All posts by Arthur Linfoot

6 January 1914; Tuesday

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Got up about 8 o’clock. Got work well up to date. Cold and frosty. Finished early. Read a bit. Did some Pelman1. Went down to meeting. Called at Furley’s and got to know that Mr Furley was at work again. Played2 for the class meeting. Had break for a few minutes. Mother, Father and Gertie3 at the pantomime. Said it was pretty decent but not of much account†. Went to bed about midnight.

  1. Pelmanism was a popular system of memory training, using association of things and ideas. ↩

  2. “Played” without a direct object generally means “played the piano” or according to context “-­ the organ”. Like many Victorian and Edwardian families of all classes, ALL’s family were ‘musical’. His father played the ‘cello, ALL and his two sisters were competent pianists, Ernie learned to play the violin, and Charlie was a popular bass-­baritone soloist and chorister. ALL also played church or chapel organs throughout his life. ↩

  3. Gertie was ALL’s younger sister. See also Family page. ↩

5 January 1914; Monday

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Got up about 7.30. Drilled a short time.1 Got on very well at work and finished about 5.30. Got hair cut. Cold night and some snow falling. Mr Aitken went to Edinburgh2. Finished about 5.30. Went to Mr Chadwick’s after I had done a bit homework and arranged about missionary business. Blaikie3 there. We stayed until pretty late.

  1. “Drill” was probably as taught in Board School PT; ALL continued to do it until middle age. ↩

  2. William Robertson Aitken, born in Dunbar on 19 March 1873, was manager and company secretary at the Hendon Paper Works. His trip to Edinburgh may have been in a personal capacity, not a business one, as he evidently had family there. His death is recorded on 20 September 1917 and his funeral took place in Edinburgh on 25 September. ↩

  3. Blaikie occurs frequently, written with or without the final vowel – so it could be “Black”; but I have assumed “Blaikie.” (DL)  ↩

4 January 1914; Sunday

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At chapel1 as usual. Mr Chadwick preached. Charlie and Joe commenced in the School. The classes were merged. I managed pretty well. Had shorter walks than usual and were at Grandmother’s to tea and supper. Had a bit music and a pleasant time. Charlie and I saw a woman fall down in Christopher Street, and she broke a jug she was carrying. Got to bed about midnight after talking about Father and a shop2. Ernie and Hilda went to Boldon3 for the night. I said goodbye to Ernie and talked a bit about the prospects before them.

  1. “Chapel” would have been the South Durham Street Methodist church, which closed at some date between the Wars; Mr Chadwick was of course the Minister. “School” was Sunday School. ↩

  2. ALL’s father had lost two fingers in a work-place accident; many diary entries refer to his compensation claim and his re-employment, and to renting a shop to supplement income. ↩

  3. Boldon, which may have meant East B. (A), West B. (B) or B. Colliery (C), would have been where Hilda’s parents lived. ↩

3 January 1914; Saturday

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Got up late and was late for work1. Finished about 1.30. Met Ernie and we went to the match2. Went into the bob stand. Sunderland 1 v. Liverpool 2. A fair game. Liverpool goalie was very clever. He was laid out, and off for about 10 minutes. Ernie didn’t care much about it. Ernie and Hilda went to the pantomime at night. Willie, Charlie and I went round the town and afterwards Charlie and Joe and I played ping pong at home. Went to bed rather late.

  1. Saturday morning working was of course normal – as it remained until the 1960s. ↩

  2. The football match was at the old Roker Park; admission to the stand: one shilling (= 5p; a “bob”). ↩

2 January 1914; Friday

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Got up about 9 o’clock. Went to the infirmary with Father1. Had short walk round town and got papers and diaries. Called for Willie Marshall and arranged to go out with him in the afternoon. Went for him after dinner. Walked along to Whitburn2 and back. Went to pictures at night. A good number present. Played whist before supper. Had different games after supper and we left about 3 o’clock. Enjoyed ourselves pretty well.

  1. “Went to the infirmary”: probably in connection with the work-place accident to Father’s hand; see later entries. ↩

  2. Whitburn: then still a fishing village, a mile north of the Sunderland built-­up area. ↩

1 January 1914; Thursday

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Shook hands with Joe1 first. George Bagley2 second. Polly Abigales † 3rd. Had an invitation to Jenny Arkleby’s †3 but didn’t go. We all went to bed about 2 o’clock. Charlie4 slept the year out. He started at 5 in the morning. Ernie5 and Hilda arrived about 12 o’clock. We had turkey for dinner. Had short walk in the afternoon. Arranged a ping pong table down stairs and played a bit. Company arrived about 7 o’clock. The Whittaker family6. Willie Marshall. The Christopher Street people7, Ernie and Hilda. Had jolly time and supped about midnight.
Our Party.

  1. Joe Wiseman was the husband of ALL’s elder sister Marmie; he had moved to Lincoln in 1905, date of return to Sunderland not recorded. ↩

  2. There was an extensive Bagley family in the 1930-­‐40’s, but their relationship with George B. is not recorded. ↩

  3. P. Abigales and J. Arkleby (if correct) are unidentified; hereinafter, identified names are annotated (if at all) on first appearance, and names not identified receive no annotation. ↩

  4. Charlie was ALL’s younger brother, working in the Post Office. ↩

  5. Ernie was ALL’s elder brother, married to Hilda (née Tulip), at this time living in St Andrew’s. ↩

  6. The Whittaker family were members of the South Durham Street Methodist Church, and included a son Willie, whom ALL quite often mentions; he mentions Willie Marshall probably more often, but as he commonly omits their surname, it is sometimes hard to be sure which of the two he means. Willie Whittaker shared his middle name Gaylard with All’s uncle William Gaylard Linfoot (who had emigrated to New Zealand in 1912), which suggests a possible family connection; all the people mentioned in the diary would have known (which is doubtless why ALL never refers to it) that Willie Marshall, mentioned in this 1 January entry, had visited New Zealand at some time in 1913, for reasons which will become apparent to readers by mid-1914. ↩

  7. See the Family page for an explanation of “Christopher Street people”. Christopher Street is just W. of the S. end of Hendon Road. ↩