had to blow off and the check valve and pump both gave out, but on subsequent days after remedying more faults Robert finally got it working.
Nov. & Dec. 1884
On his was home from Sheerness Robert visited Harrow. Winnal House must have been a Church property as it was the Dean and Chapter who decided that his well needed deepening. In the garden he was moving trees, planted some dwarf trees from Jersey and cut up two pear trees for firewood. A man came and dug some chalk out of the well, but Robert wrote to the Dean saying that the work had not been properly done. Ted left on the 15th (This was the last time Robert saw him). Robert spent a week making a garden seat, there were men in fitting up a shaft and pulleys for the lathe and circular saw and other men renovating the water pump and lengthening the suction pipe in the well. Robert cut out 6 picture frames and turned a small box in ewe "back very sore in evening". There was heavy snow on the 29th and a thaw and heavy rain on the 30th.
In Dec Robert played and sang at a People's Entertainment, there were 455 in the audience. Floré was in bed with severe pain, one night the doctor was ill himself but prescribed for conjestion of the liver without seeing her. Robert went rabbit shooting "very good fun but my dogs would not work." They were called Bobby and Jack and were very gun shy, he took them out several more times to try and overcome this.
On the 8th the books from Bingfield arrived and he spent a week unpacking them and having new shelves put up for them.
22nd. "Arnold's choir practice. A drunken soldier came in thinking it was a religious service and took Arnold for Miss Perks."
They spent Christmas very quietly as Floré was recovering only slowly and Robert had a steaming cold,
| Date | 1884 |
| Linked to | Lt. Col. Robert Story |
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